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Salvation"What must I do to be saved?" a terrified, trembling Roman jailer asked his two confident prisoners just outside his just demolished prison in Philippi. The story behind this incident is quite amazing.The apostles Paul and Silas hesitated not a moment with their answer: "'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'" Acts 16:30,31 What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! |
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But what does it mean to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"? Polls report that 90% of Americans claim to believe in God. Is this what it means to believe? To acknowledge that there's probably a God out there somewhere, some master mind or intelligence behind the universe? The Bible says that even the devil himself believes at least that much if not more. James 2:19 What is the level of faith in God and in Jesus Christ as Lord necessary in order to be saved? In his book, Intellectuals Don't Need God: And Other Modern Myths,
Alister McGrath, a microbiologist turned theologian at Oxford University,
identifies three progressive levels of faith–belief,
trust, response–all necessary to qualify as saving faith in God.
Think of saving faith this way: If your physician gave you a prescription for penicillin to cure a potentially fatal disease you'd contracted, you must first believe that penicillin is an effective drug, then trust that the doctor's diagnosis was correct in assuming that penicillin could cure your specific disease, and finally you must respond by actually purchasing and taking the penicillin. Failure to do so, at all three levels, could result in death. The essence of the three levels of faith can be summed up in this easy
to remember acronym:  And when you do, God promises you a life of meaning and purpose now, and eternal life hereafter. John 3:16; 1 John 5:11,12 Do you right now want to "believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ" that you might "be saved"?
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