Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Acts 16:31
When my wife and I go biking, we like to know how many miles we’ve pedaled. So, I went to a bike shop to buy an odometer and came home with a minicomputer that I discovered was a bit too complicated for me to program.
I headed back to the bike shop, where the person who had sold it to me had it working in no time. I realized it wasn’t as difficult to understand as I thought.
In life, new things and new ideas can seem complicated. Think about salvation, for instance. Some people might think becoming a child of God is complicated.
Yet, the Bible spells it out in simple terms: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). No set of rules to follow. No mysteries to solve.
Here’s the simple truth: We’ve all sinned (Romans 3:23). Jesus came to earth to save us from the penalty of our sin—death and eternal separation from Him (Matthew 1:21; 1 Peter 2:24). He arose from the dead (Romans 10:9). And we’re saved from spiritual death to eternal life by trusting in what He did for us (John 3:16).
Consider what it will mean for you to simply trust and believe in Jesus. Let Him give you “life . . . to the full” (John 10:10).
What will it mean for you to receive salvation in Jesus? If you’ve been saved, what difference has faith in Him made in your life?
Loving God, I realize that I’m a sinner—I do things that are wrong in Your eyes. I also realize that You sent Jesus to earth to die on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me for my sins and redeem me. Thank You for the salvation You’ve provided!
Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.
INSIGHT
The context of the promise in Romans 10 that “if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (v. 9) is the full inclusion of gentiles—non-Jewish people—into God’s people and into a saving relationship with Him. Before Christ came, gentiles could only become part of God’s people by converting to Judaism and following Jewish law. But Paul argued that gentiles were no longer required to follow Jewish law to be considered righteous before God. Instead, “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (v. 4). This means that a relationship with God is accessible to all—“there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” (v. 12).