“They must turn to God in repentance and have faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
“What must I do to be saved?” Perhaps this is a question that you have been
asking yourself. You know that you are
not saved. You know that you are still
in your sins and you know that if you die in this condition then you will
definitely be sent into hell. You know
that God is holy and just and as long as you are in your sins, He will never
allow you into heaven. What, then, must
you do to be saved?
In this verse, we are told what the apostle Paul
preached when he visited people in their homes.
He said to them that they must “turn to God in repentance and have faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1. You must
turn to God in repentance.
This is the first thing everyone must do if they want
to be saved: they must repent. What does
it mean to repent? To repent means two
things.
Firstly, to repent means you must admit before God
that you are a sinner and that you are completely unable to save yourself. You must understand that you do not have
anything good in you and that you are completely unable to please God by your
own works. You must understand that no
matter how hard you try you will never please God by your efforts. You must understand that you are a sinner
through and through. This is something
you need to admit before God in prayer.
When you pray to God do not try to tell him that you are good. Rather, admit before him that you have a
heart of sin and that you are guilty before Him.
Secondly, to repent means to turn from your sin and to
keep turning from it. It is not enough
to admit that you are a sinner. That by
itself will not save you. You must be
determined to turn from your sins. You
must be resolved in your mind that you are going to part company with sin
forever. This is something you must do
the rest of your life. It is something
that God demands of everyone who comes to him for salvation. God is holy and just and pure. He will not receive those who love their sin
and are not willing to give up their sin.
He will only accept those who are determined to flee their sins all
their lives.
2. You must
trust Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins.
If you want to be saved you must turn from your
sins and you must turn to Christ.
You must come to Christ in faith and trust Him alone for your
salvation. You must go to Him in prayer
and admit that you are completely unable to save yourself. You must pray to Him and ask Him to save
you. You must ask Him to take away the
penalty of your sins and to wash you in His blood. You must pray to Him and ask Him to remove
you from the power of sin and to remove the wrath of God that is upon you.
The Bible tells us, “Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). This
is the specific purpose why Jesus came.
He came to live a perfect life so that we might be righteous through
faith in Him. He died on the cross to
pay the penalty for our sins. He shed
His blood on the cross so that we might be cleansed from our sin and be freed
from slavery to sin. When He died on the
cross, the anger of God that was upon us was poured out on Him. He suffered so that we should be forgiven. He bled so that we should be cleansed. He died so that we should live. He alone is the way of forgiveness and
cleansing and salvation because He alone was sent by God into the world to save
sinners. He alone died in the place of
sinners, no one else has ever died for us.
3. You must
repent and believe in Christ today.
You have seen, then, that in order to be saved you
must turn from your sin and you must turn to Christ. Now you need to realise that you need to do
this today. Do not say to yourself,
“Okay, now I know the way of salvation.
One day definitely I will turn from my sins and trust in Christ.”
This is something you need to do today, simply because
you do not know if that “one day” will ever come. Remember that each day you live in sin your
heart is getting harder and harder against God and His word. Each day your heart grows in its love for
sin. If you leave this matter, the day
will come when you will not be able to repent and believe because your heart is
so hard.
Remember also that you do not know how long you will
live. Maybe today you are young and have
good health. But that does not mean you
will live a long time. Many people in
our country die in their youth. This
matter is too important. Do not leave
it. Come to Christ today and you will be
saved.
.
Determine from today to leave your sin and to be delivered from all your sins. Do this today: come to God and tell Him that you are willing to flee from your sin and trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of yours sins. If you come to Him He will receive you and save you.