What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Dwight Lyman Moody's Last Sermon in London. Preached in Camberwell Hall, Sunday Evening, July 11th, 1875.

Suppose you do not want to hear a sermon (on this last night) so much as you want to know how to be saved. I want, if I can, to answer that question, "What must I do to be saved?" There is no question that can come before us in this world that is so important; and I think that there is not a man in this audience to-night who does not feel interested in it.

I heard a man, when he was going out the other night, saying: "I do not believe in sudden conversion. I do not believe what the preacher said to-night, that a man could come in here a sinner, and go out a Christian." Now, I want to say that I do not believe in any other conversion. I do not believe that there ever has been a conversion in the world that was not instantaneous, and I want you to mark this: not but what many cannot tell the day nor the hour when they were converted. I will admit that: they may not know the time; but that does not change the great fact that there was a time when they passed from death unto life; that there was a time when they were born [ABCOG: begotten] into the kingdom of God. There must have been a minute when their name was written in the Book of Life. There must have been a time when they were ere lost, and a time when they were saved; but we may not be conscious when the change takes place. I believe the conversion of some is like the rising of the sun, and of others like the flashing of a meteor. But both are instantaneous, really, in the sight of God. There must be a time when life begins to rise; when the dead soul begins to live.

Now, this evening I want to take up some of the Bible illustrations. In the first place, there is the ark. There was a minute when Noah was outside of the ark, and another minute when he was inside. And, bear in mind, it was the ark that saved Noah: it was not his righteousness; it was not his feelings; it was not his tears; it was not his prayers. It was the ark that saved him. If he had tried to make an ark of his feelings, or of his prayers, or of his life, he would have been swept away: he would have been drowned with the rest. But, you see, it was the ark that saved him.

When I was in Manchester, I went into the gallery one Sunday night to have a talk with a few inquirers; and while I was talking, a business man came in, and took his seat on the outskirts of the audience. I think, at first, he had come merely to criticize, and that he was a little skeptical. At last I saw he was in tears. I turned to him, and said, " My friend, what is your difficulty?" "Well," he said, "Mr. Moody, the fact is, I cannot tell." I said, "Do you believe you are a sinner?" He said, "Yes; I know that." I said, "Christ is able to save you"; and I used one illustration after another, but he did not see it. At last I thought of the ark, and I said: "Was it Noah's feelings that saved him? Was it Noah's righteousness that saved him, or was it the ark?" "I see it, now," said he; "I see it." He got up and shook hands with me, and said: "Good-night: I must go. I have to go away by the train to-night; but I was determined to be saved before I went. I see it now."

A few days after, he came and touched me on the shoulder, and said, "Do you know me? " I said, "I know your face, but do not remember where I have seen you." He said, "Do you not remember the illustration of the ark? I said, " Yes." "It has been all light ever since," said he. "I understand it now. Christ is the Ark; He saves me; and I must get inside Him." When I went down to Manchester again, and talked to the young friends there, I found he was the brightest light among them.

Let me take another illustration. There was the blood in Goshen. God says, "When I see the blood I will pass over you." Now He does not say, "When I see Moses' feelings, or the feelings of the people, I will pass over you"; or, "When I see you praying and weeping, I will pass over you"; but, "When I see the blood I will pass over you." It was the blood that saved them, not their righteousness. And a little child by that blood in Goshen was just as safe as Moses or Aaron or Joshua or Caleb. It was the blood that saved them. Look! there is the Jew taking the hyssop. He dips it in the blood, and strikes it on the doorpost. One minute it is not there: the next it is there. The moment the blood is there they are saved. God says, "When I see the blood I will pass over you." Some people say, "If I were only as good as that minister I should feel so safe" or, "If I were only as good as that mother in Israel who has been praying fifty years for the poor and unfortunate, should I not feel very safe? " My friends, if you are behind the blood, you are as safe as any man or woman who has been praying for fifty years. It is not their righteousness and good works that are going to save them. They never saved any one. God says, "When I see the blood I will pass over you." [ABCOG: Moody understands "pass over" to mean "bypass". It can also mean "hover over to protect"] And when I am sheltered behind the blood, then I am saved; and if I am not sheltered behind the blood, I am not saved. That was instantaneous, was not it? God says, "When I see the blood, it shall be a token, and I will not enter." Death came down and passed over Egypt; and where the blood was on the doorpost he passed by; but where the blood could not be found, in he went and took the victim away. The great palaces could not keep out death; wealth and position could not keep out death. He went and took the Crown Prince of Egypt; he took the richest and the poorest, the highest and the lowest. Death makes no distinction, except a man is behind the blood.

