THE QUESTION THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
What if you stood before God today…
And He asked,
“Why should I let you into My heaven?”
What would you say?
There is a question in Scripture that may be the most important question any human being will ever answer…
“What must I do to be saved?”
One night, a Philippian jailer found himself in a desperate situation. After an earthquake opened the prison doors, he feared the prisoners had escaped and was ready to take his own life.
But Paul stopped him.
The jailer fell trembling before Paul and Silas and asked:
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30
What a question!
And Paul’s answer was remarkably simple:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31
Now imagine that same question being asked of you.
Imagine standing before God today.
Not your pastor, parents or spouse.
Just you…and God.
If He asked you,
“Why should I let you into My heaven?”
What would you say?
That isn’t just an interesting question.
It is the most important question you will ever answer.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching this lesson many times. Whether you are 6 or 96, there is no more important question to settle than this one:
“What must I do to be saved?”
One day, every one of us will step into eternity. The question isn’t if that day will come. The question is…
Are we ready?
Over the past several weeks, we’ve discovered two life-changing truths.
Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve—the punishment our sins deserve.
Grace is God giving us what we could never deserve—forgiveness, salvation, and an eternal home in heaven.
At the cross, mercy and grace met perfectly.
Jesus took the punishment we deserved so that we could receive what we could never earn.
Forgiveness.
Salvation.
Eternal life.
We’ve also learned that salvation is God’s free gift.
But if salvation is a free gift, does everyone automatically receive it?
No.
The Philippian jailer asked: “What must I do to be saved?”
Paul answered: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”
But what does it mean to believe?
Many people believe Jesus was a real person. Others believe He was a great teacher. Some believe He died on a cross.
But James gives us a sobering reminder:
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” James 2:19
The demons know exactly who Jesus is. They believe the facts about Him. But they have never trusted Him as Savior.
Saving faith is more than believing facts about Jesus.
It is placing our complete trust in Jesus Christ alone to forgive our sins and give us eternal life.
But Here Is Something We Cannot Miss…
There is only one way to God.
Our culture tells us there are many paths to heaven. Some teach that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. Others say there are many different ways to God—that Christianity is simply one path among many. You may have heard statements like that from well-known people, including Oprah Winfrey.
But we cannot build our eternity on what Oprah says, what culture says, or what feels right to us.
We have to listen to what Jesus said. And Jesus couldn’t have been clearer:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
Notice what Jesus did not say.
He didn’t say, “I am one of the ways.”
He didn’t say, “There are many paths, and I am one of them.”
He said:
“I am THE way.”
“I am THE truth.”
“I am THE life.”
And then He made the statement unmistakably clear:
“No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
That may not be a popular message today. But it is a biblical message.
Christianity is not simply about choosing the path that feels right to us. It is about responding to the One who said He is the way.
There aren’t many roads leading to heaven.
There is one Savior.
Jesus Christ.
And that is why the question, “What must I do to be saved?” matters so much.
Because the answer isn’t:
“Try harder.”
“Be a good person.”
“Do enough good things to outweigh the bad.”
“Follow your own path.”
The answer is:
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Trust Him.
Receive His gift of salvation.
Jesus is not one option among many. He is the way.
What Happens When We Believe?
Paul explains what happens when we trust Christ in Ephesians 1.
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance.”
Ephesians 1:13–14
Notice the beautiful order:
We hear the gospel.
We trust—or believe—in Jesus.
We are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
The moment we trust Christ, God gives us His Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our inheritance.
Think about buying a house or a car.
A deposit doesn’t earn the purchase. It represents a promise that the transaction will be completed.
God has given us something even greater.
His Holy Spirit is His guarantee that we belong to Him and that one day we will receive our full inheritance in heaven.
Our assurance isn’t based on how tightly we hold on to God.
It is based on how faithfully God holds on to us.
What incredible grace!
The God who saves us is the God who seals us.
And the God who seals us is the God who will one day welcome us safely Home.
One Last Thing…
As we come to the end of this lesson, I want to ask you something very personal.
Have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior?
If, through this study, you have come to understand God’s grace and mercy in a deeper way—and you have trusted Jesus as your Savior—I would really love to hear from you.
You don’t have to share it in the comments unless you want to.
But I’d love if you would send me a private message.
It would be incredibly rewarding for me to know that through these lessons, someone finally understood the depth of God’s grace and mercy, understood what Jesus did for them, and chose to receive His free gift of salvation.
That would make every lesson worth it.
And Perhaps You’re Wondering…
What does genuine saving faith look like in the life of someone who has failed?
Tomorrow, we’ll watch Jesus meet a disciple who failed Him in a very public way.
His name was Peter.
By human standards, his story should have ended in shame.
If Peter was a member in some of our churches today with his past, we might never consider him qualified to serve.
That’s people.
That’s not God.
Tomorrow, we will witness one of the most beautiful demonstrations of grace and mercy in all of Scripture.
We’ll discover that when Jesus restores a broken life…
failure is never the final chapter. You won’t want to miss it.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
—Ephesians 2:8–9
