Bible Study| God’s Plan For Our Salvation

God’s Plan For Our Salvation

1. A Person decides that they want to “Join Church; Get Baptized; Be Saved.”

a. Determine what the person is actually requesting.

b. Do they understand the difference between the 3 and how they are related?

c. Once you understand more about what they are seeking, tailor response accordingly.

2. Explain why they need to be saved.

a. All are sinners because of Adam’s sin.

b. Sin separates us from God.

c. Man could not save himself due to sin.

d. A Savior was needed Who would live a sinless life and die once and for all for the sins of the world.

3. Explain why Jesus had to come and die for the sins of the world.

a. Jesus was not of Adam’s seed, so He was not born into sin.

b. Lived a sinless life so that He could be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

c. He’s the only One Who died, was resurrected, and now sits on the right hand of God interceding for us today.

4. Explain how to accept Christ as personal Lord and Savior.

a. We accept Christ by faith – believing that He died for our sins and rose on the 3rd day.

b. We understand that we cannot earn our way into heaven, it is only through Jesus.

c. We read Romans 10:9-10. Accepting Jesus is a two-step process – confess with the mouth and believe in the heart,

5. Baptism

a. We get baptized only after we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior into our hearts.

b. Understand that baptism is an outward profession of what has taken place on the inside of our hearts.

c. Baptism means nothing if we do not live a changed life!

God’s Plan For Our Salvation

If someone walked up to you and said, “I want to be baptized” what would your response be? With that question, would you know what they are really asking? Would you take that opportunity to ask clarifying questions to be sure they understand why they need to be baptized, or would you assume they know that, so you skip to the planning phase? This evening, in preparation for what we might encounter Sunday during our Church on the Block, I want to discuss what God’s plan is for our salvation. My goal is to ensure we are all prepared to answer the question with confidence if we are approached by someone seeking to be saved and/or baptized.

Before we go into the plan, I want to caution you that just because someone says they want to be baptized it do not mean that they understand what it means to be born again. Some people believe that you are only saved if you are baptized, and the baptizing is what saves you. However, we get baptized because we are already saved – we get saved immediately when we accept Jesus into our hearts and then baptism is the outward demonstration of what has already taken place on the inside of us. Keep this in mind as we discuss the plan. The most important thing to understand about the plan of salvation is that it is God’s plan, not humanity’s plan. Humanity’s plan of salvation would be observing religious rituals or obeying certain commands or achieving certain levels of spiritual enlightenment. But none of these things are part of God’s plan of salvation. God’s plan is simple – accept His Son as Lord and Savior in your heart and then become obedient. So, let’s get started.

The Why - Why Salvation is Needed

“We need salvation because we are born with a sin nature and sinners will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

There is no way someone can ever “get saved” if they do not think they need it. So, we must be able to explain to people why we need to be saved. When Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis chapter three, it changed everything. Man was separated from God. So now, because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve had a sin nature. Because they now had a sin nature, all their children would have a sin nature as well and each subsequent generation would likewise have a sin nature. Every child that has been born since Genesis chapter threehas been born with a sin nature – a nature that is different from God’s nature and cannot coexist with the nature of God. The Bible declares that all have sinned. Ecclesiastes 7:20says, “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.” The same is captured in Romans 3:23 where Paul writes. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin is rebellion against God. We all choose to actively do things that are wrong. Sin harms others, damages us, and, most importantly, dishonors God. The Bible also teaches that, because God is holy and just, He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. The punishment for sin is death. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This leads to an eternal separation from God (Revelation 20:11–15). Without God’s plan of salvation, eternal death is the destiny of every human being. Because man now had a sin nature, God could not work through a descendant of Adam to redeem man because all of his descendants had a sin nature. God had to send His Son. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  

The What – What Was Needed  

“What was needed was a Savior. We needed a Savior, One without sin, to redeem us. That Savior is Jesus Christ.”

“(17) For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) (18) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:17-19)

In God’s plan of salvation, God Himself is the only one who can provide for our salvation. We are utterly unable to save ourselves because of our sin and its consequences. So, God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. John 1:1, 14 says, “(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….(14) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus lived a sinless life as was recorded in Second Corinthians 5:21 which says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Also, First John 3:5 says, “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.” Jesus offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice on our behalf as recorded in First Corinthians 15:3 which says, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Also, Hebrews 10:10 says, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Since Jesus is God, His death was of infinite and eternal value. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross fully paid for the sins of the entire world. First John 2:2 tells us, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” His resurrection from the dead proved that His sacrifice was indeed sufficient, and that salvation is now available for everyone.

The How – How is Salvation Accomplished

“We are saved through the acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.”

“(3) Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God….(5) Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:5-7)

Romans 10:9-10: “(9) That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

In Acts chapter sixteen, Paul and Silas were in jail. Through their imprisonment, a jailor and his whole family received salvation. When the jailor asked Paul and Silas “how” he could be saved, this was their response: “(31)….Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31) The way we access and follow God’s plan of salvation is to believe. That is the only requirement. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Also see John 3:16) God has provided for our salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation is a gift. All we must do is receive it, by faith, fully trusting in Jesus alone as Savior. Jesus said, “….I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) That is God’s plan of salvation.

In summary, when someone is ready to follow God’s plan of salvation, they need to place their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Once this is done, they will need to understand that this means they must change their minds from embracing sin and rejecting God to rejecting sin and embracing God through Jesus Christ and fully trust in the sacrifice of Jesus as the perfect and complete payment for their sins. If they do this, then God’s Word promises that they will be saved, their sins will be forgiven, and they will spend eternity in heaven with Him. There is no more important decision.

Baptism

Once they have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and understand what this means, at that moment they are saved – even if they do not get baptized. However, we are commanded to be baptized as an outward profession of what we have completed inwardly. Baptism is seen as a symbol of unity with Jesus’ death and resurrection, and as a sign of the believer’s commitment to living a Christ-centered life. It symbolically washes away our sins and we come out of the waters clean and new. Remember that the baptism is not what saves a person; it is the decision to accept Christ. See Scriptures below.

Matthew 28:19-20: “(10) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”

Romans 6:4: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”