My friends, be wise to-night, and get behind the blood. The blood has been shed. The blood is on the mercy-seat; and while it is there you can be saved. God is imputing to His Son your trespasses and sins. He says, "I will look at the blood on the mercy-seat." Press in, my friends; make haste and get in tonight; for the Master of the house will rise up by-and-by and shut to the door, and then there will be no hope.

Take another case. When Israel went over Jordan, God told Joshua to have six cities of refuge; three on each side of Jordan. They were to be built on a hill, where they could be seen at a great distance, and the gates were to be kept open day and night. All obstacles were to be kept out of the way, the highway was to be kept in repair, the bridges and everything in good condition, so that nothing should hinder a poor man flying to the city of refuge. If a man killed another in those days, it was considered a great disgrace if the nearest relative did not take vengeance. "An eye for an eye, and a booth for a tooth." If a man killed another, the next kinsman was bound to put him to death. But if he could escape to a city of refuge he was tried, and if it was found he had not intentionally killed the man, he might live.

Now for my illustration. Suppose I have killed a man. I am out away in the woods working, and my axe slips out of my hand, and kills the man working with me. I know that his kinsman, his brother, is not far away. The news will soon reach him that I have killed his brother. What shall I do? I start for the city of refuge, over there away on the hill, ten miles off. I run - and we are told that in those days there used to be signposts with the word " Refuge," written in great red letters, so that a man might read as he ran; he need not stop. I have been told that there was a finger pointing towards the city, and a man who could not read might see the hand. A man does not have to learn to read before he can be saved. I see that hand; it is pointing to the city of refuge. The gate is wide open, but it is ten miles away. I leap over the highway. I do not look behind, to the right hand or to the left. I do not listen to this man or to that man, but, like John Bunyan, I put my fingers in my ears. The avenger has drawn his sword, and is on my track. I leap over into the highway; and, pretty soon, I can hear him behind me, Away I go, over that bridge, across that stream, up that mountain, along that valley, - but I can hear him coming nearer and nearer. There is the watchman; I can see him on the wall of the city. He gives notice to the inhabitants that a refugee is coming. I see the citizens on the wall of the city watching, and when I get near I hear them calling, "Run, run! Escape, escape! He is very near you! Run! escape!" I press on; leap through the gate of the city; and at last I am safe. One minute I am outside, and the next I am inside. One minute I am exposed to that sword; it may come down upon me at any minute: the next minute I am safe. Do I feel any difference? I feel I am behind the walls: that is the difference. It is a fact. There I am. The avenger can come up to the gates of the city, but he cannot come in. He cannot lay his sword upon me. The law of the land shields me now. I am under the protection of that city; I have saved my life; but I had no time for lingering.

A great many of you are trying to get into the city of refuge, and there are enemies trying to stop you, But do not listen to them. Your friends tell you to escape. Make haste! Delay not for a single moment!

In our country, before the war, when we had slavery, the slaves used to keep their eye on the north star. If a slave escaped to the Northern States, his old master could come and take him back into slavery. But there was another flag on American soil, and if they could only get under that flag they were for ever free. It is called the Union Jack. If they could only get as far north as Canada they were free; therefore they kept looking towards the north star. But they knew if they only got into the Northern States, there might be some one ready to take them back. So it is with every poor sinner who wants to come to Christ. Many men do all they can to hinder him; others will cheer him on. Let us help every man towards the north star. A man has escaped: perhaps he swims across the Mississippi river, or crosses the Ohio river in a little canoe. The master hears of it, and he takes his hounds and sets them on his track, and begins to hunt him down. The slave hears the hounds; and he knows that his master is coming to take him back to slavery. The line is a mile or two away. He escapes as fast as he can. He runs with all his might for the frontier, over hedges and ditches and rivers; away he goes for Canada. By-and-by he comes in sight of Canada. He can see that flag floating in front of him; and he knows that if he can only cross the line before his master and the hounds overtake him, he will be free for ever.

