Have you ever wondered why people were told different things in order to be saved?
Below is a list of things told people what they must do to be saved found written in the New Testament of Christ which is the New Agreement (covenant, testament) between God and creation...
Acts 16:30-34 , “30 and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. 32 And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. 34 And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.”
Acts 2:37-38, “37 now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? 38 And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 for to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.”
Acts 22: , “6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8 And I answered, who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9 And they that were with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10 And I said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. 11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me I came into Damascus. 12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there, 13 came unto me, and standing by me said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And in that very hour I looked up on him. 14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath appointed thee to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. 15 For thou shalt be a witness for him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16 And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name. “
On each of these conversion examples, the hearers each were told what they needed to hear in order to be saved. The jailer was told to believe on the Lord Jesus and he would be saved, and then was baptized. The sinners in Jerusalem were told to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. These were not told to believe on the Lord Jesus. Saul that became the Apostle Paul was told to arise and be baptized and wash away his sins calling on the name of the Lord. All three obeyed what was told them in order to be saved. All three were told different things to do in order to be saved. It really boils to down to the roadmap to salvation.
For example, if I was in America and in California, then I asked how do I get to Tennessee? The one giving directions would tell me, Go across the Rocky Mountains, across the continental divide, down into the Great Plains, then into Arkansas and across the Mississippi River then you will be in Tennessee. So I am traveling along and get to the Great Plains and ask again, how to do I get to Tennessee? They answer me, go into Arkansas, then go across the Mississippi River then you will be in Tennessee. So then when I get to Arkansas I ask the same question, how do I get to Tennessee? They answer oh, it is simple go across the Mississippi River and then you will be in Tennessee. You see in this illustration, I asked the same question, how do I get to Tennessee? I got three different answers based on where I was at.
In the three conversions listed above in the book of Acts, they each received an answer based on where they were spiritually in order to be saved. All three went through the same steps in order to be saved. The jailer did not know who Jesus was and was told to believe on the Lord Jesus. Then it says the word was preached unto him and he was baptized. In the Jerusalem group, these people were told by Peter they has crucified Jesus the one that was to save them and they asked what must they do because they had killed the savior. They already believed and confessed that He was the savior, and they were simply told to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Saul, had a direct encounter with Jesus. There was no doubt he now believed after being struck blind, and he was fasting and praying for three days. Then according to the word from Jesus, Ananias came and told him what he must do in order to be saved, to arise and be baptized washing away his sins calling on the name of Jesus. All three were told exactly what then needed to hear in order to be saved, based on where they were in relation to the doctrine of salvation.
In essence, every person who has never heard the message of Jesus doing us a favor by becoming a man and being born of a virgin, and then obeying the righteous demand of the Law never choosing to do evil and then laying his life down as a substitute for the sins of any who believe and obey him. This is the first step, to hear the message of the redeemer sacrifice. That Jesus died and was raised so you would never have to choose a wrong or evil things again and so all your wrongs can be forgiven. Then those who hear this message are left with a choice, to believe this message of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, or not to. To those that believe they must then choose to obey what Jesus said in order to be cleansed.
The next step then is repentance, it is a turning away from self and this world and a turning to Jesus and His New Agreement between God and mankind called the New Testament of Jesus Christ. Then the next step, is confession, we cannot be secret Christians. We must be willing to faithful to Jesus even to the point of death, in other words it cannot be just head knowledge of the facts. The devils believe and tremble. It is not belief that saves you but trusting that obeying Jesus words will saved you. We usually take a public confession right before baptism, by asking do you believe that Jesus is the only begotten son of God the savior of mankind? Then the next step based on their answer is to be baptized for the remission of sins and then they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Some people claim that you are trying to earn your salvation by submitting to baptism, but in reality or according to God and His word, you are being submissive allow God to make you into a New Creature by washing away your sins and filling you with the Holy Spirit. In essence, you die to yourself and are buried with Jesus in the watery grave of baptism being risen with Him in the faith of the operation of God. Col 2:11-12, “11 in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Then you are a New Creature, 2 Cor 5:17, “17 Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.” Then we must remain faithful to the One that has called us to Himself unto death.
Father please meet our souls deepest needs and heal our souls deepest wounds and forgive our sins that we may prosper and be in health as our souls prospers and we ask you to remove anything that hinders us from obeying the truth…in Jesus of Nazareth’s name amen.
Try…A…Daily Pause for Prayer and Devotional a Wellsaid Christian Devotional about the teachings of Jesus… https://www.anopenbiblestudy.com/blog-by-ben-the-friend...
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