Contrary to the teachings and opinions of men that one is saved at the very moment one believes in Christ or when one prays the sinner’s prayer, the Bible very clearly teaches that to be saved in Christ one must hear His Gospel message and believe it, repent of sins, confess Christ to be the Son of God and be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins. This does not mean, however, that this is all one must do to be saved and to go to Heaven, but each person must follow these initial steps to begin the Christian walk.
When Christ was going back to Heaven, He had charged His disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15-16). Christ didn’t stop at “He who believes,” but said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Preachers who offer salvation by “faith only,” therefore, deceive people (Romans 16:17-18).
Then, there are those who insist that one must have a supernatural experience to be saved or to be “born again,” an idea that is most irrational and unbiblical. This concept, variously advocated, supposes that at some particular moment, with emotions better felt than told, in answer to prayer, under the emotional appeal of revivalism or in some other bizarre circumstance, the sinner suddenly experiences faith. At that moment, it is supposed that all his sins are forgiven, he is transformed spiritually, born again and saved eternally. Some claim to have such an experience during their sleep, when they suddenly saw, as they say, the sky opened and heard someone speaking to them to assure them that they were now saved. This is totally absurd. No biblical precept or example even hints at such a thing ever. In all of the cases of conversions as mentioned in the Book of Acts of the Apostles, no one ever came into Christ or became a Christian in the manner of such a false conception.
On the other hand, no experience that any man ever had could rival that of Saul (Paul) on the Damascus road. He actually saw the Lord. Yet, three days later, as we read, he was still a praying, penitent and grieving sinner, and so he remained till he heeded the command of the Lord given to him through Ananias to “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). Acts 9:18 says, “And he arose and was baptized.” The fact of the matter is that one must both believe and obey to be saved—not just believe (James 2:24, 26).
There are many other examples found in Acts, which is commonly accepted as the book of conversions, that show in all cases where people were saved from sin and became Christians, all had to believe and obey the Gospel. For instance, a large gathering of people, after hearing the Gospel of Christ, asked the disciples, “What shall we do?” The answer given to them was, “Repent, and let everyone 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” (Acts 2:37-38).
Again, when the evangelist Phillip entered Samaria and preached Christ there, we read in Acts 8:12 that “both men and women were baptized.” A little later, in the same chapter, we read about the conversion of the eunuch. There we read, beginning with verse number 35, Phillip preached Christ to the eunuch as they were traveling in his chariot and, “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Phillip said, ‘if you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Phillip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him” (Acts 8:35-38). Clearly, one can see from all of these examples of conversion that there is a scriptural pattern given in the Bible to learn when and how one is saved.
When one believes in Christ, he changes his mind. When one repents of sin, he changes his will. Then, when he is baptized, immersed in water, to be saved—for the forgiveness of sins or to have sins washed away—he changes his relationship or his place from being of the world, for now he is in Christ. During baptism one shares in the death of Christ, thereby contacting the saving blood of Christ, which He shed in His death for sinners.
So does the Scripture teach. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). By being baptized, an individual is lowered into a body of water, and the water closes over one’s body. Just as a dead person is buried, so one is buried in baptism. Then, he is raised up from the watery grave to walk in the new life of a Christian. All of this portrays the man died to one kind of life and rose to another kind of life. He went down into the water a man of the world and rose a man in Christ, a different person, a new man (2 Corinthians 5:17). God’s way is the only sure way.
