Jesus' Commands Reveal God's Plan of Salvation
There is no biblical topic as important as God’s Plan of Salvation. Here we are discussing the conditions of salvation that God has set forth in the New Testament. No single passage or verse contains all of the truth on the subject. It is important that we seek out all that the LORD has said on this or any other subject. Take your time wading through these lessons – they are not too long, but they do require some thought, prayer and meditation. Please check the biblical references given, read the bible objectively, and consider the entire context. If you have any questions, please Contact Us.
1. Jesus' Commands - below the links in this article; please scroll down ...
2. Acts 2 - Pentecost ... the First Converts to Christ
3. Acts 8 - The Samaritans and the Ethiopian
4. Acts 9 - Saul (Hebrew name) who Became Known as Paul (Greek name)
5. Acts 10 and 11 - The first Gentile Converts
6. Acts 16 - Lydia, the Jailer, and their Households
7. Acts 19 - Ephesians who had be Baptized under John the Baptist's Baptism
8. Outline and Summary of the Conversions in the Book of Acts
9. Question: Is Water Baptism Essential to Salvation?
10. Thinking About Becoming a Christian?
Does Doctrinal Purity Matter?
Saved by Faith Only?
Once Saved Always Saved?
Back to the Beginning
God's Called Out People
Local Church and Universal Church (Definitions)
The Work of the Lord's Church
Your Part in the Restoration
Finding a Church
Is it Possible to be Hopelessly Lost?
1. Plan of Salvation - Jesus' Commands
by Dave Brown
As you read the article below, ask yourself: "Is the author trying to get me to join his organization so he will get some credit or make some money from it? Or, is he simply telling me what Jesus said are the conditions of my salvation?" Salvation is not obtained by being a member of "the right" organization, it is obtained by loving Jesus and thus obeying His commands (John 14:15) and then following Him for the rest of your physical life. When you obey the gospel you are added to the Lord's body (Romans 6:3), and that is the only way you can be sure you are saved.
Let us introduce the plan of salvation taught in the New Testament by looking at the conditions of salvation that Jesus established. Once we learn these, we can look to the book of Acts to see just how these commands were implemented under the direction of the apostles and prophets who were inspired by the Holy Spirit in the first century. If we follow these commands and examples we cannot possibly go wrong. Please consider:
Listening to the Truth
John 6:44-45 shows the necessity of HEARING the word – this is a natural process of hearing the gospel. Perhaps LISTENING TO would be a better term than just hearing. Lots of people hear it, but few actually listen to the message. Please read John 6:44-45 carefully:
John 6:44-45 "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”
The drawing power of God is the truth of His word, the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16-17).
Romans 10:17, while not explicitly stated as a condition of salvation, shows that faith (belief) comes by hearing, and we will see below the necessity for faith.
“So faith {comes} from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Believing the Truth
John 3:16 shows that faith in the truth of the gospel is essential to salvation.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
We will talk more about the bible definition of “faith” below.
Repentance of Past Sins
Luke 13:3 shows the necessity for repentance, which is Godly sorrow motivating a turning away from sin.
“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
Jesus was not talking to people that society would consider to be particularly sinful. These were average people like you and me. They were asking Jesus about others that they thought were sinful. His response was that we should not look to the faults of others – we all have to repent and turn from our own sins. This is further emphasized in ...
2 Corinthians 7:10
For godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation, (a repentance) which brings no regret: but the sorrow of the world works death.
You will never regret turning from your sins, and it will lead to your salvation.
Being Willing to Confess Jesus Before Others
Matthew 10:32-33 shows the necessity for living a life that demonstrates our faith -- in short a life of confession of Christ as the Lord of our lives:
“Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
This is further reinforced and explained in:
Romans 10:8-10
8 The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:
9 because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus (as) Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved:
10 for with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Note that neither this nor any of the other commands above are “one time” obligations – they represent aspects of a change in the entire direction of our lives, and they go on continuously for the rest of our lives. God's requirement is, in a word, faithfulness.
Being Born Again in Baptism to a New Life in Christ
There is one final condition to a person's initial salvation, and it is given in John 3:3-5 – the rebirth.
John 3:3-5
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!
Romans 6:3-4 shows that this occurs when we render obedience in baptism. This is the only command that we satisfy by a single act, and it marks the point at which we become part of the body of Christ, which is His church (Colossians 1:18, 24).
Romans 6:3-4
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
This process is further summarized in Mark 16:16:
“He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be condemned.”
Remaining Faithful Unto Death
Satisfying the above conditions given by Jesus puts one into a saved condition and adds that person to the Lord's universal church. As stated throughout Romans 6, it is essential that the born-again person not go back to his/her old life of sin. It is essential that the Christian stay in this saved condition.
It is essential that we “be faithful unto and until death” according to Revelation 2:10:
“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
Do not be deceived by those who recklessly disregard the plain truth of the New Testament by teaching that one who is saved cannot fall from grace. No doctrine that we know has been more destructive to the salvation of mankind.
Conclusions
In summary, Jesus has indicated that a person must hear the word, believe it, repent of past sins, be willing to confess faith before others, be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins, and then continue to live a faithful life throughout this physical life.
But if salvation is a free gift, why should anything be required? Lest any would teach that by obeying Jesus we are buying or working for our salvation, please recognize that these acts of faith on our part are gifts of salvation on God's part. They are privileges given to us by God's grace.
Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:10:
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
When you are obedient to the commands of Jesus you are allowing God's grace to work within you -- do not resist the grace of God.
It is impossible to obtain God's free gift unless we realize that God's commands are an integral part of that gift. God loves us and has given us His commands to our benefit. God's commands are expressions of His love for us. Each one of them works to our benefit and blessing. Failing to understand this leads to attempts to obtain loopholes around the clear provisions that Jesus has made for our salvation.
Similarly, when we take up our crosses and do the Lord's work after becoming Christians, it is by God's grace, as indicated in 2 Corinthians 9:8:
"And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work."
If you feel like you are buying your salvation by obeying Jesus, or that your own righteousness merits your salvation, you need to start your spiritual learning process all over again.
What we obtain from our selfless acts of obedience is 100 fold more than what we give:
Mark 10:29-30: "Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospel's sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life."
Do you believe and understand this passage? If so, you understand what it mans to be saved by faith and not by our own works.
There are many other passages that could be referenced, but these are sufficient to start your life as a Christian. These are the most definitive verses that we could find, and they are directly from the mouth of Jesus. However, there are dozens of scriptures that further validate this simple plan. We will be glad to provide additional evidence and further discuss any of these points. However, to see how all of this fits together, God has provided us the examples in the book of Acts that illustrate what people did in the first century to become Christians. That is what we will do in subsequent lessons.
Note: There are nine more lessons in this series. We hasten to add, however, that no new commands or additional conditions of salvation will be given because there are none in addition to those given above. If you obey these commands from your heart, you can be fully assured of your salvation. However, we urge you to continue to read the examples from the book of Acts and the more detailed study of water baptism so that you can be fully assured in your heart of the truthfulness of these statements. Also recognize that words like "faithful" imply an active desire to both learn and do what God has taught in the New Testament ("... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." -- Matthew 28:18-20).
In Lesson 2 we will look at the first cases of conversion, which are described in Acts 2. If you have any questions, please Contact Us
Go on to Lesson 2