What Must I Do To Be Saved

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Freedoms First Principles – Basic Christianity

By: Ray White - Weatherford, TX

“All have sinned; all fall short of the glory of God” (Ro 3:23). The penalty of sin is death. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro 6:23). While in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve disobeyed God; they “SINNED.” From the time Adam and Eve disobeyed God people have had a problem. HOW ARE WE GOING TO ESCAPE THE DEATH PENALTY BECAUSE OF THE SINS WE HAVE COMMITTED? Before we can be free from sin we must recognize that we are sinners.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church at Rome, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek” (Ro 1:16). The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

Salvation is a gift from God. “For by grace you have been save through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph 2:8-9). God provides the “grace”, and it is up to those who would be saved to supply”faith”. Salvation is not a matter of God saying, “I am going to save people”, and those who are saved saying, “God I believe you can save me through your Son Jesus.” Jesus is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (He 5:9). A person receives “the gift of God” or salvation because of God’s grace and “through” his or her faith (See: Jn 3:16 & He 11:6). “All who obey” Jesus have “eternal salvation”. The word “OBEY” in He. 5:9 means, “to listen attentively, to heed or conform to a command or authority – hearken, be obedient to, obey”.

All have sinned and are under the sentence of death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The gift of eternal life is given to all who conform to the command of Jesus. What must a lost person do to be saved? (Acts 16:30). Lets look at the account of the first men and women to be saved and see what they did to be saved.

After Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection, what did the first men and women do to receive God’s gift of eternal life? “Where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of a testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives” (He. 9:16-17).

Three thousand people were saved in Acts 2:14-41. This happened on the first Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and ascension back to heaven. Peter’s sermon showed that Jesus was the Christ. “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, ‘men and breathern, what shall we do”? (Acts 2:37) Two things need to be pointed out in this verse: (1) they heard the gospel, “when they heard this…” and (2) “they were cut to the heart…” they believed what they heard. Because they were convinced they were sinners they asked, “What shall we do”? Peter answered, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41). The first 3000 people saved through Christ – heard the gospel, believed, repented, and were baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins. They were saved. People who hear the gospel, believe, repent, and are baptized will also be saved.

Everyone who claims to be saved today will agree that one must HEAR THE GOSPEL, BELIEVE (HAVE FAITH, AND REPENT OF THEIR SINS) to be saved. Many believe that baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins is not necessary for salvation. Thus the question: Is baptism necessary for salvation?

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter wrote saying, “eight souls were saved by water” in the days of Noah (1 Pe 3:20). And in 1 Peter 3:21 we read, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1Pe 3:20-21), KJV. BAPTISM SAVES US.

The Apostle Paul explains baptism thus in Ro. 6:3-6. “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life. For is we have united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”.

“When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure – the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the power of God, who raised Christ from the dead” (Co 2:11-12, NLT).

Are you saved? It takes more to be saved that just believing that Jesus is God’s Son. To be saved one must believe that Jesus is God’s Son, repent of his or her sins, confess Christ, Ro. 10:9-10, and be baptized for the remission of sins. Are you saved? Are you a Christian? If not, why not?