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It's
called a plan because it was thought through before creation. As
any plan, it has involving steps from the beginning to the fulfillment
of Salvation. As many things in the Bible, the plan of Salvation
it not listed all together in one place. God's authority comes from
direct command, examples, and necessary inference. We must look at all
the scriptures to find the complete plan of Salvation.
We
have to infer that, "Hearing the Word" would have to be the first step
in the plan of Salvation. Acts
18:8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord
with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were
baptized. Romans John
20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye
might have life through his name. Whether
you hear the word or read it, the Word entering your mind will start the
next process, which is believing. At this point you have a choice to make.
You will either choose to believe what you hear or reject it. Mark John
8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if
ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. John
3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If
you choose to reject the word and not believe, then you will be damned
as noted in Mark 16:16. As pointed out earlier, those who believeth
not, are not damned right away. It's not a done deal from that point
on; the damnation doesn't start until the unbeliever dies. Same thing goes
for the believer; they are saved as long as they continue to believe until
the day they die. If they change their ways before they die than they too
will be damned. Believe means to be committed to. The Greek word for "BELIEVE"
is translated by Strong's below: 100
pisteuw pisteuo pist-yoo’ -o from 4102; TDNT-6:174 , 849; v King
James-believe 239, commit unto 4, commit to (one’s) trust 1, be committed
unto 1, be put in trust with 1, be commit to one’s trust 1, believer 1;
248
"Committed
to" means you will continue to find out what the bible says about fulfill
the requirements of God's plan of Salvation. Now that you've heard
the Word and you believe, you should start thinking about the sins you
have committed. Recognizing that you are a sinner, you must try to
stop committing those sins. This is known as repenting. Acts Acts
2:37 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? 38 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. Notice
that Acts We
find in God's plan a requirement to Confess that Jesus in the Son of God. Romans
10:9 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Acts
8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both
into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. One
step we keep coming across when searching for the steps of God's plan of
Salvation is Baptism. Baptism is the finial step to be added to Christ's
Church. It is in that watery grave where we contact Christ's blood
that was shed for us. The water burial (Baptism) is a symbol of Christ's
burial. Just like He was risen from the grave anew, we also are raised
up from a water grave a new. Having our sins washed away through
baptism, we are made pure. Understand there's nothing special about the
water. It's not the water washing your sins away, but the blood of Christ.
It's the obedience to the command to be baptized for remission for sin
(Acts Romans
6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death? 4 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. 5 For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be
also in the likeness of his resurrection: Acts
2:38 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. Acts Acts Now
after Baptism we are added to the Church. We must continue in to hear,
believe, repent and confess Christ before man. We must do this to
the end. Matthew See
"Can
I Fall From Grace, or once saved always saved?"
For more on this subject. Courtesy of http://www.rmcoc.com/faq/faq.htm
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