The “I” Question

The “I” Question
Acts 16:25-34 (NIV)

²⁵Ab= out midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once = all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. ^{27The
jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and
was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28}But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" =

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Sila= s. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?&qu= ot; ³¹They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you w= ill be saved—you and your household."

³²<= span style=3D'font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Then they spoke the word of th= e Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and= all his family were baptized. ³⁴The jailer brought them into his hou= se and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

What a great story: the conversion of the Philippian j= ailer and his family, and their baptism as new Christians. It’s one of the best known o= f all the memorable stories we find in the book of Acts.

We began our service this morning by celebrating the b= aptism of six persons who also, like the members of this family in Philippi so long ago, personally professed their faith in Jesus Christ and were then baptize= d as another witness to their faith.

We’re looking at “Questions that Demand Answers:” two weeks ago, The = GOD Question; then last week, The J= ESUS Question.

Probably what makes this particular passage so well kn= own and loved, though, is that here we have the simplest and clearest expression in= all of Scripture of what I’m calling The ‘I’ Question:

&nbs= p; “What must I do to be saved?” the jailer asks.

&nbs= p; “Believe in the Lord Jesus,” Paul and Silas reply.

These two early missionaries go on to share more fully= with the jailer and his family about Jesus, and the result was that “he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whol= e family” (v.34b). And they were baptiz= ed.

2009 is our 400^th Anniversary as Baptists.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Each month in our bulletins, we= 217;re including a flyer that features some aspect of our history. We came into being in the year 160= 9, and the issue that set us apart back then was “believer’s baptism.&= #8221;

After studying the Bible closely, some Christians in England, who were already struggling with the state church, determined that they could find no instances of infant baptism in the New Testament; that, = in fact, baptism was administered only after a person made a personal professi= on of faith in Christ.

So these believers, even though they had all been bapt= ized as infants, were baptized again—which led those who opposed what they were doing (most people did) to call them the “re-baptizers.” Over time, this was shortened to s= imply “Baptists.”

But there is more to the story. As these early Baptists continued = to study the Scriptures, they became convinced that the method used for baptis= m in the Bible was immersion.

So they stopped sprinkling new converts to the faith a= nd began dipping them beneath the water. Thus “believers baptism by immersion” was being practice= d by 1640, and Baptists have stuck tenaciously to this practice ever since.

Now, please understand: for most of us, it’s not= our intention to discredit in any way other church’s baptismal practices,= but simply to affirm that this is our practice. We believe this mode of baptism to= be in keeping with the teachings of Holy Scripture.

Granted, however, we do at times get confused about the meaning of baptism and what it does, and does not do, in the life of the believer.

Alicia Darby sent me an e-mail the other day about Bubba. I knew it had to be good—considering the source! It seems that every Friday evening after work, Bubba would fire up h= is grill and cook some venison steaks. Well, he called it “deer meat.”

But there was a problem to which Bubba was oblivious. = Bubba had several Catholic neighbor= s who weren’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays, and they were bothered by al= l those wonderful aromas coming from Bubba’s grill every Friday night.

They came up with a plan. They had their priest come by to v= isit Bubba; and much to everyone’s surprise, he convinced Bubba to become a Catholic. You might think tha= t to be a tough sell for this Baptist, but Bubba took right to the idea when he learned that he wouldn’t have to hide his beer drinking any more!

The following Sunday, the local Mass took on a whole n= ew excitement. The priest sprink= led Bubba with holy water in front of all those delighted neighbors, saying, “You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, but now you̵= 7;re a Catholic.”

The neighbors were all greatly relieved…until Fr= iday night came and once again the smell of venison on Bubba’s grill filled the air. The priest was calle= d once more, and he immediately went over to Bubba’s house. What he saw there was a rude surprise.

There stood Bubba, clutching a small bottle of water, sprinkling it over the venison and saying, “You was born a deer, you = was raised a deer, but now you’s a catfish.”

Well, as Baptists, we understand that it is not baptis= m by whatever method that makes us anything.&nb= sp; It certainly does not make us right with God--not Catholic baptism, = not Baptist baptism, and not anybody else’s baptism, including Bubba’s.

“What must I do to be saved?” “Believe in the Lord Jesus, = and you will be saved.” Tha= t’s “The ‘I’ Question,” and the answer to it. And it’s really not about an= ything that you and I do. It’s= about believing in, accepting by faith, what Jesus Christ has already done for us= .

Other religions tell people to do this or do that and = they will be saved. Christianity t= eaches that what we most need, the Savior has already done. Put your trust in Him. ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Ch= rist, and you will be saved.’

The “I” question begins with a “why&= #8221; question: why do we need to be saved? Well, the bottom line answer is that ‘we all have sinned,̵= 7; and ‘the wages of sin is death.’ (Romans 3:23, 6:23) But there are many answers to how = and why we realize our need.

