“WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”

(A Basic Scriptural Study)

INTRODUCTION:

1. This is a question of vital concern to all of us.

(1) All have sinned (Romans 3:10,23).

(2) All must die (Hebrews 9:27; Romans 5:12).

(3) All must stand before the judgment seat of God (2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:41,46; Revelation 20:11-15).

(4) We cannot be good enough to save ourselves (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8,9).

2. The answer to this question must come from the New Testament.

(1) When the New Testament came in force (Hebrews 9:15-17).

(2) During the earthly ministry of Christ, the promise was only to the Jews (Matthew 10:5, 6; 15:24).

(3) After his death and resurrection, salvation is available to all (Mark 16:15; 1 Tim. 2:4-6).

(4) God’s dealings with mankind before the coming of the New Testament were preparatory (Galatians 3:24; 4:4; John 1:17).

3. We can do something toward our salvation, toward being saved.

(1) God has done, and is doing, His part (John 3:16; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Ephesians. 2:8, 9; 2 Peter 3:9).

(2) Man must respond in doing his part (Hebrews 5:8, 9; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Romans 2:8,9; Acts 2:40,41; Romans 14:12; Revelation 22:14).

(3) NOTE: In accepting salvation, man’s works are responsive works of faith and obedience, not works of righteousness (merit)—all is done in the context of the grace of God.

4. It is recommended that the seeker of truth study the book of Acts, a Spirit inspired history of the early church and the “book of conversions.”

(1) You will notice that answers given to different people vary a little under different circumstances (Acts 2:38; 8:35-37; 16:29-33; 22:16; etc.)

(2) No single verse of Scripture can mean any less than what it says, but it can mean more in the light of other Scripture (all of the New Testament must be taken into consideration).

(3) In the book of Acts different people were at different stages in their conversion; FOR EXAMPLE, if a person already believed and confessed, it was not necessary to tell him to believe, but they told him to repent and be baptized, etc.

I. I MUST BELIEVE.

A. This is important.

1. I cannot please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6).

2. I am condemned already if I do not believe (John 3:18).

3. All things in Christianity hinge on faith.

  (1) We are justified by faith (Romans 5:1).

(2) We walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

(3) We are kept by faith (1 Peter 1:5; Hebrews 10:35-39).

B. What is faith?

1. It is not knowledge (sight) (2 Corinthians 11:6).

2. Faith and believing are the same thing (Hebrews 11:6).

3. The Scriptural definition of faith (Hebrews 11:1).

4. What we believe in particular in becoming a Christian (Romans 10:9, 10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

5. Faith is explicit trust.

C. How does faith come?

1. Initial faith does not come by praying for it (James 1:6-8).

2. It comes from the written word of testimony (John 20:30,31).

3. It comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17; 1 Corinthians 1:18).

D. Will faith alone save?

1. The devils believe and tremble, and yet they are lost (James 2:19).

2. Faith without works is dead, being alone (James 2:17, 20, 24, 26).

3. We are simply coming to God as we believe (Hebrews 11:6; 10:22).

II. I MUST REPENT.

A. This is important.

1. John the baptizer, forerunner of Christ, preached repentance (Matthew 3:2).

2. The Lord Jesus preached repentance (Matthew 4:17; Luke 13:3,5).

3. It was included in the Great Commission (Luke 24:47).

4. The apostles preached repentance (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; etc.).

B. What is repentance?

1. Prayer and repentance are not necessarily the same thing (Acts 8:22; Genesis 6:6; Exodus 13:17, even used in a non-religious sense).

2. It is a change of mind that results in a change of action (Matthew 21:28-30).

3. It is a change of heart that produces a changed life, as we bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance (Acts 26:10; Luke 3:7-14).

4. It is a change of heart about God, sin and righteousness—the spiritual heart includes our intellect, our will and our emotions.

C. What causes repentance?

1. The Holy Spirit helps bring this about (John 16:8-11).

2. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).

3. The goodness of God leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).

4. Godly sorrow for sins works repentance unto salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).

III. I MUST CONFESS.

A. This is important.

1. Generally speaking, Christ will not confess us to God the Father unless we confess him before men (Matthew 10:32).

2. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45; 2 Corinthians 4:13).

