Colonial Point

Nestled in the heart of the New Testament is a passage in the book of Acts:  The Question that is more important than perhaps any other question in history:  How can a man be right with God?  In this story (found in Acts, chapter 16), a prison guard, or jailer, asks the question and in his questioning, we see five phases of his journey.  Perhaps you can relate...

[1]  The first phase we find ourselves in is that of being OBLIVIOUS or unaware.  As the jailer in Acts fell asleep that night, he thought everything was secure in his life; he was oblivious to what was about to happen.  Approach the average person on the street and ask them about their salvation and they’ll probably admit they’re not perfect, but they’re counting on God to let them into Heaven because of the "good" things they have done.  In the Old Testament, Solomon wrote:  "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs, chapter 14. verse 12).  Most people are oblivious to the fact they’re separated from God by sin and our goodness won’t bridge the gap.

The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah proclaimed: "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things."  (Isaiah, chapter 59, verses 1-3)

[2]  What will it take to become AWARE?  The jailer was awakened to the fact his prisoners were free and in the eyes of his superiors he was at fault.  He would have to pay for his sin with his life.  One day we’ll wake up and discover things aren’t right in our life as well.  We become aware of the sin in our life and its effect.  Note the simple truth of the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 3, verses 22 and 23,  "There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - words personalized by King David in the Old Testament book of Psalms, chapter 51, verse 3, "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me."  And the Apostle Paul reminds us in the New Testament of the consequences,  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans, chapter 6, verse 23)

[3]  The moment we realize the salary we’ve earned for the sin in our life is death and eternal separation of God, like the Philippian jailer we’re going to experience a personal crisis - and that will lead to QUESTIONING.  The jailer flat out asked "The Question": What must I do to be saved?  It doesn’t always take a crisis for us to ask this question, but it seems to speed up the process.  Things like the death of a loved one or friend, a serious illness - anything that reminds us of our mortality will often time shift us into the questioning phase of life.

This is the critical turning point in a person’s life because it’s this phase of life that will lead us to answers.  If we don’t question we’ll never find the answers.  In the New Testament books of Mark, chapter 10, and Luke, chapters 10 and 18 we read about three different people who asked almost the same question because each had come to a point in their life where they were looking for answers.

[4]  The answers they gave to him helped him become INFORMED.  The information we’re given is only as credible as the source from which we receive it.  When asking questions we must be careful to make sure the answers we find are the truth.  Paul and Silas’ actions both before and after the earthquake in chapter 16 of Acts showed the jailer that their answers could be trusted.  

"Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house," are the words of Acts, chapter 16, verse 32.  Paul and Silas didn’t give their opinions about what he should do - they spoke the word of the Lord and their Lord was Jesus.   Every conversation about the Biblical plan of Salvation must be focused around Jesus.  Every verse in the Bible is part of God’s plan that points only to Jesus.  In the Old Testament a Messiah is promised and in the New Testament it’s made clear Jesus is the Messiah.  And because of that credibility, Jesus could boldly and truthfully proclaim in the New Testament book of John, chapter 14, verse 6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

According to John, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, there is no one else who can make this claim:  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. "

According to the book of Romans, chapter 3, verses 24 and 25, Jesus is the only one who can save us because He’s the one who took the punishment for our sin. "Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us."

[5]  Based on who Jesus is and what He did for us we’re invited to believe in Him.  When we do so we will begin to be FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT.  Paul and Silas said to the jailer in: "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved..." (found in the book of Acts, chapter 16, verse 31).  In the book of John, Jesus said, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.  (chapter 3, verse 36) "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (chapter 5, verse 24)

There are many other passages that talk about the need to believe in order to be saved, but what does "believe" mean?  When the Bible talks about believing or faith it also talks about actions that demonstrate our faith.  It is important that we don’t put the actions before faith as Paul points out in the New Testament book of Ephesians:  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (chapter 2, verses 8 and 9)

If we’re saved through faith, how then does the Bible define faith in passages that talk about salvation?  We find in the book of Acts, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord," (chapter 3, verse 19)  In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. (chapter 17, verse 30)

(a)  The first thing God wants us to do to demonstrate our faith is REPENTANCE.  To repent means we do an about face from our sinful life.  All the time we’re oblivious to the fact we are sinning, we’re drifting farther and farther away from God.  To experience salvation we must stop going the wrong direction in life and turn around.  On the Day of Pentecost after Peter had preached the first sermon that highlighted Jesus and what He had done on the cross, the Jewish audience was so convicted they cried out to Peter and the other disciples asking what must we do and the first thing we read in Acts, chapter 2, verse 38 is repent.

(b)  Another action that is a part of faith is CONFESSION.  The confession here is not telling your sins to another person, but stating what you believe to be true about Jesus Christ.  How important is confession?  In the book of Romans, Paul wrote:  "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."  (chapter 10, verses 9 and10)  What must we confess?  From these verses it’s pretty clear that we must believe and confess Jesus is Lord  - or the one to whom we pledge our allegiance.  The Apostle Peter modeled confession for us in response to Jesus’ question about who His disciples thought He was:  Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

(c)  The next action of faith is BAPTISM.  In Acts, chapter 16, after Paul and Silas explained to him the Lord’s words we read:  "At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized."  (chapter 16, verse 33)  In Acts, chapter 8, immediately after Philip explained to the Ethiopian about Jesus, we read:  "As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, 'Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?' And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. (verses 36-39)  In Acts chapter 2, verse 38, immediately after Peter told the crowd to repent, he told them to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.  Note the timing of the events - there was no delay in people being baptized once they were informed and believed.  Mark chapter 16, verse 16 records these words of Jesus, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  In the Great Commission, as laid out in chapter 28, verses 19 and 20 of the New Testament book of Matthew, we are told to baptize as we make disciples, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

These three actions confirm our faith is genuine.  The rest of our lives are then spent striving for obedience to our Lord.  The Bible refers to those who have a saving faith in Jesus as "Holy."   To be holy is to be set apart or different than the rest of the world.  And God knows we could never do this on our own so He gives us His Holy Spirit.  Peter said in Acts chapter 2, verse 38 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."   Without the Holy Spirit we could never come close to what God wants us to be.  It is vital we allow God’s Holy Spirit to fill us so we can live the obedient life.  Some people have made it to this point in their spiritual journey but are unable to live the obedient life because they didn’t allow the Holy Spirit to fill them.  That’s like planning a vacation to Florida and stopping in Georgia - you didn’t reach your destination.

The Bible is quite clear that God wants everyone to experience salvation and spend eternity with Him in Heaven.  The journey will take a lifetime of following His answers to "The Question."  While we may not be all at the same phase, I pray we are traveling in God’s direction.