What Must I Do to be Saved?

This week a dear brother asked a very important question. His wording sounded like this: “What must a lost person do to be saved?” When Peter and the other apostles preached the first gospel sermon on the day of Pentecost, the response of the people shouted, “What must I do to be saved?” We will look at what the Bible says to answer that question because you asked for it.

Some Ground Rules

Before we begin developing the answer, it is important to state two important principles that will guide our discussion. First, there is disagreement among Christians about the correct answer to this question. Nearly every denomination tweaks the plan of salvation just a little in the process of giving this answer. Our purpose will be to present an understanding of what the Bible teaches on the subject. You can compare what the Bible says to what particular teachings you have heard. Some time it might be interesting to talk about how the different denominations have arrived at their various doctrinal positions.

 

Second, no one verse in the Bible states a five-step plan for salvation. It is important to consider the context of the Bible to present a balanced understanding of what takes place in the salvation process. It is not our desire to argue the particulars or to be judgmental. God has more than the right to allow into heaven anyone He desires.

 

But from our perspective, here is what the Bible teaches about what must happen in order to be saved. Let’s start with a couple of passages of Scripture and then discuss a few concepts from there.

Our Starting Point: Saved by Grace

Paul writes to the Ephesians to provide us a foundation for our conversation. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

Our salvation has its roots in a gracious God. Those with a Jewish background understood salvation to come through performance, especially in adherence to the Law. But Paul makes it plain that we are all Law-breakers. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We cannot do  anything to earn God’s favor. It is an act of His grace.

Next: Saved Through Faith

But Paul speaks to the Ephesians about the next component when he says we are saved through faith. You have probably heard that terminology before. Let’s think for a moment about what that means. Everyone operates to some degree on a basis of faith. There is an acceptance of things as true even though our certainty is not 100%. I flip on the light switch and I believe the lights will come on, even though it’s possible that they will not, and I do not know completely the technology that makes the light happen. The Hebrew writer calls faith “the essence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

A Biblical Understanding of Faith

The Bible talks about faith in several ways. Sometimes it describes the characteristics of someone – even the characteristics of God. Today we might translate the word “faithfulness” and the meaning is fidelity, trustworthiness, reliance. Three verses can be used as examples: Galatians 5:22, Romans 3:3, and Matthew 23:23.

But the Bible also talks about faith in the sense of a body of truth that is believed. It brings to the mind a creed or doctrines.  Jude 1:3 and Ephesians 4:4-6 serve as illustrations of this meaning of faith. There is a sense that faith is belief, but faith implies something more. James 2:19 tells us that it’s good to believe – even the demons believe that God exists.

So what are the minimum doctrines about God that we need to believe? There is an interesting verse of Scripture in the book of Hebrews. Here the writer tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). What must we believe? We must believe that God exists. Our trust acknowledges that God is good and that what He says is true. We agree with what God says about our sinfulness. Our understanding says that we must accept His plan to save us.

Saved to Act

Although this is not a statement teaching our salvation is dependent upon our works, there seems to be a connection between faith and works. Faith prompts us to be obedient to God’s wishes. Isn’t that why James says that faith without obedient works is dead and useless (James 2:14-26)? The entire chapter of Hebrews 11 gives us many examples of people whose faith promoted actions.

The essence of faith is taking God at His word. When God says something, we believe it. When He makes a promise, we believe that God will keep it. This is trust. Trusting God to keep His promises in Jesus as God’s Messiah is resting upon grace (Romans 4:16-25).

When I look at the bigger things of life, I choose to place my faith – my trust, my conviction, my worldview, my obedience – in the God who saves.

Two Implications of Saving Faith: Confession and Repentance

Let’s look at a Scripture where people ask, “What must I do to be saved?” We are going to find that there are two important implications of faith upon life.

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:36-38 NIV).

Peter preaches to a gathering of Jewish believers near the temple about fifty days after the Passover. Many of these Jews had stayed in Jerusalem for the entire time, worshiping God and faithfully keeping His ordinances. Peter does not mention faith to this group of people because they already believed in God. What they had to accept was that God has sent His Son, a Savior, into the world. The Jewish nation had rejected God’s plan and provision. They cried out to Peter, “What do we need to do?”

The Essence that is Faith

In essence, Peter brings three concepts into the correct understanding and implication of faith: repentance, confession, and baptism. Let’s address the first two at this time. We think of confession as offering a testimony of sorts about something. A criminal “confesses” that he committed a crime by admitting his guilt. A person confesses that Jesus is Lord by getting up in front of people at church and making a statement. The Greek word for confession has a little different meaning.

To confess comes from a compound Greek word meaning “to say the same thing.” This is a really important concept that we dare not overlook. When we confess, we “say the same thing” that God is saying about our sin. God says that we are all sinners and that sin will keep us separated from God for eternity. God says there is nothing we can do ourselves to “make up” for our sins. The only way we can make amends for our sin requires us to trust in God’s plan for salvation through His Son Jesus. We confess – we agree with God about what He says.

Peter says, “Understand that Jesus is your Messiah – your way of salvation.” Faith in God brings me to this point.

Once I agree with God about my sin, faith leads me to repent of my sins. The Greek word for “repentance” is where we get the English word “metamorphosis.” The word means “to change” – to change in a radical way. It is the word we use to describe a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. If sin separates me from God and has me heading toward an eternity in hell, my repentance wants to make an “about-face” and head in a different direction.

A faith that understands God compels me to admit my mistakes and change my ways.

Our Next Step: Saved at Baptism

Remember that Peter replied to the people to “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.” Let’s look at a passage from the apostle Paul from his prison epistles to the Ephesians that will add to our understanding of this concept.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:4-10 NIV).

The teaching of Scripture is that a person receives the gifts of grace at the point of a believer’s baptism. It is at this point in time when the believer enters into the saving union with Jesus Christ. “Don’t you know that all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27)? Baptism appears to be the point when the guilt and penalty of sin are forgiven. It is also the occasion when the person receives the presence of the Holy Spirit in life (John 3:5, Titus 3:5, Colossians 2:12, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3-4, 1 Peter 3:21, Mark 16:16).

Two Practical Reasons

Let’s think about two very practical reasons that baptism is an important part of the salvation process.

First, the image of baptism perfectly portrays the comparison between the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus with the believer’s death to sin, burial and resurrection to a new life. Isn’t that what Paul teaches us?

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Romans 6:3-4 NIV).

It might also be important to mention at this point that baptism by immersion is the only mode of baptism that truly captures the image. Understanding how baptism has changed over the centuries would make another interesting study. Does this mean that if you haven’t been baptized or if you were sprinkled as a child, your baptism doesn’t count? To even attempt to answer that places me in a position that only God occupies. God is sovereign. He makes decisions based on His love and knowledge. All I can comment is upon what the Bible teaches. You make the decision of what you want to do with the teaching.

Second, we are creatures of time. We want a moment to mark in time the importance of an occasion. A certain date reminds us of the commitment and love of a marriage. We remember the day upon which a person was born. Baptism marks the moment when we are “born again.”

Finally, Saved for Good Works

In many ways, how we live our lives after faith is the result of our salvation. Paul reminds us in the passage from Ephesians that we looked at earlier that we have been saved “for good works.” Our lives truly are transformed and the results are the fruit of the Spirit of God working in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).

The depth of today’s question requires a detailed and lengthy answer. Hope this helps your understanding.