What must I do to be saved?

What must I do to be saved?

This is a question on the heart of many today as it was in the Bible on the heart of the jailer in Acts 16:30; when he asked Paul and Silas

30. and after he brought them out [of the inner prison], he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (AMP)

Paul and Silas’s response to him is the same for every person on earth today.

Their repsonse: Acts 16:31

31. And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].”

The next question very often asked is: “What does believing in the Lord Jesus mean?” There are some who believe Jesus is only a prominent historical figure, a martyred activist who fought the oppressors of His day, a preacher of goodwill and morals and some even consider Him a prophet of some sort. Does this mean they or some of them are saved for believing this about Jesus?

In Acts 16:32 Paul and Silas spoke further on what it is to believed,

32. And they spoke the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] to him and to all who were in his house.

They Spoke to him (the jailer) and his household “The word of the Lord”, a message about Salvation through faith in Christ.

Paul in his later writings spoke elaborately about this message one must believe to be saved: Romans 1

16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Outside this message God is UNABLE to save.

This is why Paul and Silas in Acts 16:32 made sure to preach it to the jailer and his household, because it is by believing this fact-specific message that one is saved.

Paul gives more detail in Romans 10

Romans 10(TLB)

8. For salvation that comes from trusting Christ—which is what we preach— is already within easy reach of each of us; in fact, it is as near as our own hearts and mouths.

9. For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

1 Corinthians 15

1. Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith].

2. By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].

3. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],

4. and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],

5. and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the [a]Twelve.

6. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].

7. Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles,

8. and last of all, as to one [b]untimely (prematurely, traumatically) born, He appeared to me also.

9. For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God.

10. But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.

11. So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed and trusted in and relied on with confidence.

Romans 4:25

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification

Faith in the gospel is believing that Jesus died for your sins and was raised back to life on the third day and by His resurrection, your sins are forgiven. Salvation is received by believing this and this alone.