There are two parts of God’s plan of salvation—God’s part and man’s part.  God’s part never changes because it is already complete.  It involved the death, burial, and resurrection of His one and only Son (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).   Man’s part involves the instructions that God gives through the gospel.

These instructions will be applicable until Jesus returns to deliver the kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24).  Sadly, most people do not know what these instructions are.  This is mostly due to false teachings on God’s plan of salvation.  Many teach that man is saved by saying the sinner’s prayer, but that is not God’s plan.  While prayer is powerful, and while God wants us to pray as much as possible, He does not want us to pray in an attempt to be saved.  There is not one passage in the New Testament where we find an apostle, or anyone else, telling someone to pray for salvation.  In fact, before Saul was told what to do to be saved, we find him praying.

When Saul was confronted by the resurrected Lord on the road to Damascus, he was told to go to the city of Damascus where he would be told what to do (Acts 9:6).  The Lord then sent Ananias to him with instructions.  Listen to what Jesus told Ananias.

Acts 9:11 (ESV)

¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

Why did God not tell Ananias that Saul was already saved?  It was because he still had to obey the instructions of the gospel.  We will see those specific instructions in just a minute but clearly, they involve more than praying.  In fact, we will discover that prayer is not a part of the instructions at all.

Others teach that God’s plan for the salvation of the soul involves no more than believing that Jesus is the Son of God.  The problem with that is that we find that people were instructed to do more than that in the New Testament.  It is clear in the example of Saul that he believed in Jesus before he was given instructions about what he had to do.  The people on the day of Pentecost are another example of this.  They heard the gospel preached and were pricked in their hearts (Acts 2:36-37).  Would their hearts have been pricked if they did believe the message that Jesus was both Lord and Christ?  Still, there was more for them to do.

While believing in Christ is a part of God’s plan of salvation (Mark 16:16; John 3:16; 8:24), there are three other things that God instructs man to do to be saved.  Man must repent of his sins.  Repentance has to do with having a change of heart.  Jesus made it plain that repentance is necessary.

Luke 13:3–4 (ESV)
³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Confessing Christ must also follow believing in Him.  Paul made this abundantly clear.

Romans 10:10 (ESV)
¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

The third thing one must do is be baptized.  That baptism is a part of God’s plan to save man is taught over and over in the New Testament (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Romans 4:4-6; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21).  There is usually a lot of pushback when it comes to baptism.  People like to say that baptism is a work and we are not saved by works.  But, baptism is no more a work than believing, repenting, and confessing.  They are all works, but none of them are meritorious.  In other words, they do not earn salvation for a person.  There is only one thing that can earn a person a place in heaven and that is a life of sinless living.  Believing, repenting, confessing, and being baptized are just acts of obedience.

This plan is the same today as it was in the first century.  As long as this world stands, it will remain the same.  This is why we can be so sure about it—it never changes.  Never listen to a plan conceived in the mind of man.  Simply follow the word of God, obey God’s changeless plan, and you will be saved.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.