Be Saved

In the book of Acts there is a question posed by a jailer to the apostle Paul and his friend Silas. That question is one that every person ought to ask and seek an answer to. The jailer asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Have you ever asked that question, or thought about this matter of salvation? The word "saved" is a broad term of course. The basic meaning of this word is "to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction". A person would only need to be saved or rescued if he or she was in some sort of danger. About 20 years ago the house we lived in had a goldfish pond in the backyard. The small pond was actually quite deep with steep, slippery sides. When our daughter Hannah was two years old she wandered around to the back yard without my wife realizing it. Less than a minute had passed when my wife Deby noticed Hannah was missing. Deby bolted out the door and headed straight for the goldfish pond to find Hannah floating face down in the water, flailing her arms helplessly. Hannah needed to be saved. She was in danger. She could not save herself, but needed someone else to rescue her. Deby jumped in and scooped her up to safety in an instant.

Do you need to be saved? Perhaps you don't think you are in any danger at this moment in your life. The Bible declares that all men and women are in fact in grave danger and therefore in need of rescue from that danger. The danger is this -- that if a person dies unsaved, he or she will spend eternity separated from God in torment and agony. This danger is not something the average person is aware of, although most people have at least thought about it at some time or other. The Bible says that there will be a day of judgment at which point a person's eternal destiny will be fixed. There will be an eternity of heaven or hell for every person who has ever lived. Hebrews 9:27 says that "it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment."

At the final judgment, God will declare to the unsaved, "I don't know you… Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire" (Matt 25:12,41). The wicked in hell are excluded from God's loving presence and the "life" for which humans were originally created (John 5:29). The damned are "thrown outside, into the darkness" (Matt 8:12; 22:13). The Bible calls this "the second death" (Rev 21:8). There is no escape for those in hell. Revelation 14:11 says "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night."

While there is no escape from hell for those who are in it, there is a way to escape having to go there. When the jailer asked Paul and Silas "What must I do to be saved?", Paul's answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Because you have sinned against God, you will be guilty on the Day of Judgment. Jesus Christ died in order to remove the guilt of all those who would believe in Him. He rose again from the dead so that believers would be saved. Romans chapter ten says: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." I hope that you will begin to think about eternity and what will happen to you after death. Your body will die, but your soul will live on in heaven or in hell. I hope you will seek to “be saved.” If you are a believer, I pray that you will be concerned about the danger that lost people are in, and that you will be concerned enough to do something about it.

For more information about salvation:

http://www.trinitylectures.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=28