How can I be saved?

Short answer

The Bible teaches that we are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our own good works. Whoever turns from sin, trusts that Jesus died for their sins and rose again, and confesses Him as Lord is forgiven and receives eternal life.

Few questions matter more than this one. In the book of Acts, a jailer in the city of Philippi, shaken by an earthquake in the night, fell down before Paul and Silas and asked exactly this: what must he do to be saved (Acts 16:30). Their answer was short and clear:

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Acts 16:31 · King James Version (1769)

William MacDonald notes that the jailer’s fear of losing his post had turned into a deeper fear: he now saw himself as a sinner before God. That is where salvation begins. The words “and your house” do not mean that his family would be saved automatically; they too would be saved in the same way, by believing.

Why we need to be saved

The Bible speaks honestly about the human condition.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 3:23 · King James Version (1769)

The word for sin carries the picture of missing the mark: falling short of God’s standard of holiness in thought, word or deed. Paul has just shown that this is true of Jews and Gentiles alike. Sin separates us from God, who is holy (Isaiah 59:2), and it leads to death.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:23 · King James Version (1769)

The word “wages” here means a soldier’s pay: death is what sin has fairly earned. Eternal life is the opposite. It is never a wage for our goodness but a free gift. The verse sets out two masters, two ways of payment and two outcomes, and the gift is found only in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What God has done in Jesus

Salvation begins with God, not with us. Out of love, He sent His Son.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 · King James Version (1769)

Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). On the third day He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). The resurrection is God’s proof that Christ finished the work of our salvation and that God’s demands have been fully met.

That is why the Bible says salvation is found in Jesus alone. He is the way to the Father (John 14:6), and there is no other name by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).

Saved by grace through faith

Many people assume that we reach heaven by being good enough, by keeping religious rules or by doing more good than bad. The Bible says the opposite.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:8–9 · King James Version (1769)

Grace is God’s undeserved favor. Faith is the hand that takes hold of Christ; it does not earn anything. John MacArthur and the commentary of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown both take “that not of yourselves” to include faith itself: even faith is God’s gift, so no one will be able to boast. God saves us not because of righteous deeds we have done but because of His mercy (Titus 3:5).

Saving faith is more than agreeing with facts about God. Even demons believe that God is one, and tremble (James 2:19). Faith is personal trust in Jesus and what He has done, and it goes hand in hand with repentance: turning from sin to God. Jesus began His preaching with a call to repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15).

How to respond today

Paul sums up the response of faith in his letter to the Romans:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:9–10 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur explains that to confess Jesus as Lord is not merely to admit that He is Lord of the universe, which even demons do, but to take Him as your own Master. That includes turning from sin, trusting Him as Savior and submitting to Him. To believe that God raised Him from the dead is to trust that His work for you is finished. Commentators weigh the two parts differently: MacDonald sees open confession as the natural fruit of salvation already received, while the New Geneva Study Bible stresses that Paul links both faith and confession to righteousness and salvation. The promise holds for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13).

There is no magic formula. You can simply talk to God in your own words: admit that you have sinned, thank Him that Jesus died and rose again for you, ask Him to forgive you and tell Him that you now trust Jesus and want to follow Him.

Those who trust in Christ can know that they have eternal life, not because of their feelings but because of God’s promise.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
1 John 5:13 · King James Version (1769)

John wrote his Gospel so that people would believe (John 20:31) and this letter so that believers would be sure they have eternal life. Assurance rests on what God has said.

Salvation is the beginning of a new life, not the end of the road. Good works cannot save, but they follow as the fruit of salvation, the life God prepared for His people (Ephesians 2:10). Read the Bible, pray, find a church that teaches God’s Word and be baptized, as Jesus commanded His followers (Matthew 28:19).