Paul and Silas had been beaten up and thrown in jail.

There they were in prison, and about midnight they decided to have a worship service. They start singing hymns and praising God. Not what you might expect.

According to Scripture, God sent an earthquake that miraculously broke open the prison doors. The chains fell off all of the prisoners, including Paul and Silas, and all were free to escape.

As you might expect, the jailer freaked out. He knew he would be put to death if all of the prisoners escaped. No job security there.

The jailer had pulled out his own sword and was about to kill himself when Paul shouted, “Don’t do it! We are all still here!” (See Acts 16:16-34).

The jailer then asked Paul and Silas one of the most important questions that a person can ever ask. He wanted an answer to one simple question: “What must I do to be saved?”

The answer to that question depends on whom you ask. You’ll get a lot of different answers to this question today. You’ll hear a lot of different opinions because there are so many different beliefs. The problem is that all beliefs cannot be equally true.

Many people today often do not embrace the idea of absolute truth, especially when it comes to spiritual matters and issues of eternity.

You often will hear people say things like, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere.”

Anything that is undesirable is discarded, whether it is true or not. Many argue that it is intolerant and narrow-minded to think there is only one way to heaven.

There is a definite perception today that truth is in the eye of the beholder. Some contend that we’re all on different paths, but we are headed to the same destination anyway. Others are convinced that if you’re sincere, you will be fine, no matter what you believe.

More and more people are adopting belief systems like these. Are they true? They tell us that approximately 53 percent of Americans believe that if a person is generally good, he’ll go to heaven. Is that right? About 57 percent of evangelical church members said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life. Can this be true? Are all world religions basically the same and mostly true?

I hope you will join me over the next few weeks as we explore the answer to the age-old question: What must I do to be saved?