What Must I Do to Be Saved? Acts 2 vs. Acts 16 Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. And I sometimes wish I could do that so that we don't leave somebody with a gap in between, that they don't understand what we've been talking about, because this is a teaching of continuity. I call it progressive revelation, of course, that you've got to take it as God unfolds it. Again, we like to always let our television folk know how we appreciate your letters, especially my how we appreciate your comments, that you're learning, and that you're seeing things you've never seen before. And after all, that's the only reason we're doing this, is hopefully to open the Scriptures to a better understanding. And for those of you who have just tuned in recently, remember that all of our past programs, all the way from Genesis on up through the Old Testament, through the Gospels, and now into the book of Acts, are available on videotape, and many of the tapes have now been transcribed into print. So you call us on the 800 number or write to us, and we'll get the information out to you. My little wife just spends every forenoon getting mail ready to go out, and so far she's been able to keep up with it, but we'll appreciate hearing from you. All right, back into the study then of Acts chapter 2, and remember now, in case somebody has just joined us for the first time, this is a Jewish feast day, where Jews from all over the then-known world have come to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. It was one of the seven feasts listed in Leviticus 23—the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Pentecost, which was the 50th day after Passover. And now it's on this day of Pentecost that this huge crowd of Jews are out there on the pavements in the temple area, and Peter now, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is speaking, and everybody from whatever language or dialect they originated are hearing it in their language. Now, of course, this is the miracle of it all, and he's talking to Jews. I can't emphasize that enough. There's no Gentile ground here whatsoever. Gentiles are not even mentioned. It's Jewish feast day, a Jewish crowd, and a Jewish speaker, and it's a Jewish message. And so this Jew, Peter, says in verse 36, just a little review, "...therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly..." Now, I forgot when we were teaching that verse last week. When he says, "...all the house of Israel," hey, there's no such thing as ten lost tribes. Don't you buy that when people try to tell you that the ten tribes were lost and are assimilated. They were already back down in Judah, even for the Babylonian captivity, so that all of Israel went to the Babylonian captivity, and all of Israel was represented in those that came back. So by the time we come to Christ's earthly ministry, you have Jews from every one of the tribes living in Israel. Now, granted, there may have been more from the tribe of Judah than from Ephraim and some of those, but they're all there. And Peter makes it so inclusive with this same address, "...let all the house of Israel..." See, not just Judah, all Israel. "...know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus..." And again, remember I emphasized last lesson how that Peter accused them of killing and crucifying their Messiah, and now he convicted them. And so they responded, and I put it on the board, we're going to show from Scripture now, the two graphic comparisons, and you can't miss it. These Jews cry out in verse 37, "...men and brethren, what shall we do?" Now before we look at Peter's answer, I'm going to take you back to Acts chapter 16. Since I've already put it on the board, you're running ahead of me anyway. Now in Acts chapter 16, Paul has begun his missionary journey throughout western Turkey, and then you remember earlier in this chapter the Holy Spirit directed him over into Greece, and one of the first cities that he approached in that Grecian episode was Philippi, and that's where he ran into Lydia. She was the first European convert, and then after the conversion of Lydia, he of course is arrested, and he is beaten along with Silas. And so Paul and Silas have been arrested, they've been beaten, and they've been cast into the lower dungeon, probably in stocks. Now we'll pick it up in verse 25 of 16. Now this is Gentile ground, a Gentile prison, a Gentile jailer. And so this Gentile jailer, who I'm sure was downtown Philippi, and had probably heard Paul and Silas teach and preach, and he had probably witnessed the arrest and the beating, and now was given charge over these two men along with all the other prisoners. And so verse 25, "...at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them down there in the dungeon. And suddenly there was a great earthquake." Now remember we still haven't left the economy of miracles and signs and wonders, not even here yet. It's going to fall off the platform completely, but as yet God is still working in the area of the miraculous. And so here's a miraculous earthquake with a distinct purpose, so that "...all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands," or stocks, "...were loosed." Verse 27, "...the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew out his sword, and would have killed himself." Knowing of course that if any of his prisoners were gone, the Roman authorities