Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. –Acts 2:38 

There are two extreme positions on the topic of speaking in tongues.  The first position is that speaking in tongues is required for salvation.  Some say that although speaking in tongues is not required for salvation, it is the true evidence for salvation.  Specifically, it is the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  The second position is that speaking in tongues is a gift that is no longer truly manifested in the church today.

These are the two theological ditches, but is there a road in between?  First, we will read about when Jesus spoke to the apostles in Mark chapter 16:

¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."  ¹⁹After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

There are actually some churches in which members handle deadly snakes in order to prove their faith.  Most Christians shake their heads in disbelief at the notion of doing something so foolish.  Why then, do some of these same believers require speaking in new tongues as the evidence of faith or salvation?  Why not include snake handling, poison drinking, healing and exorcism to the body of evidence?

There are certainly many good reasons, not the least of which being that much of the evidence could be hazardous to your health.  But according to verse 20, the disciples clearly were able to do these very things.  This is from Acts 2:

¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

According to this passage, the filling of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the sign of speaking in tongues.  Also, the sound of a violent wind filled the house and tongues of fire came to rest on all of them.  As this was happening, a crowd began to gather.  Some members of the crowd made fun of them, saying that those who were speaking in tongues had too much wine to drink.  But Peter told them that this was to fulfill the prophecy of Joel:

¹⁷" 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  ¹⁸Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  ¹⁹I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  ²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  ²¹And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

Here are more manifestations of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy, visions, and dreams.  However, this is all prefaced by “In the last days”.  It can be argued that these signs were only for the last days before Christ’s glorious return, or only for the “apostolic age”, but what about the time in between?  Have tongues been stilled, as Paul says in I Corinthians 13?

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

I have heard verse 8 used as evidence that tongues have ceased.  But Paul clearly states in verse 18 of the very next chapter that he speaks in tongues more than any of the church in Corinth.  Paul was not one of the original twelve apostles, so at what point did speaking in tongues cease?  Was there a date or event that marked the passing of tongues until the return of Jesus?

I Corinthians 13:8 is the only verse that I've found that even remotely implies that speaking in tongues is not possible today, and there is a lot of Biblical evidence that the Holy Spirit can still work through tongues today.  In other words, the idea that there is no speaking in tongues today is a ditch that is fairly easy for me to avoid.

Acts 19 is used as proof that the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs as a "second work" of the Holy Spirit.  This is because the disciples present were said only to have received John’s baptism, then Paul laid hands on them and they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

¹While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." ³So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. ⁴Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

These were merely disciples of John, not of Jesus.  So of course they had not been baptized by the Holy Spirit when they believed, because while they had accepted John's message of repentance, they did not know who Jesus was.  You will notice that after verse 4, a decision is made.  After Paul explained to them that Jesus was the one that John spoke of coming after him ("on hearing this"), they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.  They heard, they believed, and then they were baptized.  They were not saved before Paul told them about Jesus.  There is also nothing here to imply that they were half-saved before they heard from Paul.  When he placed his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues, he was not completing a plan of salvation.  There is nothing scriptural to the idea that you must believe, repent, be baptized, but then wait for speaking in tongues to be saved.

In verse 6, they spoke in tongues and prophesied.  While this verse is used to prove that those who are saved will speak in tongues, there is no such claim made about prophesying.  Why is prophecy not required evidence for salvation just as speaking in tongues is?

To further understand the error of those that require speaking in tongues to demonstrate salvation, let's look at 1 Corinthians 12.  We are all part of one body, and not all parts of the body have the same purpose.  Here Paul lists different gifts, and in fact speaking in tongues is the last mentioned, implying that it is the least of all.

I Corinthians 12 - ⁴There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. ⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

This entire chapter could not be more clear that not everyone has the same gifts.  When confronted with this seeming contradiction to their theology, the speaking-in-tongues-required crowd points out that in verse 9, faith is listed as a gift of the Spirit.  They reason that if faith is listed here, then this must be a special gift of faith.  We all must have faith to be saved, and faith is not something that some Christians have and others do not.  Therefore, the gift of tongues, as mentioned in this passage, is a special gift of tongues.  But their point is that whether it is the regular speaking in tongues or this special gift, speaking in tongues is still the only credible demonstration of salvation.

There are several problems with this line of thinking, and chief among them is the remainder of the chapter:

¹²The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" ²²On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. ²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? ³¹But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

If you look at verses 17-21, you can see that God designed the the body to have many parts.  If speaking in tongues is the mouth of the body, then the speaking-in-tongues-required crowd says that each part of the body needs to have a mouth or else it isn't part of the body. 

They are, as in verse 21, the eyes telling the feet that they are not part of the body.  If you say that someone is not saved because they don't speak in tongues, then that is what you are saying.

The painfully obvious answer to the rhetorical questions in verses 29 and 30 is "no", not all are apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, or healers, and not all speak in tongues.  There is no mention of speaking in tongues or interpreting being a special kind.  Verse 11 says that all the gifts and manifestations mentioned are from the same Spirit.

