But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened. The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!” He called for lights and sprang in, and, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house. He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God. Acts 16:25-34
“What must I do to be saved?” The answer, as given, is simple. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
It is quite evident this man (and his family)believed right then and there in the salvation through Christ since within that same hour he, and his entire family, were baptized and gave evidence of that new belief. After this they ate, had a great time rejoicing, and the whole family continued to believe in God and Christ.
Jesus left his disciples a great commission just before He was taken into the heavens. This commission was the blueprint of the salvation that was to come. It was not a lengthy set of rules and precepts. He simply said:
Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20
And with those words Christ completed his mission on earth. He had lived, died and been resurrected. Now in just two sentences he outlined what was to happen until he returned again. Make disciple, baptize them, teach them. It was just days later, on the morning of the Day of Pentecost, when Christ’s instruction were first put into use. Peter, on that morning, when asked “”Brothers, what shall we do?” by those standing around, stood up boldly and responded:
“…”Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38
On that very day those who had come to believe in Christ; about three thousand people; were baptized, giving evidence that their faith in Christ was not merely lip service but a willingness to die to themselves and live new in Christ. As a result they received a great gift as well; the Holy Spirit.
Shortly after this day Philip went to the city of Samaria and
…when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Ac 8:12
Again, great crowds listened to the message of Christ, believed and as a completion of their belief, were baptized.
Philip, soon after this, was then called by God to go meet a eunuch in the desert, a high official, who was traveling to Jerusalem by chariot. Phillip preached to him Jesus from the book of Isaiah. The eunuch came to believe in Christ which prompted him to ask Phillip:
…”Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
Ac 8:36-38
The book of Acts gives other great examples of people who came to believe in Christ and also gave proof of their faith in baptism.
A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.
Ac 16:14-5
Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
Acts 18:8
In Acts 18 there is also the tale of a great man named Apollos who came to Ephesus to teach Jesus in the synagogue. He spoke very eloquently and accurately about Jesus, except he had never come to understand there is a baptism of repentance; as John taught prior to the death of Christ; and also a baptism of faith; which came about after the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. As he spoke, there were two individuals listening, Priscilla and Aquila, who heard him speak and pulled him aside to show him his slight inaccuracy. Having now come to understand there is a baptism of repentance and a baptism of faith Apollos moved on to Achaia and then Corinth to teach about Christ.
Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately. When he had determined to pass over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he had come, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he powerfully refuted the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Acts 18:24-28
But this left a little problem. Here we have Apollos; a great man of God to be sure; who left behind a group of people in Ephesus; disciples of Christ; who know only John’s baptism of repentance and not the baptism of faith that followed it. Enter Paul onto the scene. Apollos, by this time, had moved on to the city of Corinth but Paul was now in Ephesus, where Apollos had been teaching the way of Christ but the baptism of John. Paul discovering these disciples there, teaches them that John told those he baptized there was a better way coming, after the death and resurrection of Christ, and they should follow it. All of them, about twelve, showed the evidence of their faith in Christ and were baptized in the name of Christ.
It happened that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said to him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” He said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied. They were about twelve men in all.
Acts 19:1-7
So, we come back to the basic question again; “What must I do to be saved?” The answer,
…that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
Romans 10:9-11
The salvation of mankind only happens through the grace of God. To accept this grace we must:
- Confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and if we have any other gods before us, we must be put them away with a repentant mind.
- We must through the grace of God believe (have faith) with our whole heart that God was able to raise Christ from the dead.
The natural outcome of this repentance and faith in God, and His ability to raise Christ from the dead, is to participate directly in that belief through a likeness of Christ’s death and resurrection…baptism. Here are the words Paul wrote to the Romans reminding them why they had been baptized.
Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him! For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Thus also consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:3-11
So we see that salvation comes only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We simply do not deserve the salvation given to us through Christ, but we can receive it anyway. Note that in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, shown below, he interjected, twice, that we are saved by grace through faith. Any attempt to acquire salvation by our own design will be fruitless.
But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:4-10
Some, correctly believing we are saved by grace, forget that that grace comes only through faith. Faith is proven only through absolute trust and obedience to God. Some have incorrectly come to believe that works and obedience are one and the same. This brings about an erroneous belief that baptism is a work. It is not a work of ourselves, to bring about our own salvation, but is rather a proof that we are willing to die to ourselves and be reborn in the likeness of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is no more a work of our own self than a prayer or kneeling before God is. Read what James had to say on this matter of faith and works.
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;” and he was called the friend of God. You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith. In like manner wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
James 2:17-26
I invite you to visit my previous post entitled “A Titanic Disaster” for a story example of the temporary, yet necessary and effective, role baptism plays in our eternal salvation. We are saved by grace, but only through our faith and true faith always yields obedience. Please also read “The Great Physician” for a better understanding of how baptism brings about the operation of God; circumcision of the heart; through Christ and the Holy Spirit.
