Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Salvation

There are many other faiths, even some Baptist, who believe you’ve got to be baptized to be saved. You know why they believe that? Many times they’ve misinterpreted a scripture like Acts 2:28 that says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you for the remission of sins.” Now, just from looking at this verse you would think that baptism is required for salvation. But let me give a little lesson in grammar here. If you really want to understand this verse clearly, you have to look at the little preposition “for”.

There are a couple of ways you can use this word in a sentence. For instance, if I said, “I’m going to the store for some bread” the word “for,” means, “in order to get”. But if I say, “I’m going to jail for armed robbery” the word “for” means “because of”. The second one is the way it’s used in the Greek. Peter was saying, “repent and be baptized, every one of you because of the remission of your sins. Be baptized because of the fact that your sins have been washed away.

Look at what Philip says to the eunuch when he asks him about baptism. Philip says to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” Folks, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is what saves a person. That little word “believe” is the key to the whole thing. It’s the Greek word “pisteuo” and it doesn’t mean an intellectual belief. It means, “to be persuaded”, “to commit to”, “to trust in.” To believe means that you’ve been persuaded by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the true living Son of God, who paid the price for your sins on the cross of Calvary, you trust that He did it for you, and you give Him your life. That’s what it means to believe.

That’s what Philip shared with the Ethiopian eunuch and here’s how he responded, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Now from what I shared with you a moment ago let me say that just believing that Jesus is the Son of God isn’t enough if you’re believing intellectually. The Ethiopian eunuch was saying, “From what you’ve showed me from the scripture and the Holy Spirit showing me that this is the truth, I’m persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and I trust Him as my Savior.”

Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” In the early church, nobody was ever baptized without first giving a clear testimony of faith in Jesus Christ and that’s the way it should be today!

They stop at some water along the way and Philip baptizes this man from another country who is soon to go back and share what has happened to him. Wouldn’t it be great to have been able to go along and watch this man’s life when he got home? Well, when God deals with someone He usually brings someone who is sensitive to the Spirit. He sends someone who can share the scriptures and He sends someone with the message that salvation is only in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you know what usually happens? He,