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" What must I do to be saved"
"What Must I do to be Saved?"
One of the greatest questions that has ever been asked by man regards his salvation. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" was the question asked by the jailer at Philippi (Acts 16: 30). His good question pertained to initial salvation or salvation in regards to the non-Christian. In the first place, consider the fact that this pagan knew there was something he had to do in order to be saved. Did he possess some heathen "salvation by works" concept of salvation; hence, the wording of his question? The fact that Paul and Silas did not rebuke him in view of the wording of his question but proceeded to answer him shows his question was legitimately worded (vs. 31 ff.). You see, God has provided the necessary grace and has made it available to all men, but God requires man to appropriate this grace to himself (Tit. 2: 11 ff.). This is what Peter meant when he urged, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation" (Acts 2: 40). There are no works man could possibly perform to earn his salvation (Tit. 3: 5). However, there are things man must do in order to be saved (matters involved in accepting God's grace, Tit. 3: 5). Alas, most will not make use of God's grace; therefore, only a few will be ultimately saved (Matt. 7: 13, 14).
What was the answer of Paul and Silas to the question "what must I do to be saved?" Belief is where it all begins (notice I said "begins," not "ends). Hence, we read: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (vs. 31). Belief is initial and required to prompt other requisite acts of obedience required by God (Heb. 11: 6). A dead faith, though, never saved anyone (Jas. 2: 14 ff.). Even the demons believe and tremble (Jas. 2: 19). Since faith or belief comes by hearing the word of God, Paul and Silas had to present the word to the jailer (vs. 32). The fact the jailer "washed their stripes" was indicative of his repentance (vs. 33, see the necessity of repentance in Luke 13: 3, 5 and Acts 17: 30, 31). Repentance is a change of mind or will that is brought about by godly sorrow and leads to reformation of life (Matt. 21: 29; Rom. 2: 4; 2 Cor. 7: 10, 11). We are not expressly told that the jailer verbally confessed Christ's deity, however, we must infer that he did. We say this because such a confession was required of the non-Christian in order to be saved (Rom. 10: 9, 10, see exemplified in Acts 8: 37, KJV). After the jailer had believed (begun to believe), repented, confessed Jesus' deity, we read: "And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes: and was baptized, he and all his straightway" (vs. 33). We consistently read in the recorded cases of salvation that provide full detail that people were immediately baptized (they did not practice weekly or monthly baptism meetings). This immediacy of action in the case of baptism was because water baptism was (is) for the remission of sins and to place one in Christ where salvation is experienced (Acts 2: 38, 22: 16; Gal. 3: 26, 27, I Cor. 12: 13). After the jailer rendered primary obedience, we read "And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house" (vs. 34). The jailer's question was not only answered, but the jailer (and his family) has now done what he was told to do to be saved. Thus, the jailer is saved at the point of verse thirty-four. Therefore, he "rejoiced, believing in God."
A look at other recorded instances of salvation. The book of Acts is the history book of the New Testament. As such, it records how people became Christians or were saved. These examples are for our following and duplication today. If we are to enjoy the same salvation, we are to be saved in the same way the people of the First Century were. To simplify our study, we shall supply the text that records the salvation example. We shall then briefly notice what was done by considering t