What Must I Do To Be Saved?
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
16:16)
In Isaiah 53:6, the prophet of God wrote: "All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath
laid on
him the iniquity of us all." Ecclesiastes
Since man needs salvation from sin, what is the greatest question man can ever ask? Some businessman might say it is the question of how to make a fortune. Those old and feeble might say it is the question of how to live to be one hundred years of age and remain in good health all that time. The sick might answer that the greatest question has to do with a cure for cancer, aids, tuberculosis, and diseases of the heart. However, the statesmen might contend that the greatest question is how to promote peace among nations and prevent all future wars. While these are all-important questions they have to do with the fleeting things of time and this life only.
"What Must I
Do To Be Saved?"
It must be agreed
by
all those who believe the Bible that the world's greatest question is,
"What must I do to be saved?" or "What shall I do, Lord?" or "Men and
brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 16:30; 22:10; 2:37; 9:6.) This
question has to
do with the soul of man and his eternal destiny. The soul of one man in
one side of the balances would outweigh the whole world in the other
side!
Jesus said, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and
lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
(Matt.
16:26.) The soul is the skyscraper to stand through the eternal ages,
while
the body is no more than the scaffolding and ladders round about, and
very
temporary in nature. Once the soul is lost eternally, it will be too
late to do anything about our great question.
But let us analyze our question and show that it is exceedingly simple. First of all there are two parts to the question. "What must I do" refers to the sinner's part, and "to be saved" refers to God's part of the plan. In other words, there are two aspects of the Gospel plan of salvation: (1) God’s gracious provisions which make our salvation possible, and (2) the proper response on the part of man to those provisions – i.e., the sinner must believe and show his faith by obedience to God’s holy word in order to be saved on God's terms.
In Ephesians 2:8 the apostle Paul wrote, "For by grace are ye saved
through faith...."Grace should be understood as a word which
sums up and
includes every single thing Deity has done to provide for our
salvation.
In the same way, faith should be understood as a word which
sums
up and includes every single thing a man does in response to God’s
grace,
and to appropriate the provisions of God’s grace to himself. In other
words,
the Gospel plan of salvation involves acts on the part of God and on
the
part of man. Actions performed by God to make man’s salvation possible
we
call acts of grace; actions performed by man to make his
salvation a reality
are acts of faith.
Some resist the idea that man plays a part in his own salvation,
averring that sinners are saved by grace alone. If one means by that
that one’s actions do not make him deserving of salvation, or that his
obedience does not pay for any part of his salvation, than we would
agree. But what man does or
does not do determines whether he is saved or lost. After Peter had
concluded
that memorable sermon on Pentecost, he exhorted, "Save yourselves from
this untoward generation" (Acts
It is a fact that man cannot make atonement for any of his sins.
Micah 6:7 states, "Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or
with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Oh, no!
There is no way man can pay for his own sin and lift himself out of
condemnation by his own
deeds or his own sacrifices. If it were not for God’s grace and the
provisions
springing there from, man would be helplessly and hopelessly lost for
eternity,
in spite of all the good deeds he might do and all the sacrifices he
might
make.
But it needs to be understood also that all the provisions swelling
up out of the grace of god cannot save one sinner who will not put his
trust in the Lord and submit to his will. This is the very idea Peter
was expressing when he said "Save yourselves from this untoward
generation."
If nothing a man does has anything to do with his salvation, then
there would be universal salvation, for Hebrews 2:9 says, "But we see
Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of
death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God
should taste death for every man." If we were to conclude that man’s
salvation is not at all dependent on anything he does, then we would
have to conclude also that all men will be saved, because Jesus died
for all. Since "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts
Conditional
Gifts
Let us further analyze the question. "What" - of all things possible to be done, just what must one do to be saved? "What must" - it is not what MAY one do. Jesus said, "It shall be told thee what thou must do" (Acts 9:6). Again, it is "What must I" - it is not what must God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit do. All heaven has already moved and done its part, and it is our move now. It is "What must I do?" It is not how must I feel, or what must I imagine, or what must be done to me, but "What must I do?" It is not what must I do to blot out my own sin apart from God, but what must I do "to be saved."
It should not be thought strange to any Bible student that God would
make the offer of salvation from sin conditional. Throughout the Old
and New Testaments there are many examples of those to whom God offered
certain benefits, and
yet made those offers conditional. God promised to spare the firstborn
of
the Israelites, provided they would kill a lamb and sprinkle its blood
on
the doorposts of their houses (Exodus 12). God offered to heal Naaman
of
his leprosy, but the offer was conditional. Naaman would have to wash
in
the
When the jailer
asked "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30), he knew little or
nothing about Christ and had no faith in Him. However, the earthquake
of the occasion
and the miracle in evidence confirmed the fact that Paul and Silas were
servants of God. In answer to his question they began at the very first
and said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
and
thy house." This was a sort of blanket proposition meaning that he
would
have to obey Christ and trust in Him for salvation.
