ÒWhat Must I Do To Be Saved?Ó

Acts 16:30

 

            Some, when seized by terror under a sense of GodÕs wrath, thinking they can and must do something to appease GodÕs wrath and save themselves, ask, ÒWhat must I do to be saved?Ó To such people we must respond, ÒDo?Ó You can do nothing to be saved! Salvation is by grace! The Philippian jailor, however, was not of this mold. His cry, ÒWhat must I do to be saved?Ó was the cry of a helplessly lost man. He was so filled with despair that he was about to take his own life! When GodÕs servants heard his hopeless, helpless cry, they answered, ÒBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!Ó

 

            You have heard the gospel of GodÕs free and sovereign grace in Christ. You know that salvation is by grace alone and that there is nothing you can do to earn or merit GodÕs favor. Yet, you know that you dare not sit down and just wait for God to save you. There is something you must do. — You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must personally trust Christ as your Lord and Savior. It is promised, ÒBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.Ó I urge you to do so now. According to the Word of God that involves three things.

 

            1. Surrender — To believe on Christ is to bow to and surrender your life to the rule and dominion of Christ as your Lord. It is losing your life to Christ. No one will ever be saved until he raises the white flag of surrender to Christ in his heart (Mark 8:34-38; Luke 14:25-33).

 

            2. Trust — Faith in Christ is trust. You must trust the blood of Christ as your only atonement for sin. You must trust the righteousness of Christ as your only righteousness before God. You cannot be forgiven of sin, but by his blood. You cannot be accepted of God, unless you are robed in his righteousness. However, all who trust him are freely forgiven and fully accepted as justified in GodÕs sight (Romans 3:24-26).

 

            3. Confession — The proof of faith is confession (Matthew 10:32-33; Romans 10:9-10). And the believerÕs first act of confessing Christ is baptism. Baptism will not save you. But without baptism, faith is not complete. Baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Until it is done, your conscience will give you no peace. If you believe, you must be baptized (Mark 16:15-16).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

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