The Conditions of Salvation

"Hi everyone, and welcome back to our Bible class! I’m so excited to talk with you today about something that’s both simple and yet deeply profound: 'The Order of Salvation.' It’s a question that matters to every single one of us: How do we, as imperfect people, gain the benefits of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice? Jesus’ blood was shed for the sins of the world, but how do we personally receive this amazing gift? What’s our role in that? What do we need to do?

Before we dive into the details, I want you to keep one thing in mind: everything we’re about to talk about is centered on what Jesus has already done. Our actions—what we believe, how we respond—are just ways we accept the gift. We don’t earn it, but we do need to receive it in the way God has set out for us. Let’s take a closer look."

Salvation is Conditional

"Alright, let’s start with this idea: salvation is conditional. Now, I don’t want you to misunderstand. God’s love and grace are *unconditional.* He loves us deeply, no matter what we’ve done, and His grace—the free gift of salvation—is offered to everyone. We see that in verses like John 3:16, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…'. This grace and love are offered to everyone. So, what’s conditional about salvation? It’s the receiving part.

Imagine a friend offers you a gift. It’s free—no strings attached—but you still have to accept it, right? If you walk away and refuse the gift, you won’t benefit from it, no matter how much your friend wants you to have it. That’s how salvation works. Jesus has already paid the price on the cross. The gift is ready and waiting. But the condition is: will we accept it?

In John 3:16-18, Jesus talks about belief and unbelief. Those who believe are not condemned, but those who don’t believe are condemned already. So, salvation isn’t automatic; it requires a response of faith."

Here is what Jesus said:

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

The Power of Free Will

"This leads us to the topic of free will. God has given each of us the ability to choose. We’re not robots programmed to follow Him; we have the freedom to decide for ourselves. And this is a beautiful, yet serious, gift. Every day, we make choices—what to eat, what to wear, who to hang out with. But this choice, the choice of whether or not to believe in Jesus, is the most important decision we’ll ever make.

The Bible teaches that even though we’re affected by sin, our free will remains. We can still choose whether to accept God’s offer of salvation or reject it. In Acts 2:37-38, Peter tells the crowd to repent and be baptized, and we see that they were cut to the heart and chose to respond. They had the freedom to accept or reject the gospel, just like we do today."

Engagement

"Let’s think about this for a second. Have you ever been offered something amazing, maybe tickets to your favorite concert or a really cool gift, and you just couldn’t believe it? What if, in your disbelief, you turned it down? That would be crazy, right? Well, God’s offer of salvation is a million times more valuable than any earthly gift. And we have to decide whether or not to accept it. So, it’s important to think about how we’re using our free will. Are we choosing to follow Jesus?"

3. Faith: Trusting in Jesus

"Next, let’s talk about faith. What does it mean to have faith in Jesus? It’s not just about saying, 'Yeah, I believe in God.' Faith is deeper than that. It’s about trust. It’s trusting that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is enough to save us from our sins. Romans 3:24-25 says that we are 'justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.'

Faith is trusting in what Jesus did, not in what we do. I like to think of it like this: faith is the bridge that connects us to God. We couldn’t build that bridge ourselves, but Jesus built it for us through His death and resurrection. And we walk across that bridge by trusting Him. But remember, it’s not the bridge that saves us—it’s Jesus. Our faith is simply the way we respond to His offer of salvation.

Think about what it means to truly trust someone. Maybe you’ve had to put your trust in a friend or a family member. That trust means you believe they’ll be there for you, that they’ll do what they said they would. Faith in Jesus is just like that—it’s believing that He will save you and trusting Him with your life."

Repentance: A Change of Heart

"Now, let’s talk about repentance. This is a word we don’t hear much outside of church, but it’s so important. Repentance is more than just saying, 'I’m sorry' when we mess up. It’s about a real change in our hearts. It’s realizing that sin is harmful, that it separates us from God, and deciding that we don’t want to live that way anymore.

When you repent, you’re saying to God, 'I don’t want to live for myself or for sin anymore. I want to live for You.' In Acts 3:19, Peter says, 'Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.' Repentance is turning away from sin and turning toward God. It’s not just feeling bad for a moment, but it’s a decision to change direction.

Think of it like this: if you’re driving down a road and realize you’re heading the wrong way, what do you do? You make a U-turn. Repentance is that U-turn in our spiritual lives. We turn away from sin