I departed a bit from my main subject in the last article, but I wanted to show that salvation itself is the work of God in us, not our work for Him. Perhaps I will give other stories about salvation after this one, but I want to skip over to Acts 8:26-31, which says: “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went; and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias (Isaiah), and said, Understandeth thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.” Our story goes on to show that the Eunuch read about Jesus being lead like a lamb to the slaughter. Then the eunuch asked Philip if Isaiah were talking about himself, or some other man. Philip began at the same Scripture (Isaiah chapter 53) and preached Jesus to the eunuch. Then verse 36 says that they came unto “a certain water”, and the eunuch asked what hindered him from being baptized. Then verses 37-39 say: “And Philip said, If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.”
Please pay close attention to this story. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading from Isaiah chapter 53 about Jesus dying like an innocent lamb, but he did not understand that Isaiah was writing about Jesus, so he asked Philip concerning the identity of the “lamb dumb before his shearers”, and Philip told him that Jesus was the lamb in view in Isaiah’s writing. Without other explanation, as far as our story shows, the eunuch desired to be baptized in the water that was in their view. He even asked what would hinder his being baptized. Now we come to the point of how simple salvation really is, for Philip told the eunuch that if he believed with all his heart, then he could be baptized. Where is the long prayer on the part of the eunuch? Where is the long altar call and the long “tarrying”, as some indicate for salvation? In this story, there is nothing more, and nothing less, than a statement that the eunuch believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Upon this profession of faith, Philip baptized the eunuch. Moreover, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. Had he been saved with so simple a plan? Did he not have to pray? No prayer is shown here, at least there is no audible prayer mentioned. The only thing involved in the salvation of the eunuch was faith in Jesus as the Son of God, as Galatians 3:26 so aptly states: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” No, this does not mean that every human being is a child of God, but all who have placed their faith in Christ Jesus are children of God. So, we cannot say that it takes a long prayer for one to be saved, for no prayer is even indicated in the case of the salvation of the Ethiopian eunuch, yet he went on his way rejoicing after Philip baptized him. My intention is to show that salvation is really simple, once the sinner is willing to come to Jesus by faith. Some may say that repentance is necessary, and I would agree, but the eunuch had repented, or else he would never have asked to be baptized. More than that, his joy shows that he had truly received Jesus for salvation. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” So, there is the simplicity of salvation in a nutshell!
By J. Briggs King, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921