When the Philippian jailer asked that all-important question, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30), he was told, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” (16:31). So, what does that mean? Does that mean, as so many have concluded, that all I have to do to be saved is to believe in Jesus? To draw that conclusion is not reading those words carefully.
The keeper of the prison was told to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Think about each of those words and its significance to each of the other words. “Believe.” Believing is not just some mental agreement with who Jesus is; believing is placing one’s trust and confidence in another. “On the Lord Jesus Christ.” The acceptable trust of Acts 16:31 is ON Jesus, our Savior—trusting Him as the Son of God, trusting Him as the promised Messiah, trusting Him as the Lord—which is only complete and acceptable when one obeys what the Lord commands.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” is summed up in three words, “Trust and obey!”