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"What Must I Do To Be Saved?"
Hear the Word
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
Believe in Christ
“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins: for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).
“And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household’” (Acts 16:30-31).
Repent from sins
“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38).
Confess Christ
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).
“That if you 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 one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
Be Baptized
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
“There is also an antitype which now saves us - baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).
Be faithful to death
“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, And I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
I understand that a majority of those reading this article have already taken these steps and have obeyed the Gospel. What we need to realize, and Brother Garner recently made this point in his sermon “The Bible on One Hand,” is that this is just the start of our journey. In 2 Timothy 4:7-8, the apostle Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
We must continue to grow
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5: 12-14).
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious” ( 1 Peter 2: 1-3).
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Following Peter’s sermon and the baptism of some three thousand souls we read: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
“Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:10-11).
“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).
We all realize the need for growth. With spiritual growth comes a greater understanding of the Word and what is necessary to be pleasing to God. Our knowledge enables us to teach others what must be done to be saved. Brother Bowman has said many times that we are not going to heaven alone. We have the answer to what so many people are looking for in their lives.
“People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house” (Matthew 5:15).
