"What Must I Do To Be Saved?"
09/19/04 AM
Text: Acts 2:37, Acts 22:10, Acts 16:30
Reading: Romans 10:1-10
INTRODUCTION:
Today’s lesson will consider the question, “What must I do to be saved?” We will examine three times in the scriptures where this question was asked and we will consider in each case the answer given to the question.
Before we get to the questions I’d like to share an illustration with you that I believe will help us in understanding our study today. This is the illustration of the Blind Men and the Elephant.
Most of us have heard this story in one version or another but it is the story of six blind men who try to learn about the elephant. Each one examines a different part of the elephant and each comes away with a different conclusion. One believes the elephant to be like a wall, having felt the broad side. Another believes the elephant to be a spear, having felt the tusk. The blind man feeling the trunk envisions a snake, the one feeling the leg believes the elephant to be like a tree. The fifth claims the elephant to be like a fan having felt the ear and the last claims the elephant to be like a rope having felt the tail. This story was the basis of a poem by John Saxe and one of the last stanzas provides us application to our lesson today:
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
And with this illustration in mind let us consider the text we read this morning: Romans 10:1-10
1. For many this text is considered to contain the answer to our question “what must I do to be saved?” As they believe, according to this and other “proof” texts, all that is required is to believe. But this is taking the approach of the six blind men.
2. To arrive at the truth we cannot handle the scriptures as if there is only one verse or one section of verses in the Bible.
3. One must examine the totality of God’s word in order to see the whole elephant.
a. Psalm 119:160a “The sum of Your word is truth,”
b. Matthew 4:4b Jesus says, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’”
c. 2 Peter 3:16 Peter writes that there are some who mishandle the scriptures and distort them to their own destruction.
d. 2 Tim. 2:15 Paul told Timothy that we must “accurately handle” the word of truth.
One part is not enough to know the whole of the elephant; one part is not enough to know God’s plan of salvation. We need the whole picture to understand and to get it right. Those who use partial texts for “proof” are missing the whole picture and are in jeopardy of missing out on salvation. There is more even in the text we read earlier, turn back to Romans 10:11-14. In these verses we can see three elements of salvation, not just one; Hear, Believe, and Confess.
Let us examine now the scriptures where the question was asked “what must I do to be saved?” and consider the answers given beginning with:
I. THOSE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST (Acts 2:37).
A. Acts 2:14-36
1. Peter preaches the first gospel sermon. His points are
a. There has been a fulfillment of prophecy (14-21).
b. The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus (22-33).
c. Jesus is Lord (34-36).
2. This sermon resulted in the gathering being convicted of their sins.
a. They knew they were responsible for crucifying the Lord.
b. They were pricked in their heart.
c. So they cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
B. The answer to the question.
1. Peter answers their question in vs 38-40.
2. Notice what Peter does not say.
a. He does not say “Hear the gospel.” They had already heard.
b. He does not say, “Believe in Jesus.” They believed based on the earlier statements. They are now acting on that belief.
c. Peter does not say to pray a prayer of forgiveness and everything would be OK.
3. Peter tells them to “Repent.”
a. They had crucified the Lord and were guilty just as if they had driven the nails themselves.
b. They needed to repent of rebelling against God.
c. Acts 17:30-31 Paul states: “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
4. The answer does not stop with repentance, Peter gives additional instruction: they were to be baptized
5. The record says that with many other words he exhorted them saying “Be saved from this perverse generation!” vs. 40
6. Notice the response of those gathered in vs. 41. They took Peter up on the offer.
7. They were baptized because they understood that this was the point at which they were calling upon the name of the Lord as Peter had indicated in verse 21.
C. How do we answer this question today?
1. Why should it be any different from Peter’s answer?
2. We are just as guilty of putting Jesus on the cross as were they.
a. Romans 5:8b “…in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
3. Why should we have a different method of salvation other than the one that Peter preached?
4. Why should we have any different method of responding and calling upon the name of the Lord today?
5. If we do what they did, we will get the same results that they got.
II. SAUL OF TARSUS (Acts 9:6; 22:10)
A. Acts 22:6-16
1. Saul was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians.
a. Jesus appears to him on that road and confronts Saul about his practices.
b. Jesus says, "Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest."
c. Saul was a conscientious person. He did all things in good conscience.
d. The guilt must have been tremendous knowing that all this time he thought he was doing God’s will when in actuality he was fighting AGAINST God.
2. Just like those in Acts 2 wanted to know what to do to remove and alleviate the guilt of obvious sin in their life, Saul wanted to know what to do as well.
3. He says, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do.”
4. The Lord understood the questions meaning and He told Saul to go into Damascus and it would be “Told him” what he needed to do.
