BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS

 Gospel Truth from the Philippian Jailer. Part 1.

                                                        D.G Miles McKee

In Acts 16, the Philippian jailer cried out to Paul urgently inquiring, “What must I do to be saved.” But the apostle didn’t encourage him to do any work of any kind. Instead, Paul instructed him to simply believe. (See Acts 16:30-34).
 
Simply believe!
 
Paul told the same thing to the church at Rome when he penned the words, “Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. But to him that works not, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:4-5).  I’m not sure that I know of a more stunning statement in the whole of God's Word than that.  It tells us that, when it comes to this matter of salvation, works and grace are polar opposites. While it is true that good works should flow from the believer, no believer has ever been declared right with God by works.
 
Not only can we say that we are not saved by works but when it comes to salvation it could also be said that we are saved by WORDS!  As believers, we rest on God’s Words. Gospel Words!
 
To illustrate this, take the conversion of Cornelius.  In Acts 11:14 Cornelius is told; to send to Joppa for Peter, “who shall tell you, words whereby you and your house shall be saved." Genuine faith rests on God’s word."
 
But let’s take this further.
 
The Philippian jailor asked, “What must I do.” The answer to his question is thought-provoking. Paul tells him to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” But you might ask, ‘What did the jailor know about the Lord Jesus Christ?’ The answer is … probably nothing … except perhaps for what he might have learned through Paul and Silas singing to the Master.  But, he maybe didn’t even hear that. 
 
The next verse is, therefore, very important. It reads, “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house." Paul and Silas did not stop by merely saying, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” but they unfolded the Gospel to the jailer and his household.
 
Notice that the jailer was not told to believe on Jesus merely, but to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is very important because this full title tells us who He is:
He is the Lord which means He is in charge of everything. He is sovereign.
He is Jesus, which signifies that He is Yahweh the Saviour.
He is the Christ, the Anointed One.  He is sufficient for all our needs. 
From this, it follows then that Jesus is more than a mere man. Yes, indeed, He is a genuine man but were He not more than a mere man, He would be no use as our Saviour. If He were only a mere man, He could neither meet all divine requirements for us nor cleanse us with his all-powerful blood. 
 
To be continued next time.

And that’s the Gospel Truth!