Everyone Tells You To "Do Something" To Be Saved
The Irony
At least to me, the irony sometimes just gets a bit thick. I remember watching a television evangelist spend fifteen minutes emphasizing "you are saved by faith not by works." He correctly pointed out that we are not capable of being good enough to save ourselves; this would be salvation by works. He accurately indicated that the scriptures teach we are not saved by our own merit; we must rely upon Jesus to be forgiven.
Unfortunately, he then proceeded to go beyond what the Scriptures teach by making a common assertion held by some. Since he assumed being saved by works is equivalent to doing something in order to be saved, he proceeded to argue that "there is nothing you could do to save yourself." After pointing out that baptism involves "doing something," he concluded that baptism must therefore be a work and could not be a part of salvation by faith.
Although how he defined works came more from his own head than Scripture, at least up to this point he had been consistent. But then as the program came to an end, he began to encourage people to respond to Jesus. Guess what! He told them to do something in order to be saved! He told his listeners to say a prayer confessing that they were sinners and to ask Jesus to come into their heart!
Apparently he had failed to realize that by defining works as the human activity of "doing something," he had also condemned saying a prayer and asking Jesus into one's heart as being within the pidgeon hole of being a work! He could have avoided this whole awkward dance if he had just focused on preserving Paul's definitions of faith in Christ and salvation by works, which incidentally boil down to trusting in Jesus verses self-reliance, not just believing verses doing something.
Gaining Perspective
My goal is not to be mean spirited or to put anyone down. My purpose is to promote clear thinking about one aspect of the most important subject to our lives. Regardless of what branch of Christendom someone might represent, everyone teaches the potential convert to do something in order to be saved. Their advice might require saying a prayer, participating in a sacrament or being engaged in some other prescribed response. Since humanity makes competing claims regarding what can or should be done in order to be saved, does it not make sense to ask, "what does the Bible teach us to do?"
Examining Luke-Acts
The question of what a person must do is raised several times in Luke-Acts. We first encounter it being directed to John the Baptizer who was preaching the good news about the One to come as he proclaimed a baptism of repentance resulting in the forgiveness of sins. Luke 3:3, 16-18; Acts 19:4 To him the crowds queried, "what should we do?" Luke 3:10, 12, 14 In each case, John's response called for them to repent, that is, they were to cease ungodly behavior and exemplify lives of love. And of course, those who responded to the message were being baptized by him in the Jordan River. John the Baptizer was preparing the way for the Messiah, who would inaugurate the new basis of a relationship with God, namely, through the new covenant.
After Jesus died on the cross establishing the new covenant, Peter preached on the next Pentecost a sermon heralding Jesus as the Messiah who had been made Lord. It was God's Messiah (Anointed One) whom the crowds had killed but whom God had raised to life. In response to Peter's lesson, the Jewish listeners asked their Jewish brethren, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Acts 2:37 Peter's answer was, "repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." Acts 2:38 For those guilty people to respond to the message of Jesus being Messiah and Lord required repenting and being baptized. Accordingly, as many as received Peter's message were baptized. Acts 2:41
Later when Saul of Tarsus encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul came to realize that Jesus was Lord. And yet, Jesus told Saul, "Rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do." Acts 9:6 What was Saul to do? When Saul retold this story in his own words he recounted Ananias' words, "For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name." Acts 22:15-16 The story of Saul's conversion reveals that Saul was not saved on the road to Damascus when he came to realize Jesus was Lord, he was still under the condemnation of his sins until they were washed away when he was baptized. To respond to Jesus being Lord required Saul to be baptized.
Perhaps the Philippian jailor had in mind saving his skin for losing the prisoners when he asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30) But Paul and Silas jumped at the opportunity to teach him the gospel. What did he need to do? He needed to understand who Jesus was and to believe in him. But how could he respond to Jesus without knowing who he was or how to trust in him? So Paul and Silas taught the jailor about Jesus. Upon hearing the good news about Jesus, the jailor and his household responded to the gospel by being baptized. It was upon being baptized that they rejoiced because they had come to believe in the Lord. Acts 16:31-34 For the jailor and his household to believe in Jesus involved more than just believing the message about Jesus, it involved being baptized.
Summarizing the message in Luke's writings, prior to Jesus' death we have John the Baptizer's message about what the people were to do. They were to repent. Those who received his message were also being baptized. After Jesus' death and resurrection made the preaching of the gospel possible, all of that preaching is consistent within Luke's writings regarding what a person must do in order to be saved. It involves a belief in Jesus that leads a person to respond to the gospel by being baptized. When Jesus was preached, people responded, "Here is water. What is preventing me from being baptized?" Acts 8:35,36 People were wanting to rely upon what Jesus had done for them in order that they might be saved. Here is consistency, pure and simple.
A Quick Look at the Gospels
Jesus' teaching in Mark 16:15-16* as well as Matthew 28:19-20 reveals that what people are supposed to do in response to the wonderful story about Jesus involves believing that message about Jesus and being baptized. This is how someone becomes a disciple of Jesus and is saved.
Similarly, the Gospel of John announces the wonderful news that Jesus enables people to be born from above so that they become children of God. John 1:12-13 Putting together all of the relevant texts in John regarding being born again, we find this new birth occurs when someone believes in Jesus by being born of the water and the spirit. John 1:12; 3:3,5
A Quick Look at the Epistles
Paul argued heavily that we are saved by trusting in Jesus and not by our own merit. When Paul described how someone trusts in Jesus in order to become a child of God thus leaving behind the condemnation of sin, he repeatedly wrote about baptism. Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:1-4, 17-18; Colossians 2:11-14
Verses such as Romans 10:9-10 which describe the need for someone to believe in one's heart and confess with one's lips, do not negate the need to be baptized. Believing, confessing and baptism are all necessary aspects of responding in order to Jesus to be saved. In Romans 10, Paul identified those elements of responding to Jesus where the Jews had bauked. If they would over come these in order to respond appropriately, they too would be saved.
Conclusion
Whether in the Gospels, the historical literature of Acts, or the Epistles, consistently the New Testament message announces what we need to do in order to be saved. We must rely upon Jesus for salvation, not ourselves. We rely upon Jesus and his blood by being baptized. (For additional details regading Christ's blood being sprinkled upon our hearts to cleanse us at the time of our bodies being washed with water trace the development of ideas in Hebrews 9:16-23, 28; 10:19, 22)
Every group in Christendom teaches something must be done in order to be saved. Why not proclaim what Scripture teaches?
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2003
*EVEN IF the text in Mark 16 is not authentic with Jesus (remember, it could be an authentic teaching of Jesus EVEN IF it was not the original conclusion of Mark), at the very worst it accurately represents the earliest teaching and understanding being preached by those early Christians. Why? We have second/ third century Coptic translations of Mark which do preserve this teaching.
Other Articles Which Might Be of Interest:
What About the Thief on the Cross?
A Child of God by Faith in Jesus
John 3:16 - The Simple and Beautiful Message of the Gospel
Baptism, Obedience and Justification by Faith: Forcing Square Pegs Through A Round Hole?