There are a few passages in the NT that show people speaking in tongues when they receive the Holy Spirit.  There are many other passages that don't mention speaking in tongues.  If for no other reason, this makes it simple enough to reject the speaking-in-tongues-required position, since the basis of their argument is that when people in the Bible are saved they speak in tongues, therefore all true Christians speak in tongues.

This is what's known as a compositional fallacy, that is, because the attributes of the parts of a whole have a certain property, it is argued that the whole has that property.  In other words, if some Christians in the Bible speak in tongues when they receive the Holy Spirit, then all Christians speak in tongues when they receive the Holy Spirit.

John 20 - ¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. ²¹Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." ²²And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

The risen Lord Jesus appears to the disciples, breathes on them and says "Receive the Holy Spirit".  There is no mention of any of them speaking in tongues here.  Could you then argue that the disciples whom Jesus is sending out to proclaim the gospel are not saved, and that their salvation was not secure until the day of Pentecost?  There is no evidence to support this theory.

At some point, you have to ask the question, what is the purpose of speaking in tongues?  If you understand the purpose of tongues, it is easier to stay out of the ditches.

Take a look at I Corinthians chapter 14:

¹Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. ²For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. ³But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. ⁴He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.

According to verse 4, those who speak in tongues do so for their own edification.  Paul goes on to state that he would like everyone to speak in tongues, once again helping to dispel the idea that tongues have ceased.

⁶Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? ⁷Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? ⁸Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? ⁹So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. ¹⁰Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. ¹¹If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. ¹²So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

This passage should step on some toes.  Why?  Verse 12 indicates that speaking in tongues does not build up the church as other spiritual gifts do.  In fact, the idea that Paul is conveying in these chapters is that members of the body should concentrate on things that build up the church, not themselves.  This is probably to combat an epidemic of incoherent noise in the church as everyone clamored to prove that they were the most spiritual by speaking in tongues.  So is there anything inherently wrong with "speaking into the air"?  Read on.

¹³For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. ¹⁶If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. ¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

How often do you hear an interpretation of tongues in church?  I personally can answer the question simply, never.  Paul thanks God that he speaks in tongues more than anyone he's writing to, but it is clear that he views it as fruitless in a corporate setting.  Verse 16 is reinforced here, in verse 23.

²⁰Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. ²¹In the Law it is written: “Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,” says the Lord. ²²Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. ²³So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? ²⁴But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, ²⁵and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

I can attest to the truth spoken in verse 23.  I was once at an Easter play in a Pentecostal church, and at the end of the play when the lights came up, the whole congregation began to speak in tongues.  As a visitor, I was not surprised to witness this, and in fact I kind of expected it.  But the person to my left, who happened to be a psychologist, leaned over to the friend who dragged him to the play and said, "What we are witnessing here is group behavior".

I cannot say whether or not the man was a Christian, but he obviously did not believe this to be a move of the Holy Spirit.  Read verse 23 again and you can see that what Paul predicted is in fact what happened.  The man believed that the congregation was merely following the lead of the preacher, that they were not in their right minds but were in a semi-hypnotic state.

What was even more discouraging as I looked around the room, was that I knew that there were many individuals in the congregation who were faking it.  I have spoken with enough people after such gatherings that I know it occurs.  After all, who wants to be the only one who isn't spiritual enough to speak in tongues?  Even more than that, it was a church where they believe that speaking in tongues is required for salvation, so those poor individuals are probably trying desperately to speak in tongues ("get" the Holy Spirit) so they can be saved.

This is far from what Paul intended when he wrote these guidelines:

²⁶What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. ²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, two–or at the most three–should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. ²⁹Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³²The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

These verses seem clear to me.  Speaking in tongues in a corporate setting should be done with guidelines, and they are that at the most two or three people should speak, one at a time, and only with an interpreter.  Why is this so blatantly ignored by so many churches?  I would speculate that the reason is three-fold.

First, this is the direction that a church who holds to the tongues-required doctrine will inevitably go, and that is to say that members will want to prove their salvation to give themselves credibility and to be accepted as equals.  Paul says in verse 5 that he would like everyone to speak in tongues, but he would rather they prophesy.  Why then is speaking in tongues given salvation-bringing status when Paul here explicitly states that prophecy is more important and that unless one interprets tongues he is lesser than one who prophesies?  The emphasis on tongues is for the edification of the individual, not the corporate church, never mind the fact that Paul later goes on to lay out guidelines that forbid the corporate use of tongues as it is most often seen today in charismatic churches.

Secondly, this reveals an ignorance of scripture.  At ORU and other similar charismatic Christian universities, corporate tongues is taught and encouraged.  When confronted with scriptures in I Corinthians 14, the leaders of ORU chapel services usually say that they congregants are simply using their "prayer language", not speaking in tongues.  The Bible shows that there are distinctions in the language that is being spoken, in that sometimes speaking in tongues can be understood by others (Acts 2, at Pentecost) and other times it is unintelligible to any person (I Corinthians 14:2).  But there is no Biblical evidence that these are not both "speaking in tongues" as spoken of in I Corinthians 14.

