What Must I Do to Be Saved
In Acts 16:30, a jailor asked the most important question than can be asked:
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
OBEYING THE GOSPEL CALL
God did His part. So what is my part?
Simply knowing that God exists and that Jesus is His Son who died and was resurrected for sins is not enough. Salvation is made possible by Jesus, and it is only through Him that you can be saved (John 10:9, 27-28; 14:6). As a sinner, you are a slave to sin and death. But Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). He also said, "...everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:34-36). Furthermore, he said, "If anyone keeps My word he shall never see death" (John 8:51). Obeying the truth of the Gospel will free you from the bondage of sin, and free you from the penalty of death.
Look at Romans 10:13-14. "'Whoever will call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.' How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?" According to this, you must hear before you can believe, and you must believe before you can call upon God for salvation. Thus, one must hear the Gospel Call to Salvation first to be saved.
It is the words of Jesus that will judge each person on the Judgement Day (John 13:48), so it would be wise to learn what Jesus said. Jesus spoke only that which His Father commanded Him, "His commandment is eternal life" (John 12:49-50). Therefore we encourage you to study the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to read about the life and teachings of Jesus. Then study the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles (letters) they wrote. The Apostles taught that which Jesus spoke to them and what the Holy Spirit guided them to say (John 16:12-15).
Many claim "I love Jesus" but do not obey Him. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15) This shows that just having a positive emotional disposition towards God is not enough. One must demonstrate that love by obeying Him. Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him" (John 14:21).
Some claim that they have a special "understanding" or "relationship" with God. They use this as justification for their sinful lives and as an excuse to not obey the Gospel. But this is nothing more than an excuse, and it falls apart when it is not evidenced by obedience, as the verses in the previous paragraph prove.
Others claim that they know they are already saved because of an experience they had with God. They had a certain feeling come over them and overwhelm them. They saw something or witnessed something miraculous. In fact, most denominations today each claim that such an experience is proof that one is saved. So how is the Baptist experience any different from the Mormon experience? How is the Catholic experience any better or worse than the Methodist experience? Obviously with so many different "experiences" going around, it would be difficult to know which experience is really valid.
So what does the Bible say about feelings and self-assurance of salvation? Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 say, "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Jeremiah testified in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" Again, Jeremiah wrote in 10:23, "I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not himself; Nor it is in a man who walks to direct his steps." These verses show that we can't trust our feelings or emotions to guide. Our opinions and experiences don't lead to salvation. Obeying God does.
Consider the Israelites in the book of Exodus. They were God's chosen family, a people for His own pleasure. It was they who were to receive the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Surely they enjoyed a special relationship with God. And they knew they were the children of promise, destined to receive blessings. And they witnessed many miracles when they were delivered from slavery in Egypt. Yet when they disobeyed God, He caused them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until all of that generation had perished, that they may not enter the promised land (except for Joshua and Caleb, who were faithful). God continued to punish them when they forsook Him with plagues and enslavement. Consider what Paul said about them in 1 Corinthians 10: 1-5: "...our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink...nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness." Paul continues in verses 11-12, "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." Obviously, witnessing something miraculous, having a good feeling, and having a special relationship with God are not enough! One must be obedient also!
Consider Cornelius, the Roman centurion who desired to know God (Acts 10). He was "a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually" (verse 2). Here is a sincere man who fears God and seems to desire salvation. Perhaps he felt like he had a special relationship with God. But was he saved? Not yet! The passage reveals that an angel appeared to him, directing him to send for Peter. So he had a miraculous experience...but was he saved? Not yet! When Peter arrived, he preached the Gospel to Cornelius and his family. "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message" (verse 44) So the family of Cornelius received the Holy Spirit. Were they then saved? Not yet! Peter said in verses 47-48 for them to be baptized. THAT is when they were saved...when they obeyed the words of the Gospel which Peter preached.
Now turn to Acts 2. In this chapter, the apostles had received the Holy Spirit. They begin speaking in tongues unknown to them, but recognized by the crowds of people who gather to hear them. Peter stands up and begins preaching the Gospel to them, demonstrating with the Scriptures that Jesus, whom they crucified, was indeed the Son of God and the promised Messiah. In verse 37, it reads, "And when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?'" And Peter told them what to do in the next verse (we will discuss it in detail in a later article, linked below). That is when they were saved, when they obeyed the Gospel that the apostles preached.
Look now at the story of the Phillipian jailor in Acts 16:23-34. All through the night in prison, Paul and Silas were singing praise to God. There was an earthquake that loosened the bindings of all the prisoners and opened the doors. The jailor, having been asleep, woke up and saw the open doors, and thinking his prisoners had escaped, drew his sword to commit suicide, lest the harsh Roman law order him tortured for failing to keep the prisoners. But Paul spoke up and told him everyone was still there. The jailor brought them out and asked the most important question: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul & Silas told him to believe in Jesus. But how could he believe if he had not heard about Jesus? So he took them to his home, where they preached the word of the Lord to him and his family. And they were then baptized. And that is when they were saved, when they obeyed the words of the Gospel that Paul & Silas preached.
So we see that one must hear and understand the Gospel of Jesus first in order to take hold of the Free Gift of God. Who can hear and believe? Obviously little children are incapable of understanding the concepts of sin and salvation. They are incapable of believing since they cannot understand. Thus they are exempt from it until they reach an the point in their lives where they are able to understand and distinguish good from evil. Likewise, people with mental handicaps may be unable to understand or distinguish good from evil, and are also therefore exempt. But for those of us who are able to hear and understand, the Gospel call goes forth for us to learn and obey!
Hearing and understanding is just the first step. Please now read the next article, Unless You Believe.