The Five Steps - Part #2

When you look at the so-called “five steps of salvation," the first step is to hear. When you understand that to hear means to be confronted with the truth of the Bible, to be confronted with the truth of God, to hear calls for a response. You will either believe, or you wont. We either believe that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, or you don't. You either believe that God has set a standard , or you don't. To hear the message of Jesus Christ, to listen to the truth of God, is to be confronted with the fact that we are sinners and have a broken relationship with God. The only way to get that relationship back is through Christ. Either you believe that truth, or you don't. So those first two steps, to hear is to be confronted with the reality of the word, and to believe is that moment of decision when you choose how you will live. You see, what we believe affects the way that we live. What we believe determines the thing we do. If we believe there is a God, we will act in a way that glorifies The Creator. If we do not believe that there is a God, we will only act according to our best interests. There is a third position however. That decision is not making a decision. Too many people hear and like the idea of a God, but they are not convinced there is a God. Maybe they're not confident that there is a God because to admit there is a God is to admit there is a standard, and to admit there is a standard is to admit they are sinners. You see, to hear and to believe means that you place yourself under the authority of God. To believe is to say I put my life under the authority of God, and I agree that He is the one who has the right to set the standard. Those first two steps in that so-called “five steps of salvation” to hear and to believe are essential. To be confronted with the truth of God, we've got to face our mortality. Do I believe, or do I choose not to believe, do I believe that there is a God, or do I believe that all of this just happened? Do I believe that He has set a standard, or do I believe that I set my standard because I am my own God? You see, that moment of decision is a critical moment. It is that time that sets the direction of our life, the course of our life, and when we believe that there is a God, when we believe that there is order to this universe, when we believe that he sent His son because He desires for us to live with Him for all eternity it changes the way we live. So, hearing and believing are two essential steps. Next time we're going to look at that step of repentance and what repentance looks like, but today I want you to contemplate what you believe. Do you believe in God, or do you believe in yourself? Have you placed yourself on the thorne of God, or have you realized that it is only in God that there's any hope? It is only in Jesus Christ, in God the Father, in Yahweh, and His Spirit that you have any hope. I hope today you'll choose to believe in the God of all creation. In Him J. Tom Washburn