A409 : by Tony Garland
The same question was asked almost two millennia ago. You are not alone in asking the question how the sinner, alienated from God, can be saved.
When Paul and Silas were jailed in the town of Philippi, God used an earthquake to loose the chains of the prisoners and open the prison doors. The prisoners could have escaped. But, under Roman practice, this would have also meant the death of the jailor as punishment for allowing the prisoners to escape. The jailor, convinced the prisoners had escaped, was about to commit suicide when Paul informed him they were all still there. The jailor, being astonished by this fact—and having heard their earlier worship while in chains—fell down before Paul and Silas and asked almost the identical question you’ve written with.
30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, . . . (Acts 16:30-31a) What must I do? The jailor realized that he needed whatever it was that produced the fruit he saw in the lives of Paul and Silas. But he wasn’t sure exactly what it was or how to attain whatever it was they had.
If Christianity was like most religions, we might have expected Paul to say, “crawl around Mecca,” or “sleep on a bed of nails,” or “walk across burning coals,” or "live in isolation in a remote cave for 5 years.” For the sinner to do something to demonstrate his seriousness or worthiness to merit God’s favorable response.
These things all have one thing in common: they require intense dedication and performance by the religious devotee, but they are worthless in reconciling the sinner to God. Paul explains elsewhere:
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:23)
If acts of great dedication and mortification have no value as a means of dealing with our separation from God (due to our sin), then how do we find acceptance by God?
Believe!
Paul’s answer to the Philippian jailor simplifies it down to a single response on the part of the sinner: believe. The sinner, having come to understand that God has provided reconciliation through Christ’s work on the cross, must accept this truth and respond in faith — trust what God has said and done is true.
Near the end of the book of John, John tells us this is his very purpose in writing his gospel.
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)
John’s purpose in writing is that the reader, having understood the message, may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that having believed, the sinner may have life in His name. This life is eternal life which is ours as soon as we trust in Jesus and His work on our behalf. The sequence is as simple as 1, 2, 3:
1. God reveals to us, through the bible or through the testimony of a Christian, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
2. We respond by believing what God has revealed (we trust in what God has said).
3. We then have life in His name — we are spiritually born-again (John 3:7) and reconciled to God.
Paul described this conversion process:
9 . . . if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom. 10:9)
What about my self-righteousness?
If reconciliation to God (salvation) is so simple, why do many people believe it must involve more. . . be a more complex, costly, or lengthy process?
Let’s go back to your original question. You asked, “how the sinner achieves conversion?"
One dictionary defines achieve as: “to succeed at reaching or accomplishing (a goal, result, etc.) especially through effort”1 Notice that achieving something typically requires “accomplishing” something, most often through “effort” (typically our own).
But the Christian gospel is not like that. God has done the work that we cannot - paid the price for our sin which we could never pay. We can’t pay the cost because we have nothing to offer God. Thus, it is He who does the work.
1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. (Isaiah 55:1-2)
The mistake of all other systems of belief is thinking that the sinner has to perform or contribute in a way which God will find pleasing and reward. But the fact is that we have nothing of value to offer God—other than responding to believe what He has done.
This message of our inability to please God on our own is offensive to our sense of self-righteousness. We believe we are “basically good” and that God will reward us for a life which has not been “overly bad.” We desperately want to offer up what we perceive as our good deeds to appease Him and convince Him we are worthy of His consideration. This truth was aptly described by Paul as the “offense of the cross”: 11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. (Galatians 5:11) In other words, if God can be appeased by religious acts (e.g., circumcision) then we can preserve our sense of self-righteousness.
But the prophet Isaiah gives us God’s perspective: But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6) This is why we cannot contribute one iota to the cost of attaining our salvation. The only part we play in the process—the “one thing” we must do—is accept what God has done on our behalf by responding in faith.
Thus, a characteristic of those who respond in faith is that they trust God much like a child trusts their father. They don’t have to understand everything daddy does on their behalf, but they are convinced they are His child. This is seen as foolishness by the sophisticated, but in the purpose of God salvation is found by those with child-like faith and missed by others who may have much greater achievements, dedication, education, intellect, etc.
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:21)
Jesus emphasized this truth:
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Matthew 11:25-27)
Seek ➡️ believe ➡️ be saved
It appears that you are already seeking God. This is an important first step. 6 . . . without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6). All that is needed now is for you to understand you can do nothing to “achieve conversion” other than responding in faith to what God has shown you in His Word, the Bible.
At the moment you trust, you will be saved and embark upon a lifelong journey serving God and being conformed into the image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28). It really is that simple!
For more information on this topic, see the following links on our website:
My prayer is that Christ continue to reveal Himself to you and that you trust in His work on your behalf. May today be your "day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2)!
In Christ, Tony
Endnotes:
|