Then Paul taught him and his household to be baptized, and taught them that baptism was urgent, because they were baptized the same hour of the night. They did not put it off a month or a week or even until daylight, but were baptized immediately, or straightway, even the very same hour of the night.
Faith is emphasized also by Acts 2:36 where Peter concluded his great Pentecost sermon by saying, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?” (Rom. 10:13-14). “Without faith it’s impossible to be well pleasing unto God” (Heb. 11:6). Therefore, the first condition of salvation is faith.
The second one is repentance. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent”; Acts 3:19 says, “Repent”; and Acts 17:30 says “Repent.” You can go home and read these Scriptures and you’ll find the commandment to repent in each of them, and it’s given as a condition of salvation.
Furthermore, we are taught that “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10). And in the eighth chapter of Acts we read that when the Ethiopian eunuch said, “See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? and Philip said, If thou believest with all of thine heart, thou mayest, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Therefore, confession is a condition of salvation.
When the Pentecostians inquired what they must do to be saved, the inspired apostle Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). Ananias told Paul, “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21). No one, who knows the Bible, can have a good conscience toward the Lord until he has been baptized. Baptism is the answer to the quest for a good conscience.
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). Friends, there are a thousand ways to go to hell; one of them is to disbelieve. But suppose I ask you who will be saved. You cannot give me a Bible answer to save your life without mentioning baptism. For Mark 16:16, the word of Jesus Christ, says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” To leave out baptism would be to omit part of the Lord’s answer. No sane person ought to take the responsibility of taking away part of God’s word. You cannot give a Bible answer to the question without mentioning baptism!
According to the Bible, therefore, faith, repentance, confession, and baptism are the conditions of salvation. Since all saved people are added to the Lord’s church by the Lord, then these are also the conditions of membership in God’s church. The church, which teaches this, is right on this point. It might be wrong somewhere else, but the church which teaches these facts is the right church as far as the conditions of membership are concerned. Any church which leaves off any one of them or adds something to them just lacks that much, at least, being right.
IV
Worship
Let us look next at the acts of worship. There’s no place in the Bible which says in so many words, “Here are the acts ye shall perform as worship to Jehovah”; but there are certain acts commanded, which are, by their very nature, acts of worship. Therefore, God does state for us the acts which the members of His church shall perform in worship unto Him.
First, they should pray. Acts 2:42 states that the church at Jerusalem continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. Acts 20:36 gives us an example of public prayer. At the seaside the apostle Paul knelt down with those who were gathered with him and prayed unto God. Prayer by its very nature is an act of worship.