What Must I Do To Be Saved
By Jeremy D. Joy

“MEN AND BRETHREN, WHAT SHALL WE DO?” — ACTS 2:37

What must I do to be saved? The right answer can result in eternal salvation, but the wrong answer can lead to eternal condemnation. It is important to find the right answer, but the search can be confusing because there are many answers in religion. The unbeliever says "do nothing" because there is no salvation. The universalist says "do nothing" because everyone will be saved. The classic Calvinist says "do nothing" because only the elect will be saved unconditionally. The Evangelical today says "do nothing" because salvation is by "faith only" and "doing" is equated with works that merit or earn salvation. How can we know what to believe?

Someone estimated that Calvinism has permeated 80-85% of Protestant denominationalism even though members of the same denominations may not know the origin of many of their beliefs and practices. At the core of Calvinism is a misconception of the sovereignty of God. It states that the free will of man contradicts the sovereignty of God. Therefore, man cannot choose his salvation without "lifting himself by his bootstraps." The logical consequence is that faith originates with God and that there must be a direct and immediate operation of the Holy Spirit upon the human heart "enabling" man to believe. It sounds good, but is it true?

Faith is the human response to the testimony of reliable witnesses and corroborating evidence. "So then comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). It involves a choice, but is it void of outward demonstration? It is true that God sees the heart, but at what point in our faith do we receive forgiveness? The Pharisees believed, but they refused to confess the name of Jesus, "lest they should be put out of the synagogue" (John 12:42). Some claim that their faith was not genuine, but how do we know? Because there was no outward demonstration! That is the point that Jesus makes: "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). We cannot have confidence about our salvation unless we conform to the teaching of Jesus and the apostles.

The example of the Philippian jailor teaches that the command to "believe" was insufficient without hearing "the word of the Lord" and being "baptized" (Acts 16:29-34). God is the means of salvation, obedient faith is the condition of salvation, and forgiveness of sins is the result of salvation. Our "doing" is not the basis of salvation, but it is the condition upon which God blesses us and calls us His children. There is something man must "do."

 

 

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