How the poor black man runs! leaping and bounding along; and at last, with one bound, he goes over the line. He is free! One minute he is a slave; the next minute he is a free man, under the flag of Queen Victoria, the British flag! (cheers [ABCOG: by British crowd]) - don't cheer, my friends, but come to Christ - and your laws say that no man under that flag shall be a slave. One minute he is a slave; the next minute he is a free man. One minute it is possible for his old master to drag him back; the next minute he shouts, "Free!"

If Christ tells us that we are free, we are free. My friends, Christ is calling to-night. Get out of the devil's territory as quick as you can. No slave in the Southern States had so hard a master as yours, nor so mean a master as Satan. Take my advice tonight, and escape for the liberty of your soul.

I can imagine some of you saying "I do not see how a man is really going to be converted all at once." Let me give you another illustration. Look down there. There are two soldiers. Now, if you bring those soldiers up to this platform, and ask them how they became soldiers, they will tell you this - that one moment they were citizens, and the next minute soldiers. What was it that made them soldiers? It was when they took the Queen's shilling. The moment they received that shilling they ceased to be citizens, and they became soldiers. Before they received that shilling they could go where they pleased; the next minute they came under the government and under the regulations of the army, and they must go where Queen Victoria sends them. They did not have to wait for the uniform. The minute they received the shilling they became soldiers. What made them soldiers? Receiving the shilling. What makes a man a Christian? Receiving Christ. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not: but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God."

Now, the gift of God is eternal life. Who will have the gift to-night? When I was down in Manchester I asked that question, and a man shouted in the meeting, "I will! " Who will have it now? Is not there some man here in London, as there was in Manchester, who will say that he will have the gift? Is it not a wonder to have to plead with so many to take the gift? "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life." Who will have the gift now? (Many responses of "I will"; "I will.")

I can imagine one man down there who says "How about repentance? How about getting into the ark or the city of refuge before repentance?" My friend, let me ask you what is repentance? It is right-about-face! I think these soldiers understand that expression. Some one has said that every one is born with his back to God, and that conversion turns him right round. If you want to be converted, and want to repent, I will tell you what you should do. Just get out of Satan's service, and get into the Lord's. Leave your old friends, and unite yourself with God's people.

In a few days, if nothing happens, I expect to go to Liverpool. If, when I am in the train, my friend Mr. Shipton says, "Moody, you are going in the wrong train, - that train is going to Edinburgh" - I should say, "Mr. Shipton, you have made a great mistake; somebody told me the train was going to Liverpool. You are wrong, Mr. Shipton; I am sure you are wrong." Then Mr. Shipton would say, "Moody, I have lived here forty years, and I know all about the trains. He must have been very ignorant or very vicious who told you that train goes to Liverpool." Mr. Shipton at last convinces me, and I get out of that train and get into the one going to Liverpool.

Repentance is getting out of one train and getting into the other. You are in the wrong train; you are in the broad path that takes you down to the pit of hell. Get out of it to-night. Right-about-face! Who will turn his feet towards God? "Turn ye, for why will ye die?" In the Old Testament the word is "turn." In the New Testament the word is "repent." "Turn ye, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" God does not want any man in this audience to perish, but He wants all to be saved. You can be saved now if you will.

There is another illustration I wish I had time to dwell upon and that is about looking. There is that serpent in the wilderness. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man also be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Look here! Just give me your attention for a few minutes. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." How long does it take a man to believe? Or, if you will, how long does it take a man to look? Some people say they believe in educating people to be Christians. How long do you educate children to look? You hear the mother say, "Look," and the little child looks. It does not take a child three months to learn to look. Look and live! You need not go to college to learn how to look. There is not a child here but knows how to look. Christ says, "Look unto me; for I am [ABCOG: the way to] God, and there is none else."

There is the brazen serpent on the pole. God says to the children of Israel, who are dying of the bite of the fiery serpents - "Look, and live!"

Now, there is nothing in looking at a piece of brass which can cure the bite of a serpent. It is God who cures it, and the looking is the condition. It is obedience; and that is what God will have.

