Do you have the hope of salvation that the apostle Paul mentions above? Can you have that hope? Would you like to have that hope? How can you have that hope?
These are some very important questions that each of us should ask ourselves. Why are they important? Because our eternal salvation depends upon how we answer them. You see, God wants to have a relationship with us, and give us the gift of eternal life. But the problem is that we are separated from God because of our sin. Because of sin, we cannot have the relationship with God that He desires, and for which our hearts yearn.
But God has a solution to this problem. He sent Jesus, His only Son, into the world as a man like us. Jesus, although He had no sin, He took our punishment for our sin upon Himself on the cross, and He died in our place and was buried. But it doesn’t end there! After three days, Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and death once and for all time, so that through Him, we can know God and have eternal life. This is the Gospel, or Good News, of Jesus Christ.
But what do WE have to do in response to this good news?
This is the question that the Jews, who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Day of Pentecost, asked Peter after he had proclaimed to them the Good News of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Luke records the incident like this in Acts 2:37-38:
"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said unto them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.'"Now let's look at this. First it says that the Jews who listened to Peter were "pricked in their heart." Why were they pricked? It is because they believed what Peter was preaching concerning Jesus. You see, FAITH is the first necessary thing that one must have in order to receive salvation. The writer of the book of Hebrews writes that "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is the gift of God by which we believe in Him and believe all that He has said and revealed to us. Without faith, there is no salvation.
Peter goes on to answer their question by telling them that they have to REPENT. Jesus said in Luke 13:3 that "unless you repent, you too will likewise perish." Repentance means to turn away from sin, and to turn to following God. When John the Baptist was preaching repentance on the shores of the Jordan River, he once saw some Pharisees coming to his baptism, and he told them to "bear fruits worthy of repentance" (Matthew 3:8). You see, repentance is more than simply an inward change of heart. It is an inward change that expresses itself outwardly in our works. Like the Pharisees, we must bear fruits worthy of repentance. James writes concerning Abraham, "Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?" (James 2:22). And he goes on the write, "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). And Paul writes in Romans 2:6 that God "will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality." Faith alone is not enough to receive salvation. Faith must also be accompanied by good works of repentance.
Next Peter tells them to be BAPTIZED for the remission of their sins. This is echoed in Acts 22:16 when Ananias tells Paul, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." It is through baptism that we receive the forgiveness of our past sins. Jesus commanded His apostles to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and then tells them, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16). Jesus even goes as far as telling Nicodemus in John 3:5 that unless one is born of water (which was a Jewish reference to water baptism at the time of Jesus) they cannot enter the kingdom of God. Jesus makes baptism necessary for entering the kingdom of God.
So we see here that Peter says that our response to the Good News of Jesus Christ is to have FAITH, to TURN AWAY FROM OUR SINS, and to be BAPTIZED. But this is only the beginning. To have the hope of salvation, we must continue to follow Jesus. It's not simply a one-time event in our life. The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus will present us holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight IF we "continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel" (Colossians 1:22-23). And Jesus said that we will remain in His love IF we keep His commandments (John 15:10). In other words, coming to Jesus and having the hope of salvation is more than simply making that initial response to the Gospel mentioned above. It is about continuing to live for Jesus. It is about committing our lives to following Him. Jesus said that "he who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13).
But how can we know how to follow Jesus? How can we know what His commandments are? How can we know the teachings of Jesus? We can know these things by listening to the one Church that Jesus has founded. You see, Jesus hasn't left us alone to simply try to figure it all out on our own. Instead, He speaks and teaches us through His Church, which the apostle Paul called the "pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). It is through this one Church that Jesus shares with us His eternal truth and the hope of salvation. That one Church that Jesus founded is the Catholic Church, which continues to be led by the successors of the apostles, who were Jesus' first followers.
Let me ask you some questions for you to think about. Do you have faith in Jesus Christ? Does your life show forth good works of repentance? Have you been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you been added to the one and only Church that Christ founded? And finally, do you have the hope of salvation? If your answer to any of these questions is "no," I encourage you to not delay, and turn to the Lord with a sincere heart. God is waiting for you with open arms, ready to embrace you as His child.