|
The Steps Of Salvation
Hearing - Faith is obtained only through the hearing of the good news
of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:17; Matthew 7:24-27
Belief - When an honest heart is presented with the truth of the
gospel, the result will be belief that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son
of God and the Savior of the world. Mark 16:16; John 1:12; Galatians
3:22
Repentance - Once one believes the truth, the only response will be the
desire to change. Repentance involves both a change of mind and direction.
We will desire to turn away from the sins of our past and toward God. Acts
26:20; Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30; II Peter 3:9
Confession - Another condition of salvation is a verbal confession made
before men. In Matthew 10:32 Jesus said, "Therefore
whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father
who is in heaven." We fulfill this for the first of many times
with this initial confession. Romans 10:10; Acts 8:37
Baptism - The Bible clearly defines this as a condition of salvation.
There is nothing magical about the water. This is not a work, because there
is nothing about this submission to the will of God that causes us to
"earn" our way into heaven. The same principle is used here that
was used in the healing of Naaman in II
Kings 5. Naaman was told to go and dip in
the River Jordan seven times and he would be healed. Naaman
became angry because the Jordan
was not the cleanest or nicest of the region's waterways. Finally one of
his servants asked him if he would have tried to accomplish some great feat
in order to be healed. How much easier was this option that was given him. There was nothing magical about the waters of the Jordan. Naaman didn't earn healing by dipping. It was simply
obedience to the conditions placed on the healing that allowed him to be
cleansed. The same is true of baptism. It is simply being obedient to the
conditions that have been given by God. The following scriptures clearly
teach that baptism is essential for salvation: Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16;
I Peter 3:21
Faithfulness - The first five steps are just to get to the starting line.
Paul describes the Christian walk as a race. He says that we are to run in
such a way as to win (I Corinthians 9:24). I have never seen a race won by
a person who didn't finish it. In order to attain the prize we must finish
the coarse. If we are once saved always saved no
matter what we do, then why did Paul say that it was possible to fall from from grace? (Galatians 5:4, I Corinthians 10:12;
Hebrews 6:6) As Christians we must live a faithful life after
baptism even to the point of death. Revelation 2:10
|
