GOD'S PART
1. The great love of God for man (John 3:16)
2. He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Saviour (Luke 19:10)
3. Sent the Holy Spirit as a guide (John 16:13)
4. Gave the Gospel as "the power" unto salvation (Romans 1:16)
5. Provided atonement by the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9)
MAN'S PART
1. Hear the Gospel. (Romans
10:17, John 8:32)
2. Believe the Gospel (Hebrews 11:6, John 20:31)
3. Repent of past sins (Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30)
4. Confess faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:10, Matthew 10:32)
5. Be Baptized (Galatians 3:27, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38)
6. Be faithful unto death (Revelations 2:10)
God
has done His part;
Will you do yours?
If you have
questions concerning your part of this great plan, continue reading.
'What Must I do to be saved?'
This is the question that every
man and woman must answer in their lives if they hope to spend
eternity with God in Heaven. The apostle Paul says, in Phil 2:12, to
those of the church in Philippi,
"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling."
Thus, we
understand that it is our own responsibility to answer the question,
"What we must do to be saved?" No one else can answer that question
for us, nor can we trust others with this, most important, decision.
We must seek our answer from God and His Word.
So,
what does the Bible say about salvation?
We
cannot be saved by the creeds or manuals of men.
In Matthew
15:9, Jesus says,
"But
in vain they do worship me, teaching for a doctrine the commandments
of men."
In Galatians
1:6-9, the inspired writer says,
"I
marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the
grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there
be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. As
we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
God is against
any teaching that is not directly from Him. Thus, we must turn to the
Word of God to determine that which we must do to be saved.
Again, the
Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,
"All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: that the man of may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works"
So then, we
must look to the Word of God to learn the way of our salvation, if we
are to have hope of reaching Heaven.
First, we must
HEAR
the word of God. In John 5:24-25, Jesus says,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth him that sent me hath eternal life, and cometh not into
judgement, but hath passed out of death into life."
Obviously,
hearing His word is very important to our salvation.
Second, we
learn that hearing produces
FAITH.
Romans 10:17
says,
"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God."
We cannot have
faith if we do not know what the word of God has to say. Many believe
they have faith, and that it is independent of what the Bible actually
says. But according to the Bible, men and women can only attain
faith through hearing the word of God.
Third, we must
REPENT.
In Luke 13:3,
Jesus says,
"Unless ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
In Acts 2,
Peter preaches the first gospel sermon, in which he explains to
everyone who Jesus is and the horrific crime they had committed in
putting Him to death. We can pick up the story in verse 37;
"Now
when the heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto
Peter and the rest of the Apostles 'men and brethren what shall we
do?' 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent..."
We will get to
the rest of the story in a moment, but certainly this appears to be a
requirement for those who desire to become disciples of Jesus Christ.
Again, in Acts
3:19 Peter says
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord;"
So, if
repentance is a requirement, what does it mean and what must we do to
meet this requirement? To repent is to change our mind and make the
decision that we will change our life to begin serving the Lord as He
desires us to serve Him. This is brought about by understanding what
God has done for us, and realizing that we are not right with Him in
our current condition and that we desire to change so as to please
Him. This means, that an immoral person must become moral and upright
in lifestyle. For the religious person who has tried to live a life
pleasing to God, repentance may involve recognizing that we have not
done what God requires of us with regard to salvation and that we must
obey the inspired plan in order to be right with Him. If we are in the
denominational world, belonging to a church that has a creed or
doctrine other than the Bible and/or in addition to the Bible, then we
must turn away from such a religion and find a congregation of people
that believe in the Bible and only the Bible. (We are certainly happy
to help you in any such search.) Repentance then is produced by Godly
sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10) which leads to a change of heart and a
change of mind, which is the beginning of a changed life... one that
is dedicated to God.
Fourth, we must
CONFESSour
faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 10:8-10
says,
But
what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy
heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved.
For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
Then, we must
be
BAPTIZED...
The person who
is a repentant, confessing believer is a person ready to be baptized.
To many in the world, baptism is a controversial issue. As simple as
the process is and as often as it is commanded in the New Testament,
many in the religious world just cannot accept it as the Bible teaches
it. Let's see what the Bible says about baptism. Remember Peter's
first Gospel sermon in Acts 2? We looked at it earlier in the section
on repentance. Let's take a look at the rest of that passage now.
Acts 2:36-39
36.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said
unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what
shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the
promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar
off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
This tells us
that baptism is necessary for the remission (forgiveness) of sins.
The apostle
Paul tells us in Galatians 3:26-27,
26.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
So, we are
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. But what does that faith in
Jesus lead us to do? When do we actually put on Christ?
The answer of
Galatians 3:27 is simple. The believer has put on Christ when he or
she is baptized into Christ.
Look again to
the Bible. In Acts 22:16, Ananias is quoted by Paul as saying,
16.
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy
sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
So then,
baptism washes away sins. But it is not the physical washing of the
body that makes the difference. Rather, it is our willingness to do
that which God has commanded us to do. Peter explains this in I Peter
3:20-21 when he says,
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein
few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure
whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of
the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward
God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
We come up out
of the water to "walk in newness of life."
God then adds
us to the church (Acts 2:47). Not by vote or the decisions of men, but
God alone adds us to His Church.
Finally, we
must live our lives in faithful and loyal service to our Lord Jesus
Christ as God has directed (Revelations 2:10). We must find a
congregation that believes and practices as the New Testament
directs... following the Word of God... speaking where the Bible
speaks, living by His Word and His Word alone. Trusting in God to save
us as He has promised those who would be faithful to Him.
If you find
yourself not in compliance with the Bible's plan of salvation, you can
change. You can make your life right with God. No matter how old you
may be, it is not too late to make your life right by obeying the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are sincerely desiring to serve the
Lord, then He can certainly help you in your pursuit of righteousness.
Please contact us if you would like to correspond or speak with
someone concerning the Bible's plan of salvation.
