By Dave Brown
We hesitate to summarize God’s plan in such a short space, lest we give the impression that a person can just press some buttons and manipulate God. It does not work that way. The steps that God requires produce a profound transformation of the nature of the believer who will ultimately become a “living sacrifice” to the Lord (Rom. 12:1).
It is impossible to come to God without hearing the truth, and the hearing of God’s word is the drawing power of God (Jn. 6:44-46), and faith comes by the hearing of the word (Rom. 10:17).
Once one hears God’s word, that truth must be accepted and believed (John 3:16). This will immediately produce a change in one’s life. It is impossible to hear God’s word and not be convicted of one’s sins (e.g., Acts 2:37).
This sorrow for one’s sins and the strong desire to be free of them is the beginning of repentance. Hear Peter respond to the question of “What must we do?” with the first word “Repent...” (Acts 2:38). Repentance is likened by Paul to the crucifixion of the old man (Rom. 6:6): “...that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
The vacuum left with what repentance takes out of our lives can only be restored by a life of confession of Christ (Rom. 10:9). Confession is not a one-time obligation, but evidence of a changed life. The willingness to confess that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is essential to our reconciliation with God (Matt. 10:32; Acts 8:37).
Those who had satisfied these conditions were commanded to be baptized (Acts 2:38; 8:12; 8:38; 9:18; 10:48; 16:15; 16:33; 18:8; 22:16). That this was a command of the apostles in the first century is not arguable. Consider Acts 2:41: “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” Then ask yourself: what should you do when you “receive his word?” Consider: Rom 6:3: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” How does one get into Christ?
Baptism is the only command of God that we do only once. Being “faithful until death” (Rev. 2:10) includes continuing to hear, believe, repent and confess Christ for the rest of our lives.