Text: Revelation 2:5
We regularly teach the “steps of salvation” for non-Christians (hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized). After baptism, we must live faithfully (Revelation 2:10). How do we live faithfully? The same steps that led to one getting into Christ provide an outline for the steps we must take in our Christian walk.
Hear
- We must pay close attention to what we have heard previously (Hebrews 2:1)
- The Christians addressed in Hebrews had become “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11-12) – they were not learning/growing as they should have been & were rebuked for it
- After obeying the gospel, we must continue to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42)
Believe
- It is possible for Christians to develop “an evil, unbelieving heart” (Hebrews 3:12-13) – this happens when we become deceived by sin
- Our belief must be demonstrated by obedience (James 2:17-24)
- One may know very little about the Bible when he becomes a Christian (Acts 16:30-34) – but he believes in God & determines to submit to His will in all things
- Heed the warning regarding the Israelites (Hebrews 4:11)
Repent
- There is a great change that occurs when one becomes a Christian (Romans 6:17-18) – yet there is always the possibility of falling back into sin (Hebrews 3:13)
- When one sins as a Christian, he must repent & pray (Acts 8:22)
- We must live free from sin (Romans 6:7) & dead to sin (Romans 6:11) – not content in our sin
Confess
- We must be willing to confess Christ before men (Matthew 10:32-33) – this verse sometimes used in steps of salvation for the non-Christian, but it is talking more about our way of life
- How do we confess Christ & not deny Him? – put Him first before all others (Matthew 10:34-37); speak the truth to others (1 Peter 3:13-15); be willing to suffer for His name (Matthew 5:11-12)
Baptism
- Baptism is the point in which God puts one in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3); it is how the non-Christian receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38)
- When a Christian sins, he does not need to be re-baptized; he needs to repent & pray (Acts 8:22) – so how does baptism relate to our lives as Christians?
- In baptism (like circumcision) the body of flesh is removed (Colossians 2:11)
- We are baptized in faith in the working of God (Colossians 2:12) – continue to trust God
- We have died to the elementary principles of the world (Colossians 2:20) – submit to Christ, not man
- Since we have been raised with Christ, we must seek the things above (Colossians 3:1-3)
- Put off the old man & put on the new man (Colossians 3:5-17)
