The Gospel

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead. Trust Him for your salvation and nothing else.

That's the answer. If that's all you came here for, you can stop reading.

But most people who ask this question have already been told a dozen other things, and the noise makes it hard to hear a plain answer. So let's clear it out.

Somebody asked this exact question

A man in Philippi asked it out loud, in the middle of the worst night of his life. He was a jailer, there'd been an earthquake, he thought his prisoners had escaped, and he was about to kill himself over it. Paul stopped him.

Then the man asked Paul and Silas the question:

"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" — Acts 16:30 (NASB 2020)

Here's what Paul told him. Read it carefully, because this is a man asking the most urgent question there is, and getting an answer from an apostle.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." — Acts 16:31 (NASB 2020)

That's it. That's the whole answer.

Paul had one shot to tell a desperate man how to be saved. He didn't give him a list. He didn't give him steps. He told him to believe.

What you have to believe

Not just that God exists. Not just that Jesus was a real person. Believe the gospel, and the Bible tells us exactly what that is.

"that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" — 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (NASB 2020)

He died for your sins. Not as an example. Not as a martyr. As a substitute. He took what you had coming.

He was buried. He really died. This wasn't a symbol.

He rose again. God raised Him, and that's the proof the payment was accepted.

Believe that. Trust that what He did was enough to cover you.

What you don't have to do

This is the part people need most, because this is where they get stuck.

You don't have to clean up your life first. You can't. That's the whole problem. Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), not after we got our act together.

You don't have to be baptized first. Baptism matters and you should do it. But it isn't what saves you. The thief on the cross was never baptized and Jesus told him he'd be in paradise that same day (Luke 23:43).

You don't have to say a specific prayer. There's no formula in the Bible. No magic words. If you want to talk to God, talk to Him. But it's the believing that saves you, not the wording.

You don't have to join a church or give money. Get in a good church once you're saved. But no church membership and no offering ever saved anybody.

You don't have to feel a certain way. Some people cry. Some people feel nothing at all. Your salvation rests on what Christ did, not on what your emotions did.

You don't have to be good enough. You never will be. That's why He came.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast." — Ephesians 2:8–9 (NASB 2020)

A gift. Not wages. Not a reward. You don't earn a gift, you just take it.

Right now

You don't have to wait. There's no waiting period and no test to pass.

If you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again, and you're trusting Him and nothing else to save you, then you're saved. Not because you feel different. Because He finished it.

His blood is enough.

What now?

Read the Bible. Start with the Gospel of John. It was written for exactly this reason, so people would believe and have life (John 20:31).

Get baptized. Not to be saved. Because you are.

Find a church that teaches the Bible. You're not meant to do this alone.

And know that you're not going to do this perfectly. You'll mess up. Every Christian does. That doesn't undo what Christ did, because it never depended on you in the first place.

If you have questions, write me. Ken@livingswordministries.org

I read everything that comes in. If you just trusted Christ, or you think you might have, or you're still not sure, I'd like to hear from you.

Read next: [What Is the Gospel? →]