would have killed him anyway, because that was their charge. If a prisoner escaped, the jailer paid for it with his own life. So "...seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled." But, you know I'm always telling you to look for that over and over in Scripture, that little three-letter word, but instead of all of them fleeing, miraculously they're all there, even though they could have. Now this is a sovereign God at work. "...But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here." You don't have to kill yourself. They can't accuse you of losing a single one of us. We're all here. "...Then he called for a light," that is the jailer, "...and he sprang in," and I like this picture that he went down into that dungeon, "...and he came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas." Now why did this pagan Gentile jailer pick out Paul and Silas out of all of his prisoners? Somehow or other, God let him know that here was the answer to his dilemma. Now he's got a dilemma. He's got all these renegade prisoners loose, ready to flee, but they're not. They're staying there. And so I think sovereignly God lets that jailer know there's the answer to your problem, but it's going to be a lot more than a bunch of prisoners. It's going to be the man's own soul. All right, read on. Verse 30, "...And he," the jailer, "...brought them," Paul and Silas, "...out," that is out of the dungeon and out of the prison. "...And when he brings them out, he says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Now this is why I like to show the comparison. When Peter is preaching in Acts chapter 2, he's dealing with the covenant nation of Israel, and the covenant nation from the national standpoint says, what must we, the nation, do? But he doesn't deal with us Gentiles on covenants. He deals with us as individuals. Every individual has to ask that same question, what must I do to be saved? You see the difference? All right, now let's compare. Keep your hand in Acts 16 and come back, if you will, to Acts chapter 2. And now this isn't gobbledygook. This isn't magic. I'm just leaving every word the way it's in your Bible and mine. And if you want to look at it honestly, you have to agree that I'm not changing a thing. All right, Israel says, what must we do? And look at Peter's answer, repent and be baptized. And now the next two words are crucial. How many? Every one. That's what he would take. That's what it would take for God to pick up where He'd left off the nation of Israel. Every Jew would have had to be converted and accept Christ as the Messiah. Then He would have sent back the king and set up the kingdom. That was the requirement. But that's beside the point. When He says, repent and be baptized. Hey, who began that message? Who preached that first? John the Baptist. Same thing. John the Baptist came on the scene as the herald of the king. And what's his message? Repent and be baptized. That was for the nation of Israel. Absolutely it was. But all right, now come over to Acts 16 and let's pick up Paul's answer to this Gentile. He's not talking to the nation of Israel. He's talking to a Gentile. And when this Gentile says, what must I do to be saved? Now look at Paul's answer in verse 31 of Acts 16. And they, that is Paul and Silas, but I'll bet you Paul was the one who said it. He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Does it say repent and be baptized? No. No. Now if that was the criteria, it would have been in here. But it's not. That was the Jewish program. And it has fallen through the cracks because Israel is rejecting it. And God has now turned to the Gentiles with, out Israel. And now to the Gentile sinner, this pagan jailer. His question is, what must I do? And it was a simple response. You don't do anything jailer. You what? You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now naturally when you know all the rest of Paul's message, he only had one gospel to believe. And what was it? That Christ died for your sins, and He was buried, and He rose from the dead. Believe it. And it's no different for Gentiles today. And of course the Jew as well. That's the criteria tonight, is that we have to believe the gospel. Nothing else. Nowhere. And I've begged people for the 20 some years I've been teaching. You search Paul's letters from Romans through Hebrews, and of course Hebrews is more Jewish than the rest. But you show me one place where Paul teaches repentance and baptism for salvation. Hey, you can look from now until doomsday, and you won't find it because Paul doesn't teach it. He doesn't preach it. It's a whole different economy. You can't mix them. Oh everybody says, well you know maybe I should do a little of this, and a little of that. Hey, that won't work. To the Jew it was repent and be baptized. To the Gentile it's believe the gospel. See how simple that is. All right, let's come back and make another tremendous comparison. Verse 38 again. Peter says, repent and be baptized. Every one of you, now I haven't got time, it's going to go too fast. But Paul back there in Corinthians says, to a Jew I became a Jew, to a Roman I became a Roman, and so on and so forth. To the end that I might save how many? Some. See God never instructed Paul or any of those that have followed Paul like Barnabas and Silas. He never told them to win the whole world. That's never been implied. Even in Acts 15 when James had to agree, yes God is using Paul to go to the Gentiles. What was the expression James used? Calling out a people for His name. Now that doesn't imply 99 or 100 percent. That's the few. See and that's all Christianity has ever had. That's all we've ever been is a small, small percentage. I get a kick out of the Gallup poll. The last one that came out, what was it? 60 percent of Americans are professing Christians. What a joke. That's a joke. 60 percent of the Bible belt aren't Bible believing Christians, let alone vast areas of our country that have very little. But it's always been that small percentage, see, and it hasn't changed a bit. But now here's another comparison. Reading on in verse 38 of Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, verse 38. "...