For some, it’s a nagging sense of guilt that won= ’t go away--an awareness that there’s a wide gap between what our lives could be at their best and what they actually are. Our failures make us feel guilty, a= nd we need relief from our guilt and shame.

Others suffer from a lack of meaning in life. They’re not bad people; they = just cannot identify any reason to live or any great cause for which to live. They yearn for something more--som= ething truly meaningful and significant in their lives.

Then there are those who realize their need of a Savio= r only when faced with some terrible trauma--the loss of a loved one or maybe a life–threatening situation in their own lives.

I think it is safe to say that this is what caused the Philippian jailer to recognize his need.&n= bsp; The doors of the jail were open, and the penalty for allowing prison= ers to escape was death. So his s= word was drawn and pointed toward his heart.&nb= sp;

He came within inches of taking his life. But Paul and Silas stopped him, an= d his life was spared. They gave hi= m the opportunity to come to Christ.

Life comes with no guarantees, friends--except one: so= meday, this life will end. For each = one of us, life here will end and eternity will begin. There’s no escaping the reali= ty of death.

This is why the “I” question must be answe= red by all of us. It won’t go = away! “What must I do to be saved?”

As God’s Spirit works in our hearts, convicting = us of our need, we turn to Jesus Christ, believing Him to be the Savior we need a= nd trusting in Him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

It’s a humbling experience to admit that we need= a Savior, to admit that we have failed God and failed one another, and we need to be forgiven. The temptation is s= trong to allow our pride and sophistication to keep us from ever admitting our need.=

Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ means that I accept= by faith that Jesus was and is God’s only Son, sent to this world—= first, to show me how I should live, and then to die a sacrificial death on a cros= s and rise again that I might have forgiveness and eternal life in Him.

It means that I believe Christ died on the cross becau= se I needed to be died for. Script= ure says He gave his life as a ransom for me.&= nbsp; The penalty for my sin was death—irrevocable, inescapable death.

But He, who knew no sin, became sin for me, taking my = sin upon Himself, and dying in my place. Christ did this for the whole world. But the “I” question f= orces me to come to grips with the fact that Christ did this for me.

When I get my pride out of the way enough to take the = Gospel personally, I arrive at what the Bible calls “repentance”—= ;the confession of my sin and the desire to live a life that is pleasing to God.

Once you and I realize our need, and believe that God = has acted through his Son to meet our need, we feel genuinely sorry that we have failed this Father-God who loves us so dearly, that we’ve sinned agai= nst a God who would give up His own Son in order that we might have forgiveness= and life.

And so, I confess my sin, and you confess your sin. We turn from our sin to Christ Jes= us, and we place our faith in Him.

“What must I do to be saved?” Guilt, hopelessness, despair, lack= of meaning in life, the reality of death—all these and more cause us to = ask the “I” question: “What must I do?”

And again, the answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesu= s, and you will be saved.” Not= ice:

>It does not say ‘believe and be baptized.= 217;

>It does not say ‘believe and receive the Lor= d’s Supper.”

>It does not say “believe and join the church= , or do good works.’

These are all important, and when we love the Lord we = want to do them because He’s told us to do them; and we sincerely desire to obey Him and please Him.

But the answer involves one thing only: “Believe= in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” There is simply nothing that you a= nd I can do to earn our salvation; nothing we can do to deserve what Jesus did f= or us.

The Bible puts it this way: “For by grace (somet= hing undeserved, unmerited) are you saved through faith; and that not of yoursel= ves: it is the gift…of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So it is not because of anything that we do that we= 217;re saved, but only by accepting and believing in what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Here it is agai= n--the Gospel of salvation, as we know it best, and as our children sang it for us= earlier:

&= #8220;For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will = be saved.”

>Saved to experience all the joy of a life thatR= 17;s forgiven and at peace with God.

>>Saved to know the fulfillment of a life that h= as direction and purpose and meaning. <= /span>

>>>Saved to look forward to the glory of eter= nal life together with all those who love God and who have answered His call in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Nobody can do this for us. This is a decision we each must ma= ke for ourselves. The “I” question is for all of us. It= must be answered. But each one of = us must answer it personally, and individually.

Maybe you’re ready to answer it today. If you’ve never taken this s= tep of faith, believing in Christ Jesus as Savior, and publicly professing Him as Lord, I invite you to make this most important decision of life right now.<= /p>

Young person, adult, come forward during our hymn of invitation—why? Because= once we decide for Christ, He tells us to make it public, to profess our faith before others.

So I invite you to come now and take my hand and say, “Pastor, I believe Jesus gave His life for me to be my Savior. I believe He rose from the dead to= be my Lord. I receive Him now, pers= onally, as my Savior, and my Lord.”

307--Just As I Am