BASIC BIBLE STUDIES
# 021
"What Must I Do to Be Saved?"
"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' " ( Acts
2:37).
In our previous Study we saw that any person's hope of salvation rests upon
the grace of God. No one can ever "lift himself up by his own bootstraps" to
a right relationship with his Maker. As futile as were the efforts of the
ancients to build "a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven" (Genesis 11:4,
KJV), so is mankind's effort to save himself by his own goodness. Human
redemption required God taking the initiative on man's behalf and providing a
propitiation for sin. That atonement was the blood of Christ, shed "for the
remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28), motivated as it was by the unmerited love
and favor of God (Romans 5:8).
The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews boldly affirms: "But we see
Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death
for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9). But does this mean that everyone will be
saved? If so, why did Christ warn: "Enter in at the narrow gate; for wide is
the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are
who go through it"? (Matthew 7:14). Why did the people on the Day of
Pentecost, after hearing the apostles proclaim the death, burial,
resurrection, and coronation of Christ, ask: "Men and brethren, what shall we
do?" (Acts 2:37). Why is the question, "What must I do to be saved?", raised
so often in the Acts of the Apostles? (Acts 9:6; Acts 16:30). Is it a valid
question? Is there anything one must do to appropriate the grace of God and
the benefits of the blood of Christ? Let us carefully and
seriously consider--in broad strokes in this particular study--what the New
Testament teaches a person must do to be saved.
After warning of the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:14), as
Jesus comes to the conclusion of His Sermon on the Mount, He further warns:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). He
then goes on to say: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonderful works in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' " (Matthew 7:22-23). The
"lawlessness" spoken of by Christ refers to humanity's propensity to ignore
God's law and live in disobedience to it, all while professing to do
"wonderful works" in Christ's name. It is a sad and pathetic picture of
willful man substituting his own agenda for God's divine plan of salvation.
When the question, "What must I do to be saved?" is raised in the book of
Acts, an answer--the correct answer--is always given. Not once when the
question is raised are those asking it told: "There is nothing for you to do,
everything has already been done for you." Yes, God has done everything He
could do to make salvation possible, but a response to God's grace is required
by all who would be saved. On the Day of Pentecost, the audience was "cut to
the heart, and said to Peter, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' 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 will receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit.' " (Acts 2:37-38).
When the ascended Christ appeared to His arch-enemy, Saul of Tarsus, on the
highway from Jerusalem to Damascus, Saul asked: "...'Lord, what do you want me
to do?' And the Lord said to him, 'Arise and go into the city (Damascus, hf),
and it will be told you what you must do.' " (Acts 9:6). Please observe that
whatever Saul was told to do, it was something that he must
do! It was not an optional matter. (A later Study will examine what Saul was
told to do).
Later, in the Macedonia city of Philippi (northern Greece, hf), Paul and Silas
are imprisoned for preaching the gospel. At midnight an earthquake occurs,
the prison doors are jarred open, and the chains binding the prisoners are
loosed. The jailer, obviously fearing for his own life, "fell down trembling
before Paul and Silas...and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' " (Acts
16:30). He was not told, "Oh, there is nothing for you to do to be saved; it
has already been done for you!" A positive answer was given, an answer
requiring definitive action on the part of the jailer and his family. (A
later Study also will see what the jailer was told to do to be saved).
And so it is throughout the book of Acts. As the good news of Christ's death
for the sins of the world is proclaimed, many are touched by the love, grace,
and mercy of God, and are prompted to ask: "What shall we do?" There was a
humble recognition of the fact that there is something one must do--not to
earn salvation, but to appropriate God's grace so that one might be saved.
The apostle Peter wrote: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as
some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not desiring that any
should perish but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9). But the
fact that God does not want any to perish does not mean that many will not do
so. The determining factor will be whether sinful man will repent and turn to
God in obedience to the gospel of Christ. The writer of Hebrews says of
Christ: "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation
to all who obey Him" (Hebrews 5:9). That is the determining factor: a
willingness to humbly submit to Christ in joyful obedience. "But God be
thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you have obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine to which you were delivered" (Romans 6:17).
In our next several Studies we will examine the various specific conditions
set forth by Christ and His apostles for receiving the remission of sins and
entering into a right relationship with God.
If this essay has blessed your life, feel free to forward it to others who may
benefit
from it.
Hugh Fulford