The Gospel of Jesus Christ was meant to be simple; so simple that even a child could understand it, accept it, and be saved by it. One of the shortest Gospel messages we will ever read is found in Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” I encourage you to read this entire chapter, especially this portion dealing with the Philippine jailer’s salvation. When he asked the Apostle Paul how he could be saved, Paul’s answer was short but full.

BELIEVE – The Greek word is ‘pisteuo’ and it means to have faith in, or to trust. To be saved we must put our faith in the Lord and trust Him for our salvation and eternity.

LORD – The Greek word is ‘kurios’ and it means Supreme in authority, Controller, Master.

JESUS – The Greek word is ‘Iesous’ and it means Savior.

CHRIST – The Greek word is ‘Christos’ and it means the Anointed One. It is the same as Messiah.

SAVED – The Greek word is ‘sozo’ and it means to deliver or protect, heal, make whole.

In speaking these few words to the jailer, Paul pointed out simply that to be saved, we must put our faith in the One who is the Supreme Authority, the Savior, and the Anointed One. Paul describes Christ in His characteristic as the One who can save us. We read a similar evangelistic word in Romans 10:9 which reads, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Here, we see we exercise faith in the One who died and rose again for our salvation. Is there only one savior? Is there only one way to be saved? YES, faith in Christ is the only way. Acts 4:12 tells us, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” It is faith in Christ that can save the vilest sinner.

In accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, we accept the WHOLE person. We put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, God’s anointed. It is really impossible to separate His characteristics of Lord and Savior, for He is both. One who truly accepts Christ as His savior, will also own Him as their Lord. As the new convert grows, He will learn more about who their savior is. The true convert will want to do the Lord’s will. He will make Him Lord of his life as the Holy Spirit works in his heart to place his life totally in the Lord’s hands to serve and follow Him. If one should state that they wanted Christ as their savior but not as their Lord, we would have reason to doubt that person’s salvation. As I said earlier, the true convert will want to serve the Lord who redeemed them from Hell. (286.4)