3. We were disobedient and unbelieving publicly, and now it is fitting that we confess our faith publicly.

B. What must I confess?

1. The Scriptures do not say for an alien sinner to confess his individual sins before the public.

2. It is a public confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9, 10; 1 Timothy 6:12).

3. It is a confession of Christ (Matthew 10:32).

4. A good example of the good confession and what followed (Acts 8:35-39).

C. How and where must I confess?

1. I confess with my mouth (Romans 10:9, 10).

2. I confess before men (Matthew 10:32).

3. This confession is done initially, but not then only; it is to be continued throughout the remainder of our lives.

IV. I MUST BE BAPTIZED.

A. This is important.

1. Christ commanded it (Mark 16:15,16; Matthew 28:18-20).

(1) If we love him, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15; Acts 2:41).

(2) Those who do his commandments have a right to the tree of life (Revelation 22:14).

(3) Jesus said, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

2. The Spirit inspired apostles preached and taught it (Acts 2:38; 8:35-38; Romans 6; etc.).

(1) Notice what will happen to anyone who would preach other than the apostles’ doctrine (Galatians 1:8).

(2) The apostle Peter actually said that baptism saved us (1 Peter 3:20, 21).

B. What is baptism?

1. There is but one baptism (Ephesians 4:5).

(1) The one given in the Great Commission would continue unto the end of the world or age (Matthew 28:19, 20).

(2) The baptism of John, Jewish washings, the special “charismatic” baptism of the Holy Spirit, etc., served their purposes—now there is only one abiding baptism unique and peculiar to the Christian religion.

2. In the light of the Bible, that would be the immersion of the Great Commission.

(1) In reference to immersion, consider the way that Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:16).

(2) The way the Ethiopian was baptized (Acts 8:38, 39).

(3) Paul makes it very plain that we are buried in baptism (Romans 6:4,5; Colossians 2:12).

(4) The purpose of the valid baptism of the New Testament follows.

C. What is the purpose of baptism?

1. Our sins are forgiven when we are baptized.

(1) We are baptized for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38).

(2) Our sins are washed away, put away, when we are baptized (Acts 22:16; Colossians 2:11, 12).

(3) The blood of Christ washes away our sins (Revelation 1:5).

(4) We are baptized into the death of Christ, where the blood spiritually speaking is applied in washing away our sins (Romans 6:2-4).

2. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit into our lives.

(1) This gift is promised with baptism and obedience (Acts 2:38,39; Acts 5:32).

(2) We are none of Christ’s without the Spirit (Romans 8:9).

(3) Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us there will be a glorious resurrection (Romans 8:11).

3. The way we enter the kingdom of Christ.

(1) By being born of the water and the Spirit we enter the kingdom (John 3:5; Colossians 1:13).

(2) The necessity of this is seen in that Christ will present the kingdom up to the Father in the end (1 Corinthians 15:24).

4. It puts us into Christ (Galatians 3:27).

(1) Thus, we are no longer under condemnation (Romans 8:1).

(2) We are now new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

5. It puts us into the body of Christ, the church.

(1) We are baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:12, 13).

(2) On the day of Pentecost, those who repented and were baptized were added to the church by the Lord (Acts 2:41, 47).

(3) Christ is the savior of the body (Ephesians 5:23-27), and he purchased the church with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

6. We obey the gospel when we are baptized.

(1) The very core of the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

(2) By dying to sin, being buried and raised from the waters of baptism, we OBEY THE GOSPEL (the death, burial and resurrection of Christ), arising to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4, 17; 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17).

7. By baptism we are saved.

(1) The person who believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16).

(2) The apostle Peter said that baptism saved us (1 Peter 3:21—also consider what Peter said in Acts 2:38 again and 1 Peter 1:22, 23).

(3) If we have sincerely met the prerequisites of genuine faith (belief and trust), life-changing repentance and the good confession, baptism is the time and the place where we enter into the fullness of salvation—we have become recipients of God’s amazing grace.

(4) Remember Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]” (and verses 6 and 7 that follow; also Ephesians 2:8,9).

       THE PURPOSE of this study is to show what you must do to be saved from your past sins so that you may enter into the joy and fullness of salvation. When you have accepted God’s grace (unmerited favor) through Christ Jesus, as we have outlined, forgiveness of sins is yours. You will never have to face those sins again (Hebrews 8:12). You have the promise of everlasting life and the hope of heaven is yours.

       HOWEVER, you must be faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10; Matthew 10:22; Hebrews 3:12-14). The purpose of this present study is not to show what all is involved here. Read the epistles to find out what is involved (Romans through Jude, especially). It will suffice for our present purposes to say you are not to forsake the assembly of the Lord’s church (Hebrews 10:25; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:22-26). You must grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 1:2-11), be filled with love (1 Corinthians 13), and keep yourself unspotted from the world (James 1:27). We simply point you to God’s Word (Acts 20:32). Never get side-tracked from it.