Day 318 - John 16 - Acts 5

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 318 - John 16 - Acts 5 (Condition for Salvation)
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"Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."  (Acts 2:38-29)

It is true that the Bible teaches that salvation is a free gift from God; however, it comes with a condition. In the gospels, both Jesus and John the Baptist preached repentance as a condition for salvation (Matthew 3:1,2; 4:17).  After Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven, His diciples continued to preach the same message of repentance as a condition for salvation as we see in our text above.

When we do a simple study of our Scripture passage, it becomes clear through the law of non-contradiction which states that contradictory statements cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time, that unless a person repents, he cannot receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is a common description of being saved in the New Testament. 

Understanding the meaning of repentance, therefore, is supremely important for every human since it is the only way to be saved.  According to Webster dictionary, to repent means to turn away from sin.  One preacher said, "to repent means to do an about face from sin."  When I received the gift of the Holy Spirit one Sunday in August, 1981, I asked God to forgive me of my sins and at the same time I turned my back from sin as my slave master to Jesus as my loving Master.

Not only is salvation conditional to repentance, it also must be tested by obedience.  A profession of salvation without the accompanying proof of obedience is simply that - a profession.  When Peter told his audience to repent, he also told them to be baptized.  Now, he is not implying that baptism is a requirement for salvation - it is not.  He is implying that obedience (in this case demanded through baptism) is proof of a person's profession of faith in Christ.  In other words, a person who says he is saved but is not willing to obey God is more than likely not.

Have you repented of your sins and asked Christ to forgive you once and for all?  If so, do you have proof of your salvation through your obedience to the commandments of God as revealed to us in the Bible?  If you have both repentance and proof of obedience, praise God you can rejoice in knowing that you are truly saved.