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 or the Holy Spirit." Now stop and ask yourself. See that's why I've learned, people have been asking me questions for 20 some years, and every time somebody asks a question I have to go and find the answer, and I learn. And I want to do the same thing with you. I'm going to ask you a question. What was the prerequisite in this verse for receiving the Holy Spirit? Repentance and baptism. See, that's listed first. Look at it again. Oh, I want people to see this. "...repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Any mention of the death, burial, and resurrection? Any mention of the shed blood for atonement? Not a word, but only the name. Now when you talk about the name of someone, what does that imply? Who he is. In other words, if I would just simply give you a name of a president, whether you like him or hate him, that's beside the point. When you drop the name, what does it associate? In other words, if I say Bill Clinton tonight, what do you associate that with? The White House. He's the president. See? And the same way with any other great position. You speak the name and immediately it's the position that you're tied to. Now the same way here. See, Peter doesn't mention death, burial, and resurrection. He doesn't even come close. But what were they to put their faith in? Who Jesus was. See? He was the Christ. He was the Messiah of Israel. And they'd killed Him, but God had raised Him from the dead. All right. Now they were to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and then they would receive the Holy Spirit. Now don't lose that. Come over now with me to Acts chapter 10. And here we have Peter at the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. The first time now, and I showed you a few weeks ago how that they were astounded, these Jews, that Gentiles were being saved. But I'm going to lay that aside for now. I just want you to look at the order for receiving the Holy Spirit. Back in Acts chapter 2, under Peter's preaching to those Jews, they had to repent and be baptized. Then they could receive the Holy Spirit. Now in Acts chapter 10, verse 44, "...while Peter yet spake." In other words, he hadn't even come to the end of his message, or his three points, or whatever. "...while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them who heard the word." And we know they all believe. Have they been baptized yet? Have they? Oh, you're afraid I'm trapping you. No, they haven't. These are Gentiles. They haven't been baptized yet. They haven't even heard anything of the Law and all that. But the moment they believed Peter's message, the Holy Spirit came down. And the amazing thing is, God had to prove to Peter and these six other men, now remember we talked about that in our last taping at least, He had to show these seven Jews that indeed, God was doing something totally new. And that was what? Saving Gentiles. Not on the basis of repentance and baptism, but the moment they heard the Word and believed, and the Holy Spirit came down. Now Peter, of course, is still tied to that Jewish economy, and he hasn't gotten it out of his craw. So now when he sees what's happening, now what does he say? Oh hey, we've got to catch up. We've got to baptize them. See, verse 47. So after the fact, instead of before, like Peter in chapter 2. Now after the fact, Peter says, can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who, what's the next word? Have, past tense, they've already received the Holy Spirit. Now do you see what I'm driving at? That this isn't a contradiction. This is not 10 contradicting chapter 2. It's a change of events. 10 is Gentiles. 2 is still Jews. And so you can find that all the way through this transition now, that what was good for the Jew under that Jewish economy, seems like a contradiction. But it's not a contradiction. It's a change of program. And this is where you have to come in and, and realize that you can't throw all this, as I've given the example once before of a young man who said, well for all my years, they've been putting it all in a blender, turning it up on high, and then lay it out to me, and wonder why I get indigestion. Well see, that's where most people have been for years. I've had so many people come in my class, and almost from the first night, I've had people the very first two hours of teaching come away and say, you've just totally opened my eyes. No, I don't do that. But you see, if you search the Scriptures and let the Holy Spirit, it will, and then it all lays out. I'll have to give you a little instance. When