God's Plan of Salvation

In the garden of Eden man made a choice.  It was the wrong choice and as a result man became dead to God.  God's choice was to be righteous and man was not righteous.  So it has been since the garden that the challenge is how to get back right with God.  Lucky for mankind that God has a plan to accomplish this. 

The plan started with what we now call the old testament.  It was given to us both as a book and as a time so that we could learn from it.  Galations 3:24 and 25 referrs to it as our school master.  We learn from our study of the old testament about God and how he wants to be worshiped.  We learn that God is exclusive and chooses a people to be his own.  We learn how important obediance is to God and we learn about sacrifice.  Sacrifice was part of worship.  Sacrifices were offered to find favor with God or to seek forgiveness but no sacrifice of man could forgive sin.  A sheep or a calf are just not adequate but the son of God was the adequate sacrifice (Romans 2:24-25) and when the time was right that sacrifice was made.  Until that time man lived under the law.  For the Jews it was the ten commandments and for the rest of mankind it was the law God placed on our hearts (Romans 1:19).  From the old testament we learn that the law could not save us, it could only condemn.  To be justified under the law you would have to keep it perfectly and no man, except Jesus, has been able to do that.

When Christ died on the cross he nailed the law to the cross and took it out of the way of our salvation.  What he gave us with his death was a way to get right with God.  He gave us a plan of salvation and then he hid it in the mysteries of the scriptures we now call the Bible.  Would you be surprised that God set things up so that he cannot be found by the wisdom of man? (1 Corinthians 1:21)  Let scientist search for the origin of man, they will not find God in their search.   It pleased God that he set it up so that the way to find God and his plan for salvation is for others who have already found God to tell us about it.  When Jesus stopped Paul on the road to Damascus he could have told Paul what to do to be saved but that is not God's plan.  Paul was instead sent into the city so another man could tell him to be baptized. (Acts 9:18)  Through baptism we come into contact with the blood of Christ which is powerful enough to save us.

The plan for us is in the scriptures, the Bible.  The Bible holds the answer to all things spiritual.  However, if you try to get the Bible to support your belief system instead of believing the Bible it will let you believe a lie. (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)  The message is not intended to be obvious. (1 Corinthians 1:21)  However, lucky for us, you are not expected to understand everything to obey the gospel.  The Bible refers to new Christians as “newborn babes” and explains that growth is achieved by the study of the scriptures.  Eventually you reach a point where you are no longer pushed around by every “wind of doctrine.” (Ephesians 4:14)

Right after Christ ascended the Bible, at least the new testament part, did not exist.  The Holy Spirit provided the apostles with gifts that proved that the message they delivered was authentic and from God.  The Apostles had the power to pass on the gifts but they were the only ones that could.  That is why 1 Corinthians 13 says that these gifts would end.  They would end when the “perfect thing” comes.  In other words, when the Bible was complete there is no longer any need for spiritual gifts to prove the authenticity of something so perfect it can prove it’s own authenticity.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

How to obey the gospel is answered in the scriptures and obedience carries with it hope of everlasting life in heaven in the house of the Lord.  It is not as simple as simply saying a prayer and accepting Christ as your personal savoir because, believe it or not, that prayer is not in the scriptures.  It is a product of man as he tries to justify his own belief system.  What is required is more of a process of making yourself right with God ending with salvation through Baptism (1 Peter 3:18-22).  Baptism by itself is just getting wet but add to it believing faith, repentance and confession and you have obeyed the will of God.  This ends the old life of sin and starts the new abundant life in Christ.  It is not earned with works but it requires a believing faith that compels you to demonstrate your faith with your works.  (James 2:17-18)

 How to obey the gospel is described in the scriptures as follows: 

So, you can see how important it is that we get the right answers from the scriptures.  The Scriptural Answers Network is designed to help others find the answers.  We are not perfect but we have the benefit of knowing that the power is in the message, not the messenger.  Ask us a question, consider our answer, search the scriptures and judge for yourself if what we have said is true.  We believe that if you approach the Bible with an open mind and an honest heart you will find what you need to know to understand what God wants from you.  If we can help in the process we are pleased to be of service.