Dare to Believe God Saves
Let’s read a wonderful event in the book of Acts. Paul and Silas have been arrested for preaching the gospel; they were severely flogged and thrown into jail and their feet clasped. Not a nice situation. We read this: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”” (Acts 16:25–31 NIV11)
Salvation: Understanding the Need to Believe
What must I do to be saved? Believe, Paul said. Dare to believe in Jesus! And you will be saved.
Now, what does it mean to be saved? What do we need saving from? Well the truth is that we need to be saved from the punishment that our sins deserve. We all fall short of God’s standards in our lives, and we sin. We live selfishly, we do bad things and avoid good things. The more we sin the more we separate ourselves from the great holy God who is perfect.
And our sins deserve punishment. God’s Word says that the wages of sin is death. This doesn’t mean God is a mean old man longing to smash everybody with judgment: it means that sin is what destroys the world and so it needs to be punished, much like crime in any country needs to be punished.
I see God not saying gleefully “yes! They’ve sinned again, let me punish them!”, but I see Him mournfully saying “no! They’ve strayed again. Oh how I long for them to find salvation and be freed from sin!!!” But we reject him, and so we build up offenses against God and his punishment awaits.
Daring Faith: Embracing Salvation in Christ
And then came Jesus. Jesus said “the punishment that they deserve, I will take.” He died on the cross in our place, a perfect substitute. And “whoever believes in Him”… or “whoever receives Him as their substitute”… receives the gift of salvation, instead of the wages of death they deserve for their sin.
That jailor who wanted to kill himself asked Paul “what must I do to be saved?” He knew that he was facing punishment.
And Paul said “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” from that punishment. And so he learned that Jesus’ death bought his forgiveness, and saved him. He dared to believe… and he was saved!!!
How about you today friends? Will you dare to believe in the God who died on the cross for you? Will you dare to say to him “I believe”… “be my Saviour”… “Save me now!”?
If you will simply believe that Jesus died and took your place as a substitute, and receive Him as your substitute, that is how you are saved.
I pray that you have made this step today and that your faith today will unleash God’s mercy and forgiveness and saving grace in your life.
