Were you ever really saved?

Question:

I'm a Christian who at one time was away from the church for a long period of time. I have since returned and have been at my old church for the last 3 years learning of the savior I accepted years ago. What is the next step?

Submitted by PW on December 16, 1998.

Initial Follow-up on Friday, December 18, 1998 by Bro. Jon Mullins:

I would like to give you the most full, and useful answer that I can, but feel that in order to do so I need some additional information. If you do not mind, I ‘d like you to consider a couple of questions and respond back to me at: popsicle@networkone.net.

1. What church are you currently attending?

2. Were you baptized at the time that you accepted the savior?

Response to Follow-up questions:

I'm attending Christ Temple Baptist Church and yes I was baptized.

Submitted by PW on December 18, 1998.

Answer:  (Answered by Bro. Jon Mullins)

After consideration of your question, and the information that you provided about your current church attendance and baptism, I have been able to come up with some scriptures that I hope will prove helpful to you in your search to be pleasing to God. It is my prayer that you give these scriptures consideration and look them up for yourself as you read through my response to your question. Please feel free to contact me by email if you need clarification of any point that I will be bringing to your attention.

In reading through your question and response, it is obvious to me that you want to be pleasing to God in your service to Him. The fact that you were away from your church and then came back proves your sincerity of heart to me. I am interpreting your question to mean that you would like to know what more you need to do to be pleasing to God and to deepen your relationship with Him.

In order to answer your question, it is necessary for me to assume that you do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that I can also assume that you do believe that God has given Jesus all authority as stated in Matthew 28:18-20, Colossians 1:13-18, Ephesians 1:18-23, and Hebrews 1:1-4.

These scriptures do establish that Jesus has all authority in Heaven and on Earth, and that He has all authority in the church which is His body. Given that fact, we need to examine what it is that we must do to be pleasing to God and a member of the Lord’s body, of which He is the head. This is important in light of what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23. I know that I do not want to hear the words “I never knew you , depart from me you who practice lawlessness.” I am sure that you do not either!

What is important for you to understand is how you become a member of the Lord’s body, and then what can you do to continually grow as a child of God.  I hope that in the next few paragraphs, this will be explained to you in a way
easily understood.

According to God’s word the steps that are necessary for salvation, being added to the Lord’s body, and being acceptable to God are that we must hear the word, we must believe it to be God’s inspired word and therefore truth,  we must repent of our former way of living, we must confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and we must be baptized for the remission of our sins. Only after all these things can we claim a relationship with God the Father through His Son.

First let’s look at a scripture or two that talk about how we must hear.   What happened in Acts. In Acts Chapter 2, Peter was preaching to a multitude of people. Acts 2:37 states, “Now when they heard this they were pierced to the heart, and said, ‘Men and Brethren what must we do?” I will come back to this passage to illustrate other principles, but for now, it is important to know that they heard the word preached to them by Peter, and that hearing produced a conviction of heart. Jesus himself states in John 5:24, “Truly, Truly I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” We see here that hearing God’s word is essential for salvation and eternal life. Another important verse that tells of the importance of hearing is Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (or God).” There are other verses that refer to the importance of hearing, but I feel that this is enough to establish the importance of hearing as an essential step in God’s plan of salvation.

Romans 10:17, as quoted in the paragraph above, does an excellent job of pointing the next step in salvation. We must believe or, “have faith.”  Romans 10:14 asks a vital question and is a good place to start in looking at the importance of belief in the plan of salvation. It states, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Obviously belief is important here in order to call upon the name of the Lord. There is also mention of belief in the verses quoted above as well as others. There are many example of those who believed what they heard and were saved through baptism. The account of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:19-34 is one of those examples. Please note especially the wording in verses 29-33. The Bible states that he and his household believed and were baptized and were saved. Another example of belief and salvation through baptism is found in the account of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:26-39. Notice especially verses 5-38. The bible states that the Eunuch believed, confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and was baptized. Certainly belief is an important step in the plan of salvation. One important thing to consider here is the question, “What was preached to them that they believed?” The answer is Jesus Christ. and that through him, we have salvation and eternal life. (See John 1:12, John 3:16-21, John 6:29, John 8:24, and others). Belief also includes trust, love and obedience. (See Matthew 22:34-40, John 14:15, 2 Peter 3:9, Acts 17:30, 31 and Luke 13:1-5).

Repentance is the next step in God’s plan of salvation. Repentance is to change one’s mind. To turn away from sin, and turn towards God. (Read Romans 6:15-18, 2 Corinthians 7:8-11, and Luke 13:1-5). Please understand that for convenience sake I have not typed these scriptures out, but they none the less contain an essential part of God’s plan. Also go back to Acts 2:37, and 38 and read Peter’s response to those that heard him preach that day!

Confession is the next step in God’s plan. In Matthew 10:32, 33 and Romans 10:9-10, we are made aware of the importance of confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. We must confess Him not only with our mouths verbally before others, but we must confess Him with our actions as well. This includes acknowledging Christ as Lord of our lives in all that we do.

The final step in God’s plan of salvation is that of Baptism. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands His disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” We see then that Jesus commanded it, but why? Is it necessary for salvation? What is baptism, and how is it done? What is the purpose of baptism? Hopefully by answering these questions with biblical answers, you will be able to examine whether or not your baptism was for the remission of sins, and therefore valid. It is my prayer that you will pay close attention to the information and verses which will follow.

Baptism is:

1. A death, burial, and resurrection. (Romans 6:3-11)
2. A birth. (John 3:5-7)
3. A burial and resurrection (Colossians 2:22)

What does the Greek word Baptism mean?

1. Baptisma- noun means, “consisting of the processes of immersion, submersion, and emergence. (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament words)
2. Baptizo- the verb means “to dip, was used among the Greeks to signify the dyeing of a garment, or the drawing of water by dipping a vessel into another (Also Vine’s)

Baptism is to:

1. Have sins taken away (forgiven) (Acts 2:38; 22:16)
2. Receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)
3. Get into Christ (Galatians 3:27)
4. Get into the Church (1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 1:22, 23)
5. Save us (I Peter 3:21; Mark 16:15, 16)
6. There is only one baptism (Ephesians 4:5)
7. Jesus Himself was Immersed (Matthew 3:13-17)--because it was the Father’s will.
   

That is good enough for me, if Jesus felt it was good enough, and the Bible clearly shows examples of baptism, then I must conclude and believe that it is essential for the remission of sins, salvation and eternal life.

One aspect of your question is the idea of knowing what to do to be pleasing to God. The steps of Salvation are the important first steps. Once those have been accomplished God expects us to:

• Study His word to be approved by God, and to not be ashamed, so that we might handle God’s truth in a right manner. (2 Timothy 2:15)
• We also need to teach others as was mentioned in Matthew 28:19.
• We need to grow in The Word, so that we might be “Ready always to give an answer of the hope that is in us...” (1 Peter 3:15). We need to practice the “Fruits of the Spirit , ” that are to be characteristics of the Christian’s life. (Galatians 6:22-25).
• We need to always be acceptable to God as we do not know when He will send His Son to this Earth to claim His own.

PW, I know this was a longer answer than what you might have expected, but I felt it was a necessary one to adequately convey to you what the next steps are for your life and your service to God.

Thank you again for taking the time to ask a question on the Quartz Hill website. I hope that my answer to your question will prove helpful in your desire to serve God and have a right relationship with Him in His Son’s body, the church. Again please feel free to contact me at my email address of: Jon Mullins. You may also contact the church at our website for additional information.

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