{"id":47614,"date":"2016-05-26T19:49:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T00:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=47614"},"modified":"2022-05-26T19:52:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T00:52:16","slug":"save-yourselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/save-yourselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Save\u00a0Yourselves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Terry W. Benton\n

Only because of what Jesus did for us on the cross and only through knowledge of what He did can we engage in the activity of faith that will result in our salvation. There is a common expression these days that “there is nothing you can do, Jesus did it all for you” which is misleading. Jesus did not\u00a0believe<\/strong>\u00a0for you. He did not\u00a0repent<\/strong>\u00a0for you, and He was not\u00a0baptized<\/strong>\u00a0for you. When Peter told the Jews who asked “what shall we do?<\/em>” (Acts 2:37) what they should do (Acts 2:38), and then told them with many other words to “save yourselves from this perverse generation<\/em>” (Acts 2:40), he was not denying that Jesus had paid the price for their sins, but he was affirming that the benefit of what Jesus did is not automatically applied to our account until and unless we meet these conditions. No one is saved by the blood of Christ until and unless they truly believe enough to meet these conditions: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins….<\/em>” The gift is offered freely on those terms. Those who believe will “gladly receive his word<\/em>” (Acts 2:41) and be baptized accordingly. Those who do not will be condemned (Mark 16:15-16).<\/p>\n

Now, let us also observe that baptism is to be “in the name of Jesus Christ<\/em>“, which is by His authority. On our own authority, we could not be baptized and the act itself save us or give us remission of sins. But, a baptism that is done in the name of Jesus Christ will be active faith that puts us in the position to have saved ourselves from this perverse generation. It is a separating act that cuts out sins and ties to a perverse generation of people and allows us to cross the Red Sea of Jesus’ blood to rise on the other side totally free from the past sins and now totally committed to the leadership of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior (I Corinthians 10:1-3;\u00a0Romans 6:3-5;\u00a0Colossians 2:12;\u00a0Acts 22:16;\u00a0Acts 8:33ff). 3,000 gladly received his word, were baptized, crossed over into the heavenly land, the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3,7;\u00a0Colossians 1:13), and were saved from sin and condemnation (Romans 8:1). They then rose to new life in Christ with Christ as their head. This is what happens when a person gladly takes the exit route Jesus offers. This is how they were able to “save themselves<\/em>.” This is how we must cut the ties we have to a perverse generation and save ourselves from the condemnation that is certain to come upon a world of spiritually blind people (II Corinthians 4:2-4).<\/p>\n

Jesus wants you to be saved (Matthew 11:28ff;\u00a0II Peter 3:9). Jesus died to pay for your sins. He told you what to do now to save yourself. Have you done it? If not, why not?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Terry W. Benton Only because of what Jesus did for us on the cross and only through knowledge of what He did can we engage in the activity of faith that will result in our salvation. There is a common expression these days that “there is nothing you can do, Jesus did it all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[53,1443,47],"class_list":["post-47614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith-alone","tag-grace-alone","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52482,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-faith-alone-save-one-from-his-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":47614,"position":0},"title":"Does faith alone save one from his sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does faith alone save one from his sins? Answer: Faith does save (Acts 16:31). Grace saves (Acts 15:11). Jesus saves (Acts 4:12). The message saves (Acts 11:14). The resurrection saves (Romans 5:10). Hope saves (Romans 8:24). Confession saves (Romans 10:10). The gospel saves (I Corinthians 15:2). Knowledge saves (1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68821,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-case-of-the-philippian-jailor\/","url_meta":{"origin":47614,"position":1},"title":"The Case of the Philippian Jailor","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton He wanted to know, \"What shall I do to be saved?\" (Acts 16:30). The simple answer: \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ\u2026and you will be saved\" (Acts 16:31). The details of why believe in Jesus, what to believe about Jesus, and how to express faith in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7847,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-you-misinterpreting-the-scriptures-unless-you-teach-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":47614,"position":2},"title":"Aren’t you misinterpreting the Scriptures unless you teach faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I agree with you on many points however I believe that you make many hasty judgments and contradict yourself many times over.\u00a0 Whether you are Nazarene, Pentecostal, Baptist Church of Christ, etc. it truly does not matter because salvation is not found in your denomination rather in Christ Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95979,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-work-toward-his-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":47614,"position":3},"title":"Can One Work Toward His Salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles Spence via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 \"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone\" (James 2:17). One of the most misunderstood teachings of the Bible is grace through faith. People have often cited Ephesians 2:8-9, excluding verse 10. The text is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93426,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-faith-cause-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":47614,"position":4},"title":"Does faith cause salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, Thank you for sharing the article \"What Saves a Person.\" I've read it carefully and wanted to follow up with a sincere question. I noticed the article lists many things Scripture associates with salvation - God, Christ, grace, faith, repentance, baptism, obedience, etc. - and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14658,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/objections-to-the-essentiality-of-baptism-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":47614,"position":5},"title":"Objections to the Essentiality of Baptism for Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Abraham Smith The Bible is very clear in its teaching on baptism's role in our salvation. It is an act of obedience that is required of us by God \"for the remission of sins\" (Acts 2:38). The Bible does not teach that baptism is \"an outward sign of inward\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}