What Must I Do To Be Saved?

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Perhaps for some of you the question may be “Why do I need to be saved?” rather than our title above. Let’s answer this latter question first. You need to be saved, because as the Bible teaches, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” That’s right, without exception every one of us is a sinner.

Now, you should know, the Bible defines sin in this way: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).” It is in the breaking of God’s commandments that we are declared to be sinners. We break God’s commandments by either not doing what they require or going against what they command. Please, read God’s law, which we’ve included below, and reflect on His commandments for a few minutes:

Exodus 20:3-17

3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Can you see how you have broken these commandments in thought, word, or deed? Also note what the Apostle James wrote, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

Maybe you are thinking, “Okay, so I’m a guilty sinner according to the Bible, but you still haven’t shown me why I need to be saved, or what I’m saved from.” Listen to what the Bible says in answer to your thoughts, “. . . the soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4b).” Again, “For the wages of sin is death . . (Romans 6:23b).” You see, it hasn’t changed from the time of Adam and Eve, our first parents. As God said to them, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Genesis 2:17).” So you see it is the wages of our sins even “death” itself from which we need to be saved.

Now this death is both physical and spiritual (see Genesis 3:19; Psalm 89:48; Luke 12:20; Ephesians 2:5-6). As noted above, our souls and bodies deserve death because of our sin. Furthermore, we need to understand the nature of this death. It is everlasting death! In Matthew 25:46, Jesus Christ gives this solemn pronouncement concerning final state of those he calls “the righteous” and those who are unrighteous. “These (the unrighteous) will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:46).” Jesus Christ, speaking of himself as the Son of Man, said in Matthew 13:41-42 that there is a day coming when He as “the Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (See also Luke 16:23-28; Rev. 14:10-11)

So then, we (all people, for all of us have sinned) need to be saved from the penalty/wages of our sins. We need to be saved from our sins which will be the cause of our everlasting punishment in hell.

Now, you are ready to ask the question, “What must I do to be saved?” This question is answered clearly in the Bible. In Acts 2:37 following the apostle Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, the hearers cried out “What must we do?” and Peter answered in this way, “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. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:38-39).” Here we find the clear answer to our question, “What must we do to be saved?”

First, we must repent. Repentance means to turn away from our sinful way of life, that is, away from living contrary to God’s commandments. As Jesus clearly taught all His disciples, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you (John 15:14).”

Second, we then must turn to Jesus Christ. This means we must in faith, confess our sins to Him, and trust Him as our Lord and Saviour. This is a significant part of being “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”

You see, the apostle Peter and the rest of Jesus’ disciples knew that it was only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved from our sins. By being baptized in Jesus’ name, they were renouncing any and all other religions as false. Jesus had taught them clearly that “No one comes to the Father, except through Me (John 14:6).” It is nothing we do that saves us from our sins, but it is only through the merits of Jesus Christ that we are saved. Earlier we quoted part of Romans 6:23 to you. Let’s read the whole text “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Do you find comfort in these words? Eternal life, something you and I could never merit because we are sinners, is a GIFT from God! God offers salvation to you as a gift. All you DO is repent of your sins and trust in His Son to forgive you of your sins. The Apostle put it this way, “If we confess our sins, He (Jesus Christ) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).” Also we read in Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is simply through faith in Christ that we are saved from our sins.

Yes, God Himself has settled the question of what we must do to be saved when He sent His Son into this world that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).

Another very important question is, Do you have faith in Jesus Christ as your Saviour? If you don’t, or if you are unsure, pray to God for His Holy Spirit to give you the gift of saving faith in His Son. (John 3:1-10; Ephesians 2:8-10).

As you pray, remember this promise of God. “. . . if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).”

We pray that reading this little tract has been a blessing to you. If we can be of any more assistance to you, please contact us at the address or phone number below.

OUR INVITATION goes out to all who are seeking Christ or trusting in Him alone for their salvation to join us in worshiping and serving Him in spirit and truth. We encourage all who are trusting in Christ as their Saviour not to forsake the assembly of God’s people (Hebrews 10:25).