I first started teaching in Oklahoma, I had a class in Stigler, in a home. And I hadn't taught but two or three or four weeks. And a professional man, he's gone on to be with the Lord now, and I'm sure his wife is watching my program. And he would sit in front of me about where Sandy is, and he'd just shake his head, and he says, why haven't we been taught this before? See? And one other time, a few weeks after that, he looked up at me, and he says, Les, and he was at that time about 50-some years old, he says, I feel like I've been cheated all my life. So much of Scripture I couldn't understand, and it was so confusing. But this just lays it all out. Well, he was just one of countless numbers who have come in, and it is. It's just so plain if you'll just separate the Jewish program from the Gentile. It's the same God. God hasn't changed. You know, I said that last week, I think in our last taping. Yes, we're to study the Old Testament. Why? Because we see the attributes of God. We see His hatred for sin back there, and it's the same God that deals with us today, but it's under a whole different set of circumstances. Now we're resting on the finished work of the cross. Peter doesn't realize this yet. See, he's still on covenant ground, and so he is still proclaiming a repentance and baptism, and then the Holy Spirit. Oh, let me show you another one. I've got a couple more minutes here in Acts 16. Go on over to Ephesians. Galatians, Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Oh, it's dropping at verse 12. Ephesians 1, verse 12. Now you want to remember Ephesians is one of Paul's later epistles. It comes out of his prison experience in Rome, so it's toward the end of his life. You're going to see things come out of these prison epistles that he doesn't even allude to in his earlier writings. In other words, when you get into Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians, you're coming into higher ground. You're coming into deeper water so far as doctrine is concerned, and that's why most people won't touch these books. This is where it gets for real. This is where you get into the meat of the Word. Ephesians 1, beginning verse 12, that we, you remember Paul always wrote to believers, that we should be to the praise of His glory, and I'll put the pronoun back in there, we who first trusted in Christ. See, he doesn't say repented and baptized. He says we who first trusted in Christ, in whom Christ you also trusted after. Now watch the progressiveness here. Watch the program. After that you heard the word of truth, and what's the word of truth? The gospel of your salvation. And remember Paul's gospel is that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again. Alright, reading on. The gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, then you were what? Sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Now do you see the order? Every child of God had to come from a place of being a sinner, a son of Adam, condemned already. As soon as we realize we're a sinner, we heard the gospel and the Holy Spirit opened our understanding and we believed it. The moment we believe the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes in, He becomes God's brand upon us, He becomes the very power of God within us, and that's why I can not under law, we're under grace. Now that doesn't mean we become lawless. I told somebody again the other night, they called on the phone, I said, listen, grace is never licensed. Grace is never licensed, but we have been given such freedom under grace. We're not under the stringent demands of thou shalt and thou shalt not. It's as we're now led and guided by that dwelling Holy Spirit. And you see that's part and parcel of the whole salvation experience, and that's what makes true born again believers so different from even the false professors. See we've got a lot of people, I don't care what denomination you're a part of, we've all got a lot of church members who have never experienced salvation. I always compare them back to the Old Testament when Israel came out of Egypt. There was a great group of hangers on, what did they call them? The mixed multitude. What were they? Well they were the unbelievers who were just hanging on to see what would happen. See and that's where a lot of so -called Christians are tonight. They're hangers on. All they want to be part of the social environment of the church, they want to be part of all the good things you know. They like to enjoy the music and all that, but you get them down to the nitty gritty of studying this book, the nitty gritty of actually living a testimony for Christ. Leave me alone. I'm a Sunday go-to-meeting Christian. Now let it go at that. But you see that's not what God is looking for. He is looking for men and women who have experienced a genuine salvation. They've experienced the indwelling Holy Spirit. And then we don't need law to tell us what to do and what not to do. And then, oh the best part is still to come here in Ephesians. We've been sealed or branded with that Holy Spirit of promise, and that indwelling Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance that's going to hold us until the what? The redemption of the purchased possession. Now remember what is the purchased possession? Just the soul? No, the whole person, body, soul, and spirit. Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.