The salvation of our souls is only possible because of the grace of God.  The Bible makes this abundantly clear.

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The work in this passage is not a reference to simply obeying God, but rather to the works of the law.  To be saved by the works of the law is equivalent to being saved by sinless perfection because that is what the law demanded (Galatians 3:10).  It demanded such because it did not contain a sufficient provision for sin.  The only way sin can be removed is by the grace of God and what it supplies, namely, the blood of Christ.  Thankfully, God loved the world so much that He was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son for our salvation (John 3:16).

The grace of God, as sweet as it is, does not render obedience unnecessary.  To take advantage of God’s plan of salvation and avail ourselves of the blood of Christ, we must obey the instructions of God.  Concerning living the life of a Christian, we must follow many rules and regulations.   The Bible refers to this as doing the will of God and without doing that we will not make it to heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).  Concerning being justified by the grace of God and becoming one of His children, there are five things we are commanded by God to do.  This week we will take one night for each of these commands beginning with the first one—hearing the Word of God.

Without hearing the Word of God, a person simply cannot be saved.  Jesus tells us that every person that comes to God first hears the Word.

John 6:44–45 (ESV)
^{4 4}No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—

The hearing here does not refer to just sensational perception, but to something being understood.  In other words, to hear what is being taught about Jesus means to understand that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  That is the first step in salvation.  Paul wrote of the importance of this.

Romans 10:13–17 (ESV)
¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  ¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”  ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”  ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Paul reveals some of the most important aspects of God’s plan of salvation here.  We learn that God is no respect of persons.  It does not matter who you are, what your ethnicity may be, or whether you are rich or poor—everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

We also learn that we have a responsibility when it comes to the salvation of others.  Since people need to hear to be saved, those of us who are saved must be willing to teach the gospel to the lost (Matthew 28:18-20).

Clearly, hearing is the first step in the salvation of the soul.  Let’s make sure that we help God with His plan by spreading the good news to as many people as we can.  Let’s do our part in helping the lost hear the wonderful gospel of Christ.

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