What Do I Need to Know to be Saved

My daughter is learning to drive. This is a very strange time for me as you might imagine. She has studied many hours working through a program to receive her learner’s permit. She has been practicing driving often. She began in large desolate parking lots, then side streets, and now she is driving on the highway as she prepares for her driving exam. It takes a lot for a young person to get behind the wheel, perhaps even more for a parent to accept it. However, we understand that this is part of growing up. It is part of their maturation, and it gives them a skill they will use for the duration of their lives.

            In most scenarios, a 15 or 16-year-old cannot wait to get behind the wheel so that they can experience the “freedom” that most of us consider so insignificant that we often think of it as something that we just do, or even as a chore. Imagine if my daughter had said when it was time to get behind the wheel, “I just do not know enough.” That would be highly unlikely to happen because that is not like her at all, but also, she spent the required time in study and now it was time to follow through with what she learned by action. Unfortunately, many of us use that excuse daily, and we never move on to what each must do. Let us take the time to find out how we can move forward to greater service in the kingdom.

Knowing Enough to be Saved?

            Some have grown up with faithful parents, and grandparents even, yet they may be thinking as they grow older that they do not know enough to be saved. Maybe someone has been presented with the Gospel but did not have the benefit of growing up in a Christian home and they are still unsure if they know enough to obey the Gospel. How much does one truly need to know to obey the Gospel? Do they need to know every single king of Israel and Judah? Do they need to know the three feasts of Deuteronomy 16:16? Do they need to know how to harmonize when singing in worship? No to all of those. Then what does one need to do to be saved?

            One must know that they are lost and need a savior (cf. Rom. 3:23). They must hear that Jesus is that savior and what He did to save man (cf. Rom. 10:17). One must know that they must repent of sin (cf. Acts 2:38). One must know that they must confess Christ (Rom. 10:9).  One must know they must be baptized (Mark 16:16). One must know that faithful living thereafter is necessary to remain saved (1 John 1:6-7). One needs to know they are added to the one church (cf. Acts 2:41;47). Everything else can be handled as they grow in godliness. Is this not what Jesus said? “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matt 28:19-20). Jesus made it plain: the model is to teach, baptize, and teach them more. If you know that you are lost and that Jesus is the one who can save you, and if you know what you must do to be saved and added to the Lord’s church, then you know enough to be saved.

Are We Adding Where the Lord Has Not?

            Recently I heard some well-meaning brethren discussing young teenagers obeying the Gospel. They suggested that if a boy does not know how he will serve in the church he might not need to obey the Gospel until he knew that. I find that a bit strange. Would we apply the same concept to an adult who had no association with the New Testament church? Does a man need to know how to pass the communion tray to be saved? Does a woman need to know how to write an encouraging card to someone who is dealing with discouragement before she is immersed for the remission of her sins? I believe it is very important to ask questions of anyone who expresses interest in becoming a Christian, but once again, those questions revolve around what a person must know to be saved. Can a 12 or a 32-year-old tell me that they are lost and that if they were to die tonight, they would be in torment? Could they tell me that they understand what the Bible teaches concerning becoming a Christian? Do they understand that once they obey the Gospel they are added by the Lord to His church? Then that person whether 12 or 32 knows what they need to know to be saved. Other Christians will be able to teach them what they can do once they are saved.

What About an Approved Example

            In Acts 8, we have the instance of the Ethiopian eunuch to whom Philip was dispatched by the Holy Spirit. Note what their interaction included,

And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this,

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;

And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb,

So he openeth not his mouth:

In his humiliation his judgment was taken away:

His generation who shall declare?

For his life is taken from the earth.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other? And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this scripture, preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.

 (Acts 8:30-39)

Did you notice Philip asking him anything about how he would serve in the church? Philip was concerned with preaching Jesus to this man. The man was lost, and he was seeking truth. We often note as preachers that because he preached Jesus this man knew that baptism was required for him to be in Christ and that the need was immediate. Why then would we try to add anything else to one obeying the Gospel? Yes, becoming a Christian is the most important decision of one’s life. Yes, what must I do to be saved is the most important question ever asked. The answer is less complicated than brethren have often made it out to be.

Grace and Peace,

R.D. Beavers