God's Plan of Salvation...
If you will study together each of the cases of conversion recorded in the book of Acts, you'll find that each one took the following steps in order to get saved. Each of these steps are taught in the doctrine of Christ. One step cannot stand alone. One verse may mention that faith saves. This does not mean that faith only saves (James 2:24) because other verses mention other things which save. In order to complete God's plan of salvation, the following verses must be allowed to compliment one another, thus allowing all scripture to work together (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
In order to become a Christian, one must...
1. Hear the Gospel...
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
-The first step to salvation is hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is why the Lord told His disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). He
knew they needed to hear it!
-The eunuch obeyed the Gospel after Philip had "Preached Jesus to him" (Acts 8:35,38).
-It is the Gospel by which men are called to obtain glory in Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14).
2. Believe in Jesus as God's Son...
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16).
-After one hears the Gospel, he must believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 8:24).
-After those men in Acts 2 heard Peter preach the Gospel (vs. 14-36) they came to believe. This is
manifested in the fact that they were "cut to the heart" (vs. 37).
3. Repent of Sins...
"God...now commands all men everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30).
-After one hears the Gospel, and believes that Jesus is the Son of God, he must then be willing to
repent of his sins.
-After hearing and believing, those in Acts 2 where told to repent (Acts 2:38).
4. Confess Faith in Christ...
"...With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9, 10).
-After hearing, believing, and repenting, one must be willing to confess his faith in Jesus as
the Son of God.
-After the eunuch heard and believed the Gospel, and before Philip baptized him, he confessed
his faith in Jesus as the Christ (Acts 8:37).
5. Be Baptized...
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16).
After hearing, believing, repenting, and confessing faith, one must
humbly submit to Christ by obeying the command of baptism.
-It is baptism that connects one with the blood of Christ which washes away his sins; so baptism
can be said to "Wash away...sins" (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Ephesians 1:7; Revelation 1:5).
-It is baptism which places one in Christ where salvation is (2 Timothy 2:10; Galatians 3:26,27).
-In each case of conversion in the book of Acts, each obeyed the command to be baptized:
6. Remain Faithful...
"...Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10).
-The Gospel teaches that once one hears, believes, repents, confesses, and is baptized to
become a child of God, he must then remain faithful to the Lord until death in order to finally
make it to heaven.
-Those who fall away from the Lord and don't come back repenting, confessing, and praying for
forgiveness will lose their souls (2 Peter 2:20-22; James 5:19-20; Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).
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