How To Be Saved

The answer is plain, simple, easy and short. In his letter to the Romans Paul wrote it so that everyone could understand it in Romans 10:8-13. One of the most famous and most quoted verses in the Bible, John 3:16, spoken by Jesus, also makes it quite clear. It is a theme repeated over and over again throughout the New Testament; faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ, his burial and bodily resurrection as the only means of eternal life. It isn’t something reserved for a select few who belong to a certain group, or those who perform particular rituals or join an exclusive religion. It’s so easy and simple anyone can have it, I John 4:15, Romans 10:13 and Acts 2:21.

But even during the times of the apostles, those who literally walked with Jesus, there were people who set out to muddy the waters and make salvation something exclusive to them and their group, or hard to obtain. What most of them did was add works and deeds that people had to perform make themselves worthy. I think Paul found this very frustrating because he wrote so much about it, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:20 and Romans 9:30-32. It was as if some thought that the sacrifice of Christ wasn’t good enough, that he was found lacking in some way and as God, was insufficient and not up to the task. Maybe it was pride that stood in the way; they didn’t want to think that they could not be worthy if they applied themselves. They didn’t want to be forced to rely on someone else for something so important.

The simple fact is that you must accept salvation by faith as a gift Ephesians 2:8-9, John 4:10, Romans 5:15, Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8-9. It can’t be bought at any price because the ultimate, most precious price has already been paid, I Corinthians 6:20 and I Peter 1:18-19. Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient Hebrews 10:9-14 and no more sacrifice of any kind is necessary. To try to add to this and say that anything else is required is to diminish the value of Christ’s sacrifice, call him a liar and make salvation totally uncertain.

If our hope of eternal life is left in our own hands, how can you ever know if you have done enough? How do you know if you’ve sinned too much? How can if done the right things? There is no more assurance or promise of God that you can have everlasting life. Things have been left up in the air so that God tells us, though, that we can be certain of our salvation through John’s general letter to the churches in I John 5:10 after he had, at length, explained the gospel of salvation to them.

Paul and Silas were whipped and thrown into prison for preaching the gospel. There was a great earthquake that opened all of the doors of the prison. The guard woke up from his nap and thought that all of the prisoners had escaped. He was about to kill himself with his own sword and was stopped by Paul. For a Roman soldier, sleeping on duty was punishable by a most gruesome death. This man was in the depths of sudden and overwhelming despair. He would rather die quickly at his own hand than be tortured and humiliated before an agonizing death. He remembered the singing and prayers that Paul and Silas had been doing that night and came right out and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was simple, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:29-34

This is a short, simple statement, but full of truth. The three words of his name, Lord Jesus Christ, fully explains who he is.

Lord – Luke, the author of Acts, used the Greek word kurios, which means supreme in authority, controller. There is nobody above him, nobody that he answers to, the ultimate power we can petition to. The King’s words and decrees are final and cannot be contradicted.

Jesus – Identifies the man who is the Lord and the Christ so that there is no mistake and no assumption that it is anyone else.

Christ – The Greek word christos is used here, meaning the anointed one, more specifically, messiah.

The simple acknowledgment or speaking the words are not enough either. The word “believe” is translated from the Greek word pisteuo, which means more than believe, but means to have faith in or upon, with respect to a person or thing.

There is a difference between belief and faith. You can say you believe a chair will hold you up and walk away, but faith is sitting in the chair and letting it support you. Faith is taking action on your belief.

These are not empty titles and words, and when put together form a powerful statement of conviction. It says that you have faith in Jesus as the Son of God, that he is the messiah, the anointed one, the chosen one of God who’s death on the cross and resurrection is they payment for your sins that you cannot make, and on that basis alone you are forgiven and want him as the Lord of your life, your authority.

There is a short, but tremendous account in Acts 8:26-39, but for we’ll concentrate on Acts 8:35-39 for the purposes of this discussion. It is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. After Philip had given the eunuch the gospel of Jesus Christ, the eunuch asked him what was keeping him from being baptized with the baptism of Jesus, which Philip no doubt mentioned in his story of the resurrection of Christ. Philip told him that if he believed with all his heart what he had told him about Jesus, he could be baptized. The eunuch said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” That was good enough for Philip, and he baptized him. The eunuch continued on his way, rejoicing in his salvation.

Notice what is missing here. There is no mention of praying certain prayers, doing good works, joining some club, society or group, taking oaths of loyalty or secrecy, wearing certain clothes, behaving in a certain way, nothing but having faith in Jesus as the savior. As we have seen, Paul was very concerned that people would try to make the gift of salvation difficult to obtain, and he warned the church at Corinth not to accept any such corruption that would complication the simplicity that is Christ, II Corinthians 11:3-4. When Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, immediately after his greeting to them, he hit them head on with how quickly and easily the were led away from the true gospel, Galatians 1:6-9. In fact, he was amazed at the speed and willingness with which they followed these false doctrines. He warned them not to receive preachers of any other gospel. When a man named Simon tried to buy the power of the Holy Ghost and the gift of salvation, Peter strongly rebuked him in Acts 8:18-23.

It is so easy for Satan to appeal to our own desires; pride, greed, power, status, all of the things that we want for ourselves in this world are easy targets for Satan to home in on. All you have to do these days to start a successful religion is tell people what they want to hear. Tell them that they’ll go to heaven no matter what, that they will one day be gods themselves, tell them that they can be gods now, tell them that they can transcend their consciousness beyond the confines of their own bodies, tell them that nothing they see is real, that all things physical are products of our spiritual imagination. These are real doctrines of existing religions with huge followings. They all deny the deity of Christ, his atoning death and the need to be born again, as Christ said in John 3:3. In fact, they scoff at the notion and make fun of Christians who believe, throwing the phrase about as a derogatory epithet and a curse.

The religions of today say, and political correctness demands we all accept, that what each individual person believes is true for them. Relativism is in, truth is out. There is no absolute truth, and it’s patently unacceptable to tell someone what they believe is wrong. We are shamed into silence of the truth because the truth is not truth for all, but only for those who believe it. If the Mormons believe that they will one day be gods of their own planets, who are we to say that they are wrong? They believe it, and it will be true for them.

God is a God of absolutes. There is a right and there is a wrong. There is only one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus Christ, John 14:6. That you must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven, John 3:3. That there are no other Gods but him, Deuteronomy 32:39. That there is one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, I Timothy 2:5. That there is a real and everlasting punishment for those who reject the salvation of Christ and want to pursue eternal life apart from him, Matthew 25:46, II Thessalonians 1:7-9.. That the gospel is simple, uncomplicated and uncluttered by anything man can contribute, but attributable to Christ alone, II Corinthians 11:3-4. That salvation is obtainable by everyone, Romans 10:13. And that if you will accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will be saved, Romans 10:8-13, Acts 8:35-37.