One moment the poor sufferer is dying; the next there comes a thrill of life through his veins, and he lives: he is well. My friends, look to Christ, and not to yourselves. That is what is the matter with a great many sinners; instead of looking to Christ, they are looking at the bite.

It is not looking to the wound; it is looking to the remedy. Christ is the remedy of sin. What you want is to look from the wound to the remedy - to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Who will look tonight, and live? Turn your eye to Calvary; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Actually, if you will study yourself, you will see that baptism is shown to put us into relationship with Christ, which can only happen when we are saved, several times in the Bible. And even if it was taught only once, that is enough for me. How many times must God tell you something before you believe it? Here are some of the passages that show baptism in relationship to salvation:
(Matt. 28:18-20,Mark 16:15-16,John 3:1-6,Acts 2:36-41,Acts 22:12-16,Romans 6:3-7,Galatians 3:26-27,Colossians 2:9-12,1 Peter 3:18-22)

Is that enough times for you?

You are an excellent example of a denominational group that has unique distinctives. (I'm not sure if you're Church of Christ??) but your theology is unique to your group.

The book of doctrines contains many chapters and only one of them deals with free will. To lump everyone together who shares that similarity is, I suppose, one way to reduce the complexity, but it is a way that wears blinders.

Similarly, if one were to group together all groups that hold to determinism, we'd have to include everything from reformed baptists to islamic fundamentalists.

I read one guy recently who decried his former life as a reformed baptist because they didn't have a presbyterian form of government. His take was that the other reformed group had it right and his prior group's position constituted sinning.

Would he agree that his former group and his current group are the same simply because they both hold to determinism?

Inch Allah???

"They are based on your preconceived ideas on Grace and salvation."

I'm a ignorant savage. You will find I research everything. I have few "ideas" and fewer still "preconceived ideas".

"I believe that the Bible is the Word of God and therefore is the only thing I need to teach me about God's Grace and salvation."

Well, I think just about everyone out on this site will make this claim-except maybe the Catholics.

"When a penitent sinner is baptized, it isn't the water magically doing anything. It is the sinner's submission to the will of Christ"

I would suggest the sinner has submitted to the will of Christ long before he/she is baptized. Otherwise they wouldn't want to be baptized. Baptism is an outward manifestation of that submission.

Obviously, you would not claim that the shedding of Christ's blood was not required for salvation. However, you claim that baptism is not required, even though the language has them doing the same thing.

Without intending to be trite in my response, when was the thief on the cross beside Jesus baptized?

I have answered this question I don't know how many times in this one thread alone. The thief on the cross was not under the New Covenant, as we are today, because Christ had not died yet. Also, the church was not established until Pentecost, after Christ had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. Jesus had the power to save anyone He wished while on the Earth. Case closed.

Where Spurgeon has issues is in “…the bringing in of the works of the flesh, to assist in our justification”. The scriptures says: “Salvation belongs to the Lord” Psalms 3:8......outside the box...

Actually, Harley there is only one issue here and that issue is biblical authority.

I can easily think outside the box. I understand how the bible is constructed for you to arrive at your point. I even believe it is a biblical case that you make.

However, I personally believe that the biblical case is stronger for free will. It, too, can be researched in scripture and all of the bases are covered. I have compared the 2 and I still find the determinist position weaker.

You look at it and you find the free will position weaker.

If my position or your position were constructed based on "philosophy or the rudiments of the world and not after Christ" then that position would be wrong.

That is not the case with either of us, and that is why both of us are Christians. We are doing as required by the Bible and working "out our (own) salvation in fear and trembling."

"I would suggest the sinner has submitted to the will of Christ long before he/she is baptized. Otherwise they wouldn't want to be baptized. Baptism is an outward manifestation of that submission."

Please show me Biblical proof that baptism is an outward manifestation of the submission to Christ. Without Biblical proof, this is just your opinion.

The thief on the cross was not under the New Covenant, as we are today, because Christ had not died yet.

Okay, but I still see two problems:

1) If the thief died under the "old" covenant, wouldn't he need to offer an animal sacrifice to be cleansed of his sins? Or, if faith without baptism made one righteous before God as it did in the case of Abraham (Gen. 15, Rom. 4), why would it become an added condition under the new?