They then preached
Christ unto him so he could believe, for faith comes by hearing the
word (Acts 16:32; Romans 10:17). He evidently believed and
repented for he took them and
tried to undo the harm done, and washed their stripes. He also was
baptized the same hour of the night - at midnight (Acts 16:25,
33). Christ who had said in the commission, “He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved” then saved him (Mark 16:16). He
rejoiced after his baptism. He did not "hit
the saw dust trail" to have his sins prayed away at an altar. He was
saved
by obedient faith and not by faith only (cf. Rom. 1:5; Heb. 5:9).
When many asked our
great question on Pentecost saying, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37),
unlike the jailer, they had just heard about Christ and been called
upon to believe
in Him as "Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:37). They had been pricked in their
hearts by the truth which they had heard pointing out their guilt in
the murder of Christ (Acts 2:37).
Since they were
already believers, but had not put their faith into obedience, they
were simply told what to do by faith in order to be saved. The apostle
said, "Repent, and
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost"
(Acts 2:38). They were to do this "for the remission of sins" for which
Christ had shed his blood (Matt. 26:28).
When the service
was
over, there were no seekers turned away with the explanation that they
should
keep on seeking in prayer until they should find. But the record says,
"They
then that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day
there
were added unto them about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). The last
verse
says, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved"
(Acts
2:47).
In no case were any
said to be saved who had not heard the Gospel and obeyed it.
Furthermore, the
Lord ADDED all of them to the SAME church, the church of Christ that He
had
said He would build (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23; 2:16;
4:4).
They were simply Christians and wore no human religious name (Acts
11:26;
1 Pet. 4:16; James 2:7). They subscribed to no human creed and were
members
of no denominational church. They were united in the one body (Col.
1:18)
as Christ had prayed they should be (John 17:20-21; Eph. 4:3).
What The Sinner Must Do
We are NOT here discussing what God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit did
in order that lost sinners might be saved. We are rather discussing
what the sinner is required to do in order to be forgiven of his sins
and become a
child of God. It should be noted also we are NOT here discussing the
things involved in living the Christian life. We are rather discussing
what the
sinner is required to do in order to be forgiven of past sins and
become
a Christian.
Nobody can become a Christian without first hearing the Gospel of
Christ. That is the reason Jesus commanded his apostles: "Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark
The sinner must next believe the Gospel which has been preached.
Paul declared
that "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness..." (Romans
10:10).
John
After the sinner believes the Gospel of Christ, he must then repent,
which means to make up one’s mind to do right, and obey the Gospel of
Christ. Acts
The person who has repented, then, is one who, having heard and
believed the Gospel, is conscious of and sorry for his sins, and has
determined to do what is necessary to obtain God’s pardon. Please
observe that the sinner who has repented has not, by the mere
repentance, obtained pardon; he is
rather "intent on obtaining God’s pardon." Repentance has been referred
to as "the most difficult command," suggesting that, when one has
genuinely
repented, he will not be at all reluctant to do whatever the Lord
requires.
The Lord requires the penitent believer to confess that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. One simply cannot be forgiven of his sins if he is
ashamed of Christ (cf. John
Baptism And
Salvation
Baptism, which is immersion in water (Romans 6:4; Colossians
The religious world generally does not teach nor practice what the
Bible teaches with reference to baptism. As the above verses indicate,
baptism is a condition upon which the sinner can be forgiven of his
sins. Just as the Israelites had to sprinkle the blood of the lamb on
their doorposts
to avoid the death of the first born, just as Naaman had to wash in
Jordan
in order to be healed of his leprosy, just as Joshua had to march
around
Jericho in order for the Lord to give him that city, and just as the
blind
man had to wash in the pool of Siloam, even so the sinner must be
baptized
in order to be forgiven of his sins.
Nearly all modern religions have salvation before baptism in their
creeds, with baptism being a non-essential act which does nothing more
than symbolizes one’s forgiveness. That is not what the Bible teaches.
It is a significant fact that in every verse in the Bible where both
baptism and salvation are mentioned, baptism always is mentioned first.
Notice some examples of such verses: "John did baptize in the
wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins" (Mark 1:4). "He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned” (Mark
Conclusion
The Gospel plan of salvation is clearly taught in the New Testament.
Let us not allow the philosophies of men to confuse our minds and cause
us to require anything less or more than God has required.