What must I do to be saved?
Repent toward God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ - and you will be saved. The Bible answers this exact question.
Turn to God and trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save you. Salvation is God’s gift, received through faith in His Son. This exact question is asked in the Bible, and answered:
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.
The promise reached his household too - but not in his place. They heard the word for themselves, and the account ends with the whole house believing:
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
It was asked again, by a crowd who had just realised they had crucified the Son of God:
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Paul summed up the response he preached to everyone, Jew and Gentile alike:
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the answer: repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. The rest of this page explains what it means and what follows from it.
Admit that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself.
The previous pages have shown this. In short:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Nothing you do can pay this debt. No amount of good behaviour, religion, or sincerity will do it.
Understand what Christ has done.
God did not leave you in that condition. He sent His Son to take your punishment:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. The debt has been paid. Salvation is not something you achieve; it is something you receive.
Repent.
Turn from your sin and from running your own life, and turn to God. This is not cleaning yourself up first; it is changing direction:
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Repentance means agreeing with God about your sin and turning from it towards Him. You stop defending what He calls wrong and turn to Him for mercy. It is more than regret, and it does not mean making yourself sinless before you come.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Trust Him, and Him alone, to save you. Not your prayer, not your church, not your effort. Him:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name
Salvation is by grace through faith - and the life that follows is the fruit of it, not the price of it. Paul says both in one breath:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The One who saves you is the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing means receiving Him as He is - Saviour and Lord together. You cannot honestly ask Him to save you while insisting He has no right to lead you. So you come to Him trusting Him, turning to God, and ready to learn to follow Him:
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Following Him will cost you, and He has not promised a life without trouble. He has promised something better:
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Call on Him.
Tell God. Ask Him for mercy. Jesus described a man who did exactly that, and what God did with it:
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other
A dying criminal did the same, with nothing left that he could do:
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
You may be ashamed of your past, or afraid you have gone too far. This is how God speaks to that fear:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
And this is how Jesus described the welcome that waits for the one who turns back:
But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
You do not need to hide what you have done or wait until you feel worthy. Turn to Him and trust His promise.
If you have never prayed before
Prayer is speaking to God. You can tell Him honestly that you have sinned, ask for His forgiveness, and express your trust in Jesus Christ.
The words of a prayer do not earn salvation. Christ saves those who believe in Him. If you want to turn to Him and do not know how to begin, the prayer below can help you express that faith. Use your own words, or these words if they honestly express what you mean.
Lord Jesus Christ, I have sinned against God. I have lived my own way, and I cannot save myself. Please have mercy on me.
I believe that You are the Son of God, that You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sin to You and trust You to forgive me and save me.
You know my whole life, including the things I am ashamed to name. I bring it all to You. I depend on Your mercy and on what You have done for me.
I receive You as my Lord and Saviour. Give me an obedient heart. Help me leave behind what is wrong and follow You.
Help me understand Your Word. Lead me to other believers and to a church that faithfully teaches the Bible, where I can learn and grow.
Thank You for Your promise to receive those who come to You. I trust You. Lead me in the way I should go.
Amen.
If you are trusting Christ: know that you are saved.
Rest your confidence in Him and in what God has promised. Your feelings may change; the words God has given you are the place to look for assurance.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Eternal life is in the Son. If you have Him, you have it. And God does not leave the one who has believed to hold on alone:
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Then tell people.
Jesus expects His followers to own Him openly:
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Be baptized.
Jesus commanded it, and in the book of Acts it follows believing without delay. The jailer at the top of this page was baptized the same night:
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Be clear, though, about what baptism is and is not. When Peter preached to the household of Cornelius, he placed forgiveness in believing - and God confirmed it before any water was involved:
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.
Peter later described what God had done for them:
And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
The heart is purified by faith. So when the same Peter writes that baptism “doth also now save us,” he says in the same sentence what he means and does not mean:
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
Not the washing of the body - the answer of a good conscience toward God. Baptism is faith made visible. That is also how to read Peter’s words at Pentecost, quoted at the top of this page, and what Paul was told after his conversion:
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Remission of sins is through Christ’s name, received by believing; baptism is where the believer calls on that name publicly. Jesus Himself put believing and baptism together, and named what condemns:
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Baptism does not save you; faith in Christ does. Baptism is the believer’s obedience, and it should not be delayed. Seek a church that faithfully teaches Scripture, tell them you are trusting Christ, and ask about baptism.
Then follow Him.
Salvation is the beginning of a new life, not the end of a transaction. The first Christians did four things together:
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Find believers who hold to the Bible and join them:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Read the Word daily:
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby
Pray. Obey what you learn. Your obedience does not purchase salvation - it grows from the new life He gives.
If you still have questions
You are welcome to keep reading and examining the passages. Take your questions seriously, and seek answers from Scripture with the help of a faithful Christian or church. Jesus calls you to repent and believe; an unanswered question deserves attention rather than indefinite delay.
There is nothing to wait for. The offer is open now:
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.