What Must I Do To Be Saved?
Part Two
12/18/05
Acts 16:29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling
before Paul and Silas. 30He then
brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved—you and your household.” 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the
others in his house. 33At that hour
of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he
and all his family were baptized. 34The jailer brought them into his
house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to
believe in God—he and his whole family.
The matter of salvation is
without a doubt the most serious issue set before us that we have to deal with.
This is part two of “What
Must I Do To Be Saved.”
Last week I emphasized
repentance. It’s impossible to be saved
without first having genuine repentance.
This week I want us to examine the
word “Believe.”
Jo. 3:14 Just as Moses lifted
up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that
everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
God’s one and only Son.....
Jo. 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his
hands. 36Whoever believes in the
Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life,
for God’s wrath remains on him.”
There are more people through
out the world who believe wrongly than those who do not believe at all!
Mat. 7:13 “Enter through the
narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to
destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and
narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
People of many other
religions are extremely devout.
Each day, more than one-half
million begin springing from bed long before sunrise. Their trek to the shores
of the river Ganges must be completed before the sun begins to shine.
Most of them carry buckets or
vials — some kind of container — to bring Ganges water back to their homes. The
Ganges provides thousands of Banaras residents with their only source of drink
and bathing. Never mind that its putrid flow is spiked with human excrement and
the carcasses of dead cattle. When its journey begins, high in the Himalayas,
Ganges water may be pure. But by the time this most sacred river in all
Hinduism reaches the plains of Banaras, its clear stream has turned into a
murky green soup of sewage.
Devout Hindus hurry toward
the Ganges as vendors of various religious accessories vie for their attention.
The most popular is a small garland of flowers costing more than these poor
people can easily afford. But gaining the favor of the mother goddess of the
Ganges is worth almost any price. If that small string of petals were to adorn
the buyer's neck or grace his home with fragrance, the expenditure might be
considered a reasonable investment. But instead of having some personal value,
this small garland is taken to the Ganges and placed in its current to float
downstream. They strip to the bare
essentials and wade out waist-deep into the waters. Worshipers clasp their
hands in gestures of prayer as the ritual of dipping and bathing began. Some
chant praise to the Lord Sun. Others drink abundantly from the river.
In 1968 the Beatles
proclaimed the "virtues'' of Hinduism in that Transcendental Meditation
was the answer to all mankind's distress.
"I am he as you are he
as you are me and we are all together" (from "The Walrus"). The
Beatles went on to sing of "Instant Karma." It was left to George
Harrison, after the group split, to erase all doubts about pop music's role in
promoting Eastern religions when "My Sweet Lord" chanted praises to
the Hindu pantheon (temple).
Jesus made in very clear that
He was the only way to salvation. There
is no other religion or way to the Living God!
Jo. 14:6 Jesus answered, “I
am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.”
Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them:
“Rulers and elders of the people! 9If
we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple
and are asked how he was healed, 10then
know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this
man stands before you healed. 11He
is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the capstone.’
12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no
other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Hos 13:4 "But I am the
LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but
me, no Savior except me."
We somehow think that it
takes being an atheist to miss heaven.
The truth is, there will be more people miss heaven because they
believed in vain than those who did not believe at all!
Jo. 8:30 Even as he spoke,
many put their faith in him.
31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free.”
33They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and
have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins
is a slave to sin. 35Now a slave has no permanent place in the
family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed. 37I know you are Abraham’s
descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my
word. 38I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence,
and you do what you have heard from your father.”
39“Abraham is our father,” they answered.........
56Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing
my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57“You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to
him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before
Abraham was born, I am!” 59At this, they picked up stones to
stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple
grounds.
Jo. 12:42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders
believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not
confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
Mat. 10:32 (NASB) “Therefore
everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father
who is in heaven. 33“But whoever denies Me before men, I will also
deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Rom. 10:1 Brothers, my
heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2For
I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not
based on knowledge. 3Since they did not know the righteousness that
comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s
righteousness. 4Christ is the end of the law so that there may be
righteousness for everyone who believes.
The devil believes.
Ja. 2:18 ...Show
me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe
that—and shudder.
You have not really believed
in Jesus until you receive Jesus into your life and give your life to Him!
Jo. 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through
him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not
receive him. 12Yet to all who
received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God—13children born not of natural descent, nor of human
decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
If you read Oswald Chambers
"My Utmost For His Highest" this is what you read...
Test of Faithfulness
“We know
that all things work together for good to those who love God …” (Romans 8:28).
It is only a faithful person
who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our
circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing
it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people.
To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or
object of our faith—the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to
suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to
Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what
He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our
life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn
to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for
the better very quickly if He so chooses.
Being faithful to Jesus
Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to
our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be
faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk
about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by
Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine
designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the
workers.
The goal of faithfulness is
not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work
through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities
on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His
part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.
Just like genuine repentance,
genuine belief changes your life!
1 Jo. 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not
sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our
defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for
ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3We know that we have come to know him if
we obey his commands. 4The man who says, “I know him,” but does
not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in
him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in
him must walk as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new
command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old
command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its
truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true
light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but
hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves
his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him
stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the
darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going,
because the darkness has blinded him.
1 Jo. 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is
lawlessness. 5But you know that he
appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who
continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you
astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has
been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to
destroy the devil’s work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to
sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has
been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of
God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is
right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.