| How We Are Saved, Part 2: Man's Viewpoint - Faith |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, August 18 2008 00:00 |
|
When Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi and subsequently released by a divinely-ordained earthquake, the frightened jailer cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Whether he had in mind being saved from the earthquake, the wrath of the Roman government for the release of the prisoners, or from the eternal wrath of God, we cannot tell. But Paul answered in terms of the latter, because that is the important answer that he needed to hear: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, - you and your household” (Acts 16:30b-31). In simple terms, a person must believe in, put his/her trust in, the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. I recall shortly after becoming a Christian having a conversation with my next door neighbor. My neighbor shared with me then what she said was for her the most significant verse of Scripture, the familiar passage in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus often asserted the same simple truth: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). Paul labors the point in Romans 3 and 4 that we are justified by faith alone, using Abraham as example. Abraham was justified (declared righteous) when he believed God before he was circumcised (Rom. 4:9-11). He puts the matter in the strongest of terms in Gal. 2:16 when he says: “We…know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” In Paul’s first recorded sermon he states: "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39). We can say to someone with confidence, “If you believe (trust) in Christ, you shall be saved,” or as Paul wrote in Romans 10:13, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Yet there are some other aspects to human salvation that we need to probe in our next studies. |
Join our Devo Mailing List
We'd be honored to send you our devotionals via email. To be included on our list please visit our Contact page and write us a request.