What must I do to be saved? That was the question that the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30. Verse 31 says, “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
A friend asked me a while back if there was a difference between believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. I think there is enough of a difference to comment on and I think salvation is an important enough subject to explore what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ seems to say that you believe he existed as a historical person. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ says that you are trusting in His person as able to save you and also you are trusting in His work on your behalf to save you. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ means by faith you are as the song goes, “standing on the promises of God.”
As far as His person goes, you must believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. He is not some lesser created god. He is Almighty, Jehoval God. He is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. In John 8:24, Jesus said, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” Jesus is saying here that if you do not believe that He is the I AM of the bible, the I AM of the burning bush, the I AM throughout the gospel of John, you will die in your sins. To be saved you must believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. Again, not some lesser created god but you must believe that He was and is and ever more shall be God. To be saved you are believing on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as God.
Secondly, you must believe on His work (the Gospel) to save you. Paul declares the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. He says in verse 1 that he had preached it to them, they had received it and now they were standing on it. Verse 2 says that they had been saved by it. Verses 3 and 4 say that Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and that he rose again all according to the scriptures. Verses 5 through 8 say that there were over 500 witnesses who could attest to the truthfulness of the Gospel.
To be saved, the bible says that we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The bible says one last thing that we must believe to be saved and that is about ourselves. We must believe that we are sinners. I will end with 1 John 1:7 – 2:2.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2
My little children, these things write i unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.