What is Saving Faith?

“And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’”

For the crime of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ, Paul and Silas had been stripped of their clothing, beaten with rods and then thrown into a dungeon with their feet held fast in stocks. The man in charge of this prison was told to guard these two prisoners.

The story goes on to tell us that while Paul and Silas were singing songs of praise around midnight, the jail was rocked by an earthquake so great that it broke open the doors and unchained every prisoner. In the confusion of the moment, the jailer realized that he would pay with his life if these prisoners escaped. So he decided to take his own life rather than face the wrath of the magistrates.

As he was ready to fall on his sword, Paul cried out with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” Upon hearing those words, the jailer called for a torch and rushed to the place that Paul and Silas were standing and in desperation uttered the words, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

My first response to the jailer’s question is, “Saved from what?” Is there an inkling of spiritual salvation in his cry or is he just wanting to know what is going to save him from the mess that had just been created by the earthquake, open prison doors, unchained prisoners? Whatever the jailer’s motive, Paul cut to the chase of ultimate salvation when he answered the man, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

The jailer then took Paul and Silas to his house. There, while their wounds were being washed and dressed, they presented the Gospel of Jesus to the jailer and his household. The result? Because they believed, the jailer and the members of his household were baptized that very night.

There is something very simply stated in this passage and its simplicity has become a stumbling block to many. We must note what Paul demands for this man and his household to be saved, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”

In this regard, I often think about the thief on the cross, whose statement of faith was, ”Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” To which Jesus replied, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

What Paul required from the jailer, Jesus required of the thief, “Believe!” Believe what? Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes away the sins of the world. I am a sinner, in need of a Savior, Jesus is that Savior. Though there is a whole lot more to know about the Gospel story, that knowledge is not necessary to be saved. The Holy Spirit has an uncanny way of taking care of filling in the blanks as one, by faith, comes to Christ and begins to grow in Him.

How easy it is for man to muddy these crystal clear waters, adding, if you would, other stipulations if one is to be “truly saved.” In Paul’s day, he faced the Judaizers who said that to be saved, one needed to believe in Jesus, be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. An idea refuted by the disciples in Acts 15. Even today, stipulations other than simple believing faith are added to the gospel. Among the various denominations that make up Christendom, we hear, to be truly saved, one must be baptized, one must speak in tongues, one must join this church or that church, one must abstain from this or that. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in baptism, I believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I believe in the fellowship of the saints, but I do not believe that any of these are prerequisites to salvation.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

As a pastor, I have prayed with people to receive Christ as their Savior on their death beds. I have pastored individuals with heads filled with great theological learning. I have pastored those whose confession has simply been, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” And for both of these, as well as all who fall in between, their salvation is predicated on the simple fact that they have believed in the Lord Jesus and have been saved.