"What Must I Do to Be Saved?" (2)

We know that God has done his part to make salvation available to all, for it is his will that "all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-7). Not only did God become a man, die on the cross for our sins and then rise from the dead, but he appointed apostles and commanded all Jesus' disciples to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. Truly, no one can doubt that He is still doing his part, working in the world and in our lives in such a way "so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:27).

God has done and continues to do what he must do so that people can be saved. But we must do our part. The individual answer to the question "What must I do to be saved?" really depends on where the one seeking God is at spiritually when he asks the question. For the person who knows nothing or little about Jesus, the first thing he needs to do is "listen". In other words, in order to be saved a person must first hear the gospel (Romans 10:14-17). In order to hear it, someone needs to preach the gospel to him. He must hear how "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve" (See 1 Corinthians 15:1-11).

Some might think that people don't need to hear someone preach the gospel, they simply need to read their Bibles. While it is certainly possible for someone to read the Bible on her own and come to faith in Jesus, it is absolutely God's plan for the gospel to be communicated person to person. People often need help to understand what the gospel is and how it applies to their lives; like the Ethiopian official who, though reading the scriptures on his own, needed Philip to explain the good news about Jesus to him (see Acts 8:30-35).

In my own personal experience (to make a long story short), as a reasonably intelligent and well-read young man, I was reading the scriptures on my own, but that was not enough; I needed Roy Jeal's help to answer my questions and to help me understand exactly how the gospel applied to my life. But my understanding of the gospel and its power came not only from having the scriptures explained to me, but by seeing how the gospel was impacting the lives of real Christians. If the gospel is true it will not only make sense intellectually, but when applied it will make a difference in people's lives. Seeing the gospel at work in Christians' hearts, minds, marriages, families, relationships, attitudes, etc., is all part of "hearing" the gospel. Please read the following scriptures to see that preaching the gospel is done not only through our words but through our lives as well, and that both are necessary to help those who are seeking God: 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 1 Timothy 4:15-16; 1 Peter 2:9-12.

As Paul wrote in Romans 10:13-14, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" but "How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" If you are a Christian, are you preaching the gospel in word and in deed? If you are not a Christian are you listening? You can't believe the gospel if you've not truly heard the gospel.