What must I do to be saved?
“If you will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved.” Many today believe this phrase encapsulates all one must do to be saved. In churches, it is commonly taught that if one wishes to receive eternal life all he or she must do is believe that Jesus is Lord, but is this what Scripture teaches about salvation? There can be no doubt that Jesus expected his followers to believe in Him to receive eternal life. As Jesus says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”While many will use this verse to say belief in the Son is all that is required for salvation, they often neglect what is said a mere twenty verses later.
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
In John 3:36, as John the Baptist converses with his disciples, he warns them, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” For John the Baptist, salvation didn’t result solely from belief in the Son, but from belief and obedience to the Son. Jesus reflects this view in Luke 6:46 when he says, “But why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”. Again, in Matthew 7:21-22, Jesus states “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 will enter.” Jesus and John are clear that salvation comes from belief and obedience to the Son, and not just belief. In Matthew 7, Jesus warns that merely professing Him as Lord is not enough to enter the kingdom, but, in addition, we must submit to His Father’s will, and by extension His own. Therefore, if we must submit to God’s will for salvation, then we must ask, what is His will? What must we do to enter the kingdom of Heaven?
Jesus issued many commands to His followers, such as Loving God and your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31), seeking the kingdom of God first (Matthew 6:33), and practicing forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-22), but scripture teaches that there are specific commands one must obey to have their sins forgiven. The first, as discussed previously, is belief in the Son. As Jesus states in John 8:24, “For if you do not believe that I am He you will die in your sins.” Upon believing in the Son, Jesus tells us in Luke 13:5 that we must repent of our sins, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Similarly, in Romans 10:9 the apostle Paul tells us we must confess Jesus as our Lord, “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.” After this, Scripture teaches that we must be baptized in water for the remission of our sins. As the apostle Peter stated in Acts 2:38, “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins.” It is at this point, that one is forgiven of their sins, and in the words of the apostle Paul “puts on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). However, salvation does not end here.
“Jesus issued many commands to His followers, such as Loving God and your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31), seeking the kingdom of God first (Matthew 6:33), and practicing forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-22), but scripture teaches that there are specific commands one must obey to have their sins forgiven.”
In Philippians 2:12 the apostle Paul tells his readers to, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”, but what does Paul mean? How does one work out their salvation? Though some may lead you to believe salvation comes from just belief, as we’ve shown so far this is not the case. Salvation comes from submission and obedience to God’s will. God doesn’t call us to a single act of faith but to a lifelong journey of conformity to the perfect image of His son Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are called to be holy, just like the One who called us, and to conform to His image and not to our former lusts (1 Peter 1:14-15). This means that we must deny ourselves, and follow Christ (Luke 9:23), constantly striving towards and molding ourselves into His image. As the apostle Paul puts it, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
In conclusion, we have seen that salvation does not occur solely from belief, but from belief and obedience to God’s will. It is thus God’s will that one believes in His son, repents of their sins, confesses Jesus as Lord, and is baptized to have their sins forgiven and be added to the body of Christ. Upon being added to the body of Christ, we are considered new creations in Christ (2 Cor5:17) and may begin our journey of conformity to the image of Jesus, pressing on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
