What do you need to do to be saved?

When the question, "What must I do to be saved?" rang from the agonised lips of the prison warder at Philippi, the inspired answer did not bid him pray, or strive, or make vows, or anything of that sort. He was told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Nothing that he could do could secure God's salvation. The doing had all been done by Christ. All that is left for the sinner is the appropriation of the results of His mighty work by simple faith.

Scripture puts the whole matter in a nutshell, “What must I do to be saved?” Hear the blessed answer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Repent and believe. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Yes, here is the question, "What must I do to be saved?" The divine answer is wrapped up in the following words which dropped from the lips of two of Christ's very highest and most gifted ambassadors. "Repent and be converted," said Peter to the Jew. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house," said Paul to the Gentile. And again, the latter of these two blessed messengers, in summing up his own ministry, thus defines the whole matter, "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."

Dear friends, I warn you tonight. Do you ask, What must I do to be saved? I say again that there is nothing for you to do — it has all been done — but believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, take Him at His word, rest on His finished work, His sin-cleansing blood. You may be sure He will be true to what He says. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

This, then, is the answer to your question: if you want to be saved, you must believe on God's Son. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Mark you! it is Christ, you must know. It is the Person of Christ who is the object of belief, the object of faith. Christ, personally, is the object of the soul's faith, and the one who believes in Him gets the benefit of all the work He has done. I do not agree at all with an old woman, in Arran, who said to a friend of mine, who was pressing the gospel on her, "You make far o'er muckle o' that word, believe, believe." That let out a great deal. You cannot make too much of believing. If Christ has not hitherto been the object of your faith, may God give you now to believe on His blessed Son, and you will get what the jailor got. "Thou shalt be saved," is God's assurance to the believing soul.

Awakened to my awful condition, do I cry out like one of old, “What must I do to be saved? “ The answer is, beautifully simple: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). When am I saved? The moment I believe on the LORD JESUS. It is a very wonderful thing that such a simple word as “Believe” at the beginning of the text should be followed by such a wonderful word as “Saved” at the end of it, but we can understand it when the name of “The Lord Jesus Christ” lies midway between the two words. To Him be all the praise!

"'Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he has sent' (John 6:29). To believe in the Son of God is all that you or I have to do to get saved."

Let the laughter of folly die away on your lips, and let the cry of anxiety come bursting from your heart, “What must I do to be saved?” Do! Prayers and tears, and alms-giving and sacrament-taking, and Bible-reading and good works, will never do. There is no atonement in these things. The divine answer is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Is that too good to be true, think you? Well, carry your mind back. You remember that beautiful, patriarchal scene long ago on the plains of Mamre.

Well then, you come to Him. But you come to Him as one that cannot do without Him. You come to Him as one that will be lost in hell for ever without Him. You come to Him as one that is in despair without Him and hence, beloved friends, the moment you come to Him you are saved on the spot. Why? Because the work that saves you is done and all that you need is to believe it. All that you need is to put your trust in Him. That is the whole thing. There is no other thing. You cannot do anything.