The third reason that I think that this chapter is ignored is that people don't understand the purpose behind speaking in tongues as it relates to Gentiles.  In Acts 10 and 11, we see that when Peter visited Cornelius, the Gentiles that were present spoke in tongues.  This was so that the Jews would see that God could pour out His Spirit on Jews and Gentiles alike.  When Peter returned to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him for going to a Gentile's house and eating with him.  So he told them the story of the vision he had and what happened when he met with Cornelius.

Acts 11 - ¹⁵"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. ¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" ¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."

In this case, tongues were a sign for the Jews so that they would know that Gentiles could receive the Holy Spirit.  Continuing on with I Corinthians 14:

As in all the congregations of the saints, ³⁴women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. ³⁵If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. ³⁶Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. ³⁸If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.  ³⁹Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Verse 38 offers a scathing admonishment to those who regard these guidelines as mere suggestions.  Verse 37 says this is "the Lord's command", and it shouldn't be taken lightly.

One major flaw in the reasoning of Pentecostals and others who believe that speaking in tongues is required for salvation, is that there is a certain formula that has to be followed for salvation.  The formula must contain these elements: repentance, faith, baptism in the name of Jesus (Not in the name of "the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit".  I call this "salvation by incantation", but more on that in another article), and then baptism by the Holy Spirit, as demonstrated in Acts 2 by speaking in tongues.

While the order of this formula is mentioned a few times, a simple review of the rest of the book of Acts proves that the formula is not consistent.  In Acts 2, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.  Others (obviously those NOT speaking in tongues) were amazed.  Moved by Peter's words, they ask what they can do to be saved. 

³⁸Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." ⁴⁰With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." ⁴¹Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Notice that there is no mention of tongues for the three thousand.  And in fact, verse 43 goes on to say "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles."  No miraculous signs such as speaking in tongues were mentioned for the three thousand.  No formula.

In Acts 3 - 4, Peter speaks to a crowd of people who were amazed at the healing of the beggar.  He tells them to repent and turn to God that their sins may be wiped out.  Thousands more were added to the number of believers when they heard Peter speak.  We read of repentance and belief, but neither tongues nor baptism are mentioned.  No formula.

In Acts 8:17, Peter and John lay hands on Samarians who have been previously baptized in the name of Jesus and they receive the Holy Spirit.  No mention of tongues.  No formula.

In Acts 8:38, after Philip tells him the good news of Jesus, the Ethiopian eunuch is baptized, then Philip is taken by the Holy Spirit and disappears as they are coming out of the water.  The Ethiopian goes on his way, rejoicing.  Why rejoice except that he is saved?  Why would God send Philip to the Ethiopian to only half-save him?  The formula is that after baptism you pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the gift of tongues and you wait.  But there was no waiting here, and no mention of tongues.  No formula.

In Acts 9, after receiving his sight back, Paul is baptized and begins to preach in the synagogues.  There is no mentioned of him speaking in tongues here, though obviously he does later.  Would anyone deny that Paul was saved?  Again, there is no formula.

In the entire Bible, there are only three specific instances mentioned where the gift of speaking in tongues was given.  In the first instance (Acts 2:4), there are unbelieving Jews present who are brought to repentance by Peter's words and the miraculous signs.  In the second (Acts 10:45-46), Peter is conveying to the Jews the revelation that God has given him, that even Gentiles can receive the Holy Spirit.  In the third instance (Acts 19:6), Paul and John come across a group of people who have been baptized by John the Baptist for repentance, but who apparently have not even heard about the Holy Spirit.  Paul and John explain that John the Baptist spoke of one that would come after him that they should believe on.  In other words, Paul and John had to tell them about the good news of Jesus.

Notice that the three instances of speaking in tongues are all in the book of Acts.  Interestingly enough, for the most part Acts is not an instructional book.  It is an accounting, a historical retelling of the acts of the Apostles in the early days of the church.  Thematic in the book of Acts is the universality of the church, that the good news of Christ is for all, including Jews, Samaritans, Ethiopians, the Gentiles at Antioch, Cornelius, rich, poor, educated, ignorant, men, and women.

Consider the first chapter of Luke:

¹Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, ²just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. ³Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

and the first chapter of Acts:

¹In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ²until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

It is very likely that Luke wrote these two books as one complete work, the book of Acts being a continuation of the Gospel of Luke.  When you realize that the book is historical, and not instructional, it is even easier to discount the idea that Acts 2:38 is THE plan of salvation and that there is indeed no formula or ritual that must be strictly adhered to in order to be saved.

But the most obvious reason to reject the idea that speaking in tongues is required for salvation is the fact that it is never stated anywhere in Scripture.  All of the verses cited by the believers in this doctrine require substantial massaging to fit into the tongues-required framework.  If you search the Bible, you won't find the idea that speaking in tongues is the inevitable or essential evidence for salvation, either explicitly stated or implied, and that is a glaring omission.

Here are a few verses that point to the idea that the Acts 2:38 formula is not universal:

Mark 16:16 - Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 16:29-31 - ²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" ³¹They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

Romans 10:9-10 - ⁹That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Ephesians 1:13 - And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

John 5:24 - "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

John 6:40 - For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

1 Timothy 1:16 - But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.