Saving Faith
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)
Maybe you can remember at least one time or another in your life when someone walked up to you with a very determined expression and a Bible in their hand. Then they asked a question: “Are you saved?”
I don’t know about you, but before I became a Christian, I would sort of laugh it off when I would hear people say things like that. I thought it was such a sensationalistic term to use. “After all,” I thought, “I’m not in a burning house. I’m not drowning at sea. What do they mean by that?
In reality the term saved is a very apt description of what happens to a person who puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ. We really were lost. In fact, our situation was worse than being in a burning house or lost at sea. We were separated from God, facing a certain judgment in a place called Hell.
It is possible to have a devil’s faith. You can be quite orthodox in your belief, meaning that you can believe certain things are true. You can have an awe and a respect for God and yet never have belief—in the true biblical sense—as far as saving faith. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” That is devil’s faith.
It is not enough to merely acknowledge intellectually that certain things to be true; you must act on them. Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved . . .” Only you can receive Christ into your life. Only you can call out to the Lord and be forgiven, and He will forgive you right now. He will change you—if you will come to Him.
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