Have you ever purchased something that you had to assemble yourself and failed to follow the instructions properly? That has happened a time or two to most of us. It is usually not a problem to fix, but it is frustrating and time-consuming.
When it comes to God’s plan of salvation, it is imperative that a person follow the instructions precisely—all of them! What would happen if you purchased an item that needed to be put together and you skipped step 3 of 5? It either would not work or it would be dangerous to use. With regard to God’s Word, the same thing is true. Consider God’s plan of salvation. If one does not follow all the instructions, the plan will not work, meaning, the person will not be saved from his or her sins. Let me give you an example.
In Romans 10:9, Paul says, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” One denominational preacher wrote this about this passage:
“If I can claim that I have both confessed Christ and believed in him, then I am saved. The text does not say it may be so, but it is plain as a pikestaff, and clear as the sun in the Heavens: “Thou shalt be saved.” As a believer and a confessor, I may lay my hand on this promise, and plead it before the Lord God at this moment, and throughout life, and in the hour of death, and at the day of judgment.”
The problem is Romans 10:9 does not give us all the instructions, just steps 2 and 4. In Acts 2:38, Peter told a crowd of Jews, who were inquiring about baptism, to repent and be baptized. These would be steps 3 and 5 in god’s plan of salvation (steps that Paul did not mention in Romans 10:9). Why did Paul not mention these seeps in Romans 10:9? it was because his aim was not to set forth God’s complete plan of salvation, but rather to contrast being saved by faith with being saved by meritorious works of the law. That is all he was doing in Romans 10:9. To get the full picture of how one obeys the gospel of Christ, you have to read everything that God says about it in His Word. You have to read all the instructions.
The five steps of salvation include hearing (John 6:44-45), believing (John 8:24), repenting (Acts 3:19), confessing (Acts 8:37), and being baptized (Mark 16:16). I could give numerous passages for each one of these steps, but that is not necessary for this blog. My point is simply this: to be saved you must follow all the instructions set forth in the Word of God. There are too many people who think they are saved when they are not because they have only partially read God’s instructions.
Whenever we want to know what God’s will is on any subject, it is important to consider the sum total of all that God’s Word says on the subject. Only then can we be sure we understand God’s will on the matter. Picking and choosing passages that say what we want them to say is not the way to learn the will of God. If your main goal is to please God by accurately practicing His Word, be sure to follow all of the instructions on whatever subject you are studying. That is the only way to get it right.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.