2) Baptism for repentence was instituted by John the Baptist, not Jesus:

And he said to them, "Then to what were you baptized?" And they said, "To John's baptism." And Paul said, "John truly baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe into Him coming after him, that is, into Jesus Christ." --Acts 19:3-4

Therefore, if baptism is required for repentence rather than being a sign of it (which is the predominant Christian view), the thief was still hosed by not receiving it, since it had been instituted by God through John over three years before.

1) As I stated, Christ could forgive anyone he chose to forgive. I can not for sure tell you why baptism is required in the New Testament, I just know that the Bible so teaches. In baptism, we are buried and raised to a new life, which parallels what Christ has done for us. It is not the water that does anything, it is our submission to the will of Christ.

2) There is no proof that the thief on the cross had not been baptized by John the Baptist. The Bible clearly states that many in the area were baptized, so he very easily could have been one those who had been baptized. Either way, the fact is Christ had the power to forgive sins while He was here.

If I can make another observation, in many ways this is really an argument over whether the glass is half-empty or half-full.

One could rightly say that from God's eternal, out-of-time perspective, our election is predetermined, since to God all time is already laid out and there are no surprises (which again is why the Bible says that His predestination is based on His foreknowledge). But from the human POV (which God also takes from time-to-time, interestingly enough), the one we operate in and make decisions in, the future is yet open, and we have choices to make. From the Bible, one can see both views presented.

To overemphasize either, without recognizing that both are true, is IMHO the real problem the theologians have in dealing with this issue rightly.

I have responded biblically to your comments on the thief and the new covenant and have shown biblically the rationale that says the thief WAS under the New Covenant.

John the Baptist was the last prophet of the Old Covenant.

Jesus the Christ was the first preacher of the New Covenant. His own words during his ministry to a non-believing Nicodemus (early in the Book of John) were "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."

This message was given to Nicodemus well BEFORE Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus was the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.

As I stated, Christ could forgive anyone he chose to forgive.

Then I don't see the problem here. Clearly, if Christ can forgive whom He wants to forgive on the basis of that person's repentence and decision to trust Him, then baptism isn't "required" by definition.

OTOH, if a person claimed to be saved, but refused baptism, we might wonder if there was a problem, since they were starting out their alleged Christian walk in disobedience.

There is no proof that the thief on the cross had not been baptized by John the Baptist.

There's not a shred of proof that he had, either. And if he had been baptized for repentence, would he still have been called a thief by the authors of the Gospel accounts?

I think that you're overreaching and presuming a lot in order to get around an obvious hole in your theology in this matter. But as long as you believe that it is your trust in Jesus Christ, His diety, and His work on your behalf on the cross that saves you, and not the fact that you've been immersed in water, it's really a relatively minor issue that's not worth getting into an extended debate over.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” Acts 10: 44-47

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Eph 1:13

Cornelius and company received the gift of the Holy Spirit BEFORE they were baptized. As we can see from Ephesians the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of our promise-not our baptism.

BTW-Some of the words Peter spoke were:

Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” Acts 10:43

No mention of baptism.

Baptism is clearly tied to the remission of sins(Acts 2:38),washing away sins(Acts 22:16) and putting on Christ(Galatians 3:27). If you believe that you can be saved before your sins have been remitted, before they have been washed away, and before you have put on Christ, then so be it. I, for one, believe that none of these things can be accomplished without baptism, since that is what the Bible teaches. If you don't agree, that is your right.

No mention of baptism.

You are quite right about that verse. However, to take up JK's point, there are verses that do link a necessity for baptism. We must deal with those.

No matter what we conclude, we cannot throw water baptism overboard.

It might not be a requirement for salvation, but it is presented as a necessary step.....We are told to baptize and believers are instructed to be baptized. I think submitting to baptism is a sign of believing in and submitting to Christ, and I think that refusal of baptism, when there is no unusual preventing circumstance,is sign that one has not really believed and submitted to their new Lord's instructions.

step in the right direction

I believe that your intent is to demonstrate your points biblical. That tells me that you are a bible Christian and not a philosophical christian.

Those verses are in the bible, and like you, we should all take them seriously and put them in a biblical context. We might still arrive at different places, and we might debate one another over how we interpreted the Bible, but, fortunately, we are all using God's Word.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.