What Must I Do To Be Saved?

This was the great question posed to the apostle Paul by the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:30). It has been voiced over and over again throughout the centuries (Job 25:4). Time and all of the changes that go with it have not dulled the need to answer this question. Medical advances and raging epidemics, bountiful food and horrible famine, booming economies and inescapable poverty, the information age and uneducated ignorance; none of these have removed the need of men and women, boys and girls everywhere to answer the question, "What must I do to be saved?"

Have you thought about this question yourself? Where will we find the answer? Should we look within ourselves, seeking a solution in our own hearts? Can we trust our hearts to give us the correct answer? No, that will not work because our own hearts can deceive us (Isaiah 44:20). No, let us turn together to God's Word and seek His wisdom (2 Timothy 3:16,17). See how Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answered the Philippian jailer. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household." Now, perhaps you are wondering to yourself what kind of answer that is. Believe in Jesus? What good will that do? How can believing in Jesus save me?

Did you notice that Paul did not answer the question that the jailer asked? The jailer wanted to know what he could do to be saved, to satisfy God. He was not looking for God's help, but how to reach God himself. Then when we run right smack dab into Paul's reply.

Paul does not give the jailer a job description, listing the qualifications he must meet to find approval with God (John 5:39-40). Paul does not give him a recipe to follow, adding a ceremony here and a prayer there until, by the sweat of his own brow, the jailer earned salvation from God (Matthew 9:13). Paul did not give the jailer a map to a far-off city where God could be found (Jeremiah 23:23-24). Instead, Paul pointed the jailer away from himself and his "doings" and his "must do's". He pointed him toward the one true solution to his question.

Paul directed the jailer to Jesus. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved." A sweeter promise has never been spoken. In those few words, the "doings" and "earnings" and "goings" which we attempt to use to gain God's favor are all thrown completely down (Isaiah 64:6). The jailer's question could not have been clearer and, take note, Paul's answer could not be clearer. It is the plain and only answer God has for those who would seek peace with Him (Isaiah 1:18).

Let there be no confusion here. There is no miscommunication between the jailer and Paul. "What must I do?" "Believe in the Lord Jesus." Paul did not misunderstand the question. God's answer is that there is no "doing", no "going", no "earning", or anything else we can perform which results in our salvation. Salvation is from the Lord and that is precisely where Paul points. It is received from the hand of the Lord (Psalm 3:8).

Paul did not give a job description or a recipe or a map to the jailer. Why not? Because they are useless to dead men. Dead? Yes, the jailer was dead in sin, unable to do anything to save himself (Ephesians 2:4-5). But Paul knew that God was able to raise dead sinners to life, illustrated in the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:43-44)

Paul gave God's prescription to a sick sinner, just as a doctor gives a medical prescription to a sick person. The medicine is for the benefit of the patient. It heals them. Only a foolish patient would say, "Doctor, being cared for by you is useless. Receiving medicine from your hand is inadequate. I must do something to make myself better." No patient would turn down medicine because they would rather "earn" their healing. Similarly, sinners must be raised to life by the Great Physician and receive His prescription for their salvation (Psalm 103:1-5). Jesus can raise you from death to life, take away your sickness of sin, clothe you in His righteousness, and bring you to heaven to be with Him when this life is finished.

Oh, that you would hear and receive this message today just as the jailer did! It is life to your soul. This is the work of God in you, that He would grant you eyes to see, ears to hear, and faith to believe His promise of salvation (Deuteronomy 29:4). Almighty God commands you to come to Him for light and life, for peace with Him and the hope of heaven, all through believing in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 6:37-40) Sinner, hear the voice of Him who calls sinners to Himself (Mark 2:17). Hear the voice of him who calls the dead to life in Him.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved."

"Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal." They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." (John 6:27-29, NASB)

Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16, NASB)

Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; (Romans 3:20-22, NASB)

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, (Philippians 3:8-9, NASB)

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:14-18, NASB)

Now 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 said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself." (Acts 2:37-39, NASB)

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