Hi emkayfey,
Acts 16:30-31 (Concordant version) ...prostrates to Paul and Silas, and, preceding them out, averred, "Masters, what must I be doing that I may be saved?" 31 Now they say, "
Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household."
I think that the key to this verse is this phrase "Believe on the Lord Jesus." What does this word "believe" entail, well quite a lot.
Here is an excerpt from article no. 5 'A Scriptural Explanation of the Lake of fire.'
http://bible-truths.com/lake5.html -------------------------------
WE MUST BELIEVE THE SCRIPTURES
Here is another verse that will test your faith in the Scriptures:
"That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved" (Rom. 10:9).
Is not this Scripture so absolutely fundamental to our faith that every Christian on earth believes every word of this Scripture? Let us see. Test yourself: First we must "confess Jesus." Not just saying the name of Jesus as a real historical Figure, but EVERYTHING THAT HIS NAME STANDS FOR! Jesus means "Jehovah-Saviour." Saviour of what? Saviour of whom? Here’s a Scriptural answer:
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son [Jesus—Jehovah - SAVIOUR] TO BE THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD" (I John 4:14)!
Do you know of a verse anywhere in the Bible that says Jesus will FAIL at being "The SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD?" Do you then completely believe Rom. 10:9 as the infallible Word of God? Do you believe that Jesus IS what His name SAYS He is—Saviour of THE WORLD? Do you believe that His Father gave Him a commission that could only be hoped for, but never accomplished? Do you believe that Jesus Christ will FAIL TO LIVE UP TO HIS NAME? Well, then, if you believe that Jesus IS the Saviour of the world, then you certainly cannot believe that He will NOT save most of the world but rather torture most of the world for all eternity in a lake of fire.
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Back to our Scripture, second part of Rom. 10:9, "…that God has raised Him from the DEAD?" Do you believe that? Do you really? Or do you believe as orthodoxy does that Jesus (Himself) NEVER DIED! That’s right. Jesus Christ (the REAL Jesus) Himself, is said to have never died. Theologians teach that only His body died. That Jesus Himself was not DEAD, but was rather on a preaching mission, somewhere in a place called Hell, during the time He was supposed to be dead, and was supposed to be in the heart of the earth, and was supposed to be fulfilling the sign of Jonah, and was supposed to be paying for the sins of the world by suffering death, and supposed to be fulfilling prophecy, all in accord with what His Father ordained for Him to do. Do you believe "JESUS" died or that only His "body" died?
But some will protest: "How can GOD die?" God can die IN THE FORM OF A MORTAL MAN! Jesus emptied Himself, lowered Himself, gave up His glory to BECOME A MAN for the express purpose of DYING!
"But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels for the SUFFERING OF DEATH…" (Heb. 2:9).
Remember that just as we have a spirit in us that gives us life and at death preserves who we are, Jesus likewise had a spirit that He gave up to His Father when He died. The life of Jesus was preserved in that spirit even though He, Himself, was unconscious and DEAD for three days.
Please understand that what I am saying does in no way negate the faith of those who believe that Christ DIED for them, but do not as yet understand that Jesus Himself died, and not just His shell, His housing, His clothing of a physical body. It is essential that one believe the Gospel, that Christ died for them and that God raised Him again from the dead in order to be saved. This is the gospel, of course, and one doesn’t have to "understand" a thousand and one other facts surrounding the gospel in order to be saved. But let’s also understand that the faith to believe and the faith to be saved is as much a GIFT from God as is the very GRACE by which we are saved. It isn’t that we provide one (faith) and then God will provide the other (saving grace). No. God provides BOTH (Eph. 2:08). Here is what we must believe in order to be saved:
"That if thou shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, YOU SHALL BE SAVED" (Rom. 10:9).
"Sirs [Paul and Silas] what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and YOU SHALL BE SAVED…" (Acts 16:31)."We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we SHALL BE SAVED…" (Acts 15:11).
"…whereby you and all your house SHALL BE SAVED ... God gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ…" (Acts 11:14 & 17).
"…that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, Whom God raised from the dead…Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we MUST BE SAVED" (acts 4:10 & 12).
"I [Jesus the Christ] am the door: by ME if any man enter in, HE SHALL BE SAVED..."(John 10:9).
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord SHALL BE SAVED" (Acts 2:21).
And, of course, EVERYONE in heaven and earth will ultimately believe this gospel:
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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Hope this is helpful.
mercy, peace and love
Kat