What must mankind do to be saved?
The short answer for becoming a Christian involves a five step process, as shown below. All of these are necessary to obey Christ. We will discuss these steps of obedience, as commanded by God in our next five lessons:
- To hear the word of God
- To believe it
- To repent of one’s sins
- To confess Christ before men
- To be baptized
Hear
It goes without saying that we must hear and understand the word of God in order to obey it. In Romans 10:14, 15, Paul wrote: “How then shall they call on Him (confession) in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
In the second chapter of Acts, Peter preached the first gospel sermon we have on record. He told those present that they had crucified the Son of God (vs. 36). Verse 37 says “now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the other apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter’s response in verse 38 is “then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
In Mark 4 and Luke 8, Jesus taught what is often called, the ‘parable of the sower’. Luke 8:15 explains “but on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
So, in obeying God and in order to be saved, the first step in our obedience to God must be to hear his word.