A book called, The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon Of Great Books Of The Western World in addressing the topic of God states the following, "More consequences for thought and action follow from the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question." It is true that a person believing in the one true God will live their lives very differently than those that profess no belief in God. The greatest question one must answer after making the decision that God exists is, "What must I do to be saved?"

    There are also many that have a difficult time understanding how faith and works fit together. Many think there is a contradiction between James 2:24 and Ephesians 2:8,9 which says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast." What many do not understand is the works spoken of in Ephesians 2:8,9 are works of  men whereby they think they have earned their salvation; we are not saved by performing works of our own merit where we say we are saved, but we are save by the works of God, Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Understanding the difference between man's works and God's works we ask, "What does God want me to do to be saved?" We must "Hear" the word of God. We must "Believe" the word of God. We must "Repent" of our sins. We must "Confess" Christ publicly. We must be "Baptized" to wash our sins away. Finally, we must remain faithful till death. Let us take a look at these individually.   

     The bible tells us in Romans 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." It is impossible for anybody to believe in something they have never heard or believe they can never understand. Christ tells us we can know the truth and it will makes us free (John 8:32).

      In John 8:24 Christ tells us unless we believe in Him we will die in our sins. Belief in Christ is essential to the Christian faith; without faith we cannot please God, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). When Jesus commanded the disciples in Mark 16:15,16 He said the following, 'And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."' We cannot be saved with out faith, the Bible is so very clear on this point. Also concerning those that believe we cannot be saved by works need to understand the Scriptures tell us that faith is a work, 'Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent"' (John 6:28,29).

     Of all the works of God this is the most difficult work for man to obey. We must put away those things that are sinful and may be habitual actions. We need to understand God wants us to identify the sin in our lives and remove it turning from the sin to His Son. If we do not do this our souls are in danger, Luke 13:3-5, "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Repentance is commanded by God, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).

     When confession is mentioned as part of salvation, the Scriptures are not talking about confessing ones sins to God. Confessing our sins to God is important (1 John 1:9) but that falls under repentance in recognizing the sins in our lives confessing those to God and living for Him. The confession the Scriptures mention in dealing with salvation is the public confession that Jesus is the Christ. Remember earlier it was mentioned that the faith the Pharisees had in Jesus did them no good because they would not confess Christ before men (John 12:42,43). Christ further tells us the following in Matthew 10:32,33, "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." Finally the Bible tells us, "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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:9,10)

     When discussing the Gospel Plan of salvation it is rare to have anybody deny Hearing, Believing, Repentance and Confession as being necessary for salvation, but when discussing baptism as being necessary for salvation the vast majority deny its necessity and place baptism as something one does after they have been saved. Again we cannot follow the doctrines of men (Matthew 15:9). What does the Scripture say about baptism?

     What else does baptism do for us? We are all baptized into Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27). When we are placed into Christ through baptism we are then able to enjoy all spiritual blessings which are only found in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). It is very clear that nobody can enjoy the spiritual blessings afforded by Christ until we get into Christ. At the same time we are baptized into Christ, we are added to His church (Acts 2:47). 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us no matter who we are we are all baptized into one body which is also spoken of in Ephesians 4:4. We also find that the one body is Christ's church (Ephesians 1:22-23). The Scriptures are clear that Baptism is necessary for salvation.

     There are some in the religious world that claim the Calvinistic doctrine of "Perseverance of the Saints" or better know as "Once Saved Always Saved." These people believe that once a person becomes a Christian it is impossible for one to lose their salvation. This doctrine is false to its very core. Let us take a look at their major proof text John 10:27-29, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." Most people that believe in once saved always saved focus in the first highlighted section above and for them that is the final word, and they do not keep the phrase "they shall never perish" in the context of the verses. They shall never perish as long as they continue to hear Christ's voice and follow Him. Then the problem with the understanding of the word snatch is evident. The churches of Christ believe whole heartedly that it is impossible for anybody to snatch or forcefully take a believer out of the hand of God (Romans 9:37-39) and we believe wholeheartedly in the verses here that is impossible to snatch someone out of God's hand. It seems then we in the churches of Christ have lost the argument before it has even begun. Not so. The problem the religious world has with John 10:27-29 and Romans 9:37-39 is talking about FORCING someone apart from God. That is not how Satan works because he knows that is an impossibility. So how does Satan cause us to fall away from God? James1:13-15 explains, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." We are never forced out of the hand of God. We willingly walk away when we are tempted by our own lust, and please note this, we are not forced or snatched away from God we are drawn by Satan by the enticement of sin.

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