And they said, “Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” – Acts 16:31 

The Philippian jailer asked, "What must I do o be saved?" 

He asked not really knowing fully what he was being saved from or to. He only knew that he had stood in the presence of a genuine display of power, might, authority, and strength that exceeded his own and that he was in trouble.

He knew that Paul and Silas had something he needed.

The captor was now looking to the captives for rescue and guidance.

The keeper of the prison and the agent of empire was seeing his empire crumble before his eyes and was reaching out for help.

He would need to believe in a new Lord, not Caesar, but the one whom Caesar's empire crucified.

Here is an acronym for what it means to have saving faith:

B- Be convinced that God loves you and that Jesus died for you, forgiving your sins, rising again to give you eternal life. This is the gospel. The love of God is activated, demonstrated, and announced with dramatic clarity in the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

E– Examine your life honestly in the light of God’s living and written Word and admit your need of a Savior as a result of a broken relationship with God and others. The Holy Spirit will guide you through this process of conviction if you are open.

L– Let go of your sinful resistance and self-centered control of your life. Another word for this is repentance, a turning from sin, self, self-delusion, and deception to God. This is a turn-around in your mind, will, and actions made possible by grace.

I– Invest your life completely in God. This is basic, gut-level trust and is necessary for the new life in Christ. One way to express this change of heart to God is prayer – an honest and simple out-pouring of your soul to God.

E– Eternalize your values. Stop adding up your assets the old way. Understand that eternal reality is true reality and that only what lasts forever is worth our lives.

V– Visualize a new life of freedom, forgiveness, and fullness based upon God’s grace, mercy, and power. This is the beginning of the exercise of faith in your life.

E– Embody the life of Christ within you by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, His indwelling presence. This is new birth.

That is the simple breakdown, but it goes deeper – inevitably, gradually, eventually,  poetically, musically, and profoundly.

Delve into the music and the poetry of these videos to say where they take you on your journey of believing.

Photo by Samuel Zeller