B. The answer to the question.
1. What was NOT said.
a. Jesus did not say to Saul, "You are already saved, don’t worry about it anymore."
b. Jesus did not say to Saul, "Pray a prayer of forgiveness and you will be saved."
2. What WAS said.
a. Saul was told exactly what he needed to hear to answer his question: go into the city.
b. Jesus sent a preacher to come and talk to Saul about what he needed to do.
c. The preacher gave him very specific instruction on what he needed to do.
d. Acts 22:16 “Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
3. This was the point where Saul’s sins were washed away.
a. This was the point at which Saul “called upon the name of the Lord.”
C. How do we answer this question today?
1. Should we answer Saul’s question any differently today?
a. Do we ignore the Lord’s answer “…and it will be told you what you must do.” Acts 9:6b?
b. Ananias told Saul exactly what the Lord wanted him to tell Saul.
c. Do we think Saul had to have a special plan just for him?
1 Timothy 1:15-16 Paul wrote, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
d. The world today can be saved in exactly the same way that Saul was saved! Paul says that his salvation is a pattern for our salvation.
e. Why would our answer be any different from the Lord’s and from Ananias?
f. If we do what he did, we will get the same results that he got!
III. THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER (Acts 16:30)
A. Acts 16:22-30
1. Paul and Silas had been preaching to the city of Philippi.
a. There was a damsel who was possessed by a demon.
b. Her masters were using her to gain money.
c. But because she was testifying of Paul’s works and hindering the gospel, he drove the demon out.
d. This upset many of the citizens of Philippi.
e. They had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison.
f. But God did not want them to stay in prison. An earthquake came and loosed the locks.
g. The guard, assuming that all prisoners had escaped, took a sword and was going to commit suicide.
h. Paul tells him not to do this due to the fact that all the prisoners were still present.
i. The jailer then asks the question, "What must I do to be saved?"
B. The answer to the question.
1. What Paul did not say.
a. Pray a prayer of forgiveness and you will be saved.
b. ONLY believe in Jesus and you will be saved.
2. Paul told the Jailer exactly what he needed to hear.
a. He was a gentile who most likely had no knowledge of Judaism.
b. He was told to believe on the Lord Jesus and as a result both he and his house would be saved.
1) Did that mean that all he had to do was believe only and both he and his house would be saved? That’s taking the elephant approach.
2) Acts 16:32 “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.”
3) Those saved in the household would be those who heard and accepted the word of the Lord.
c. Notice the response of the jailer and his house.
d. He took them the save hour of the night and washed their stripes. This indicates a few things.
1) That he believed them!
2) That he repented of his abuse of them!
e. He was baptized in the same hour of the night!
1) He was baptized, immediately!
2) But not only was he baptized, but “he and all his household” but why would they need to be baptized if all that needed to be done was believe?
3) Why not wait until the morning when they could have had an opportunity to be an example to others in the same town?
f. Notice verse 34’s beautiful description of what occurred in his life.
1) It says he rejoiced.
2) It says that he and all his house were “believing in God.”
3) The things that they did that night were the actions of faith - the actions of belief.
C. Should we answer the jailer’s question any differently today?
1. Would we insert the word “only” before Paul’s response to the jailer?
2. Would we tell the family that they didn’t need to be baptized in answer to the jailer’s question?
3. Would we ignore the actions of the jailer and his household performed to indicate faith in their life?
4. Can we say that the jailer did NOT call upon the name of the Lord just as those at Pentecost and Saul did?
5. Would we say that Paul and Silas were hasty in taking them the same hour of the night to be baptized, straightway?
6. We would not and we should not!
7. If we do the same things they did, we will get what they got!
CONCLUSION:
1. Are there more examples of conversion in the book of Acts? Yes.
2. Should we study all of them? Yes.
3. Why these three?
1) These are the three in which the question was asked, "What shall I do to be saved?"
2) The same question asked today can be answered in the same way today.
Invitation
If you are a Christian but not living faithfully, have you forgotten the day of your salvation?
• Have you forgotten the joy that the jailer had?
• Have you forgotten the relief of guilt that you had?
• Have you forgotten that you put Jesus on the cross?
• Repent and return to His light today.
If you are not a Christian this morning . . .
1. Perhaps you are asking this very question this morning.
2. You can be saved exactly like those on Pentecost were saved.
3. You can be saved exactly like Saul of Tarsus was saved.
4. You can be saved just like the jailer and his family were saved.
5. It is this simple scriptural plan.
a. Hear the word.
b. Believe with all your heart.
c. Repent of your sins.
d. Confess Jesus as the Son of God.
e. Be baptized for the remission of your sins.
Begin your walk as a child of God today.
