“What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30) is perhaps one of the most well known verses in the entirety of the Bible. Posed by a jailer who feared what would become of him after an earthquake opened the cell doors of the prisoners he was responsible to keep, the question was directed at Paul and Silas, both of whom were apostles of the Lord. The answer? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31) That was not at all what the jailer was expecting to hear. He likely was trying to find a way for his physical life to be saved but the two apostles gave him information far more precious: the knowledge of how to escape spiritual death and live in eternity with God. Could it really be that simple? You only have to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved? You don’t have to be good most of your life or at least enough to outweigh the bad? NO! There is nothing you can do within your human power to purify yourself before God. That is why Jesus had to die on the Cross of Cavalry for ALL of our sins! So why can’t I do what Jesus did, after all, he was just a really great guy; why is he so special? Well, let’s talk a little bit about Jesus shall we.
So what makes Jesus so special? Well to begin with, he is 100% humanity and 100% divinity. He was born without sin by the Holy Spirit and from Mary, who was a virgin at the time, meaning he had no human father therefore no sin nature (We can get into that some other time). The point I am trying to ultimately get across is that he is sinless (unlike every other member of the human race) and was therefore able to bear the burden of every sin committed by humankind past, present, and future. He did more than merely sacrifice his life on the cross, he bore the judgement for ALL of our sins willingly and that even includes genocidal maniacs like Hitler. Can you imagine the judgement for something along the lines of killing 11 million people not counting deaths caused by World War Two itself? But that is the very point. It doesn’t matter how atrocious your sins are or how small your sins are. We are born condemned, every one of us, and there is no good work that we can do, no heroic act that we can accomplish that can save us from that reality: separation from God in the Lake of Fire for all eternity, but because of Christ’s sacrifice this doesn’t have to be our reality. This doesn’t have to be anyone’s reality. By simply believing Christ, Son of God, man and divinity made one, died on the Cross for all of our sins, was entombed and resurrected on the third day, you can be saved. By believing in this you are snatched out of the slavery of sin and made a new man, filled with the Holy Spirit, who’s home no longer resides on Earth, but rather with Christ in heaven, a place full of bliss beyond human imagination, for all eternity, Amen.
Sources/Bible verses to look at:
Rom 5:8
2Cor 5:19-21
Tit 3:4
1Joh 4:9-10
1Joh 4:19
Joh 3:16
Joh 1:14
Joh 1:18
Mark 12:6
Rom 5:10
Rom 8:32
Joh 3:15
1Ti 1:15-16
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