"WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?"
By D. P. Zeigler
LONG, long ago this question was asked under very peculiar circumstances in an old Philippian jail. Prior to this, One who was the Christ had been crucified on Mount Calvary, in the land of Judea, and over Him placed an inscription, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." This inscription was placed there at the command of Pontius Pilate, a pagan ruler, who, in his examination of this crucified King, had said to the Jews, "I find no fault in this Man." Here, then, was one life so filled with the life of God that no fault could be found in it. This "just One" had been spoken of by prophet and seer ever since the fall of man; and His death on the cross, and that which caused it, had so wrought upon the hearts and minds of His followers that, even tho prison cells faced them, they dared proclaim Him as the world's Saviour. There had been one, Saul of Tarsus, a sectarian Jew in the strictest sense, who had manifested much zeal in persecuting the followers of this crucified One. But, as he was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to continue his persecutions, and had come near the latter city, a great light from heaven shone around him. He heard a voice from heaven, the voice of this same crucified One, saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Saul's heart was touched, his physical eyes were blinded, and he was led to the house of one, Judas, in the city, where he was afterward instructed what he should do. Thus the persecutor has now become the persecuted, as he was the one who was in the Philippian jail on the memorable night in which the question was asked, "What must I do to be saved?" he being the one of whom it was asked. Paul and Silas had gone to Philippi to bring the light of the loving Christ to the poor sin-darkened people, and had been thrown into prison because of the truth which they proclaimed. At the midnight hour these devout men prayed and sang praises to God, so that the prisoners heard them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, the foundations of the prison were shaken, all the doors were opened, and every prisoner's bands were loosed. The keeper, awakening from his sleep, was about to thrust himself through with his sword, supposing the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do thyself no harm; for we are all here." The jailer then called for a light, sprang in, came trembling before these representatives of heaven, and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The pointed arrow of conviction had touched his darkened heart. The next thought that now comes to us is, Why ask such a question? What has befallen the human family?—The answer comes back from the voice of Inspiration, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Chapter 5:12. Sin entered by one man; who was the man?—"Thy first father hath sinned." Isa. 43:27. Who is the father of all living?—Adam, who was created and placed in the Garden of Eden, where he sinned.9 But what is sin?—"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. This being so, Adam violated the law of God. The violation of this law (the law of Ten Commandments, Rom. 7:7) caused him to come under the power of death; "for the wages of sin is death." Chapter 6:23. Then, as "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," "What must I do to be saved?" The answer is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." This was Paul's answer to the jailer, and it is the answer to all inquirers. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Chapter 5:1, 2.