PLAN OF SALVATION

BIBLE MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

Bible verses with mandatory actions and situations. (RSV) The Plan is given at the end of these essential verses.

(Some verses are repeated because of multiple conditions. All verses are essential according to the Bible. Do we have the right to make any of these optional to the lost?)

MUST

JOHN 3:7 Jesus answered , Truly, truly, I say unto you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

ACTS 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

ACTS 16:30-32 ......"Men, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house.

SAVED

MATT 10:22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

JOHN 10:9 I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

ACTS 2:21 And it shall be that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

ACTS 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

ROM 10:9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.

ROM 10:13 For, "every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

EPH 2:8 For by faith you are saved through faith; and this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God

SAVE

MATT 16:25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

IF

MATT 16:24 Then Jesus told his Disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

LUKE 14:26 "If any one come to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

CANNOT

LUKE 14:26 "If any one come to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

LUKE 14:27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

LUKE 14:33 So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

NOT

MATT 7:21-23 "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers."

NO

JOHN 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me."

EXCEPT

MATT 5:20 For I say unto you, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

MATT 18:3 And said, Truly I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

JOHN 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

BELIEVE

JOHN 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

ACTS 13:39 and by him every one that believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

ACTS 16:31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

ROM 4:24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

ROM 10:9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.

ROM 10:10-11 For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame."

HEB 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

1 JOHN 5:1 Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and every one who loves the parent loves the child.

1 JOHN 5:5 Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

ONE

JOHN 10:30 I and the Father are one. [Jesus is divine, a Person of the Trinity.)

FAITH

ACTS 20:21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

GAL 2:16 yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ , not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified.

REPENT

LUKE 13:3,5 I tell you, NO; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish........ I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

ACTS 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

ACTS 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

ACTS 17:30-31 The times of ignorance God looked beyond, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent because he fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.

ACTS 26:20 ".... and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of repentance."

REPENTANCE

MATT 3:8 Bear fruit that befits repentance.

LUKE 3:8 Bear fruits that befit repentance....

ACTS 20:21 testifying Both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 COR 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.

THE PLAN OF SALVATION

This means these are requirements, none of which may be ignored, no matter who says so.

The basic verse is (Acts 20:21 RSV) "testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." With this verse goes all the above verses as a collective.

Who is this God to whom we to repent and this Jesus in whom we are to have faith? It is the Trinity and only the trinity. The Trinity is Three Separate Devine Persons who are perfectly united as God. They are God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. None of them are of themselves God. Only together are they God. Southern Seminary professor Bruce A. Ware put it this way: “Put differently, if you imagine for a moment removing the Father and the Spirit from the historical Person Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you realize that this Jesus the Christ could not be -- i.e., he could not exist and be who he is -- devoid of the Father and the Spirit. Indeed, the identity of Christ depends on the reality of the Trinity.”

  1. REPENTANCE
    1. LUKE 13:3,5 I tell you, NO; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish........ I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
    2. ACTS 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
    3. MATT 3:8 Bear fruit that befits repentance.
  2. FAITH (Greek definition: Believe, Trust, and Commit your Life)
    1. ROM 10:9-11 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." [Jesus is divine. The Father got Jesus out of death. Jesus did not get himself out of death. You must believe this. Jesus was raised from the dead by the Father; He is not risen from the dead.]
    2. 1 JOHN 5:1 Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and every one who loves the parent loves the child.
    3. LUKE 14:26 If any one come to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. [In the sense that Jesus is above all others, including self. Therefore a person’s life must be completely dedicated to Jesus.]
    4. LUKE 14:27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. [This is Lordship! No discipleship - no salvation! No commitment of life, no salvation!]
    5. JOHN 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
    6. Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Also see the Southern Baptist Convention's statement concerning God's Plan for Salvation. 

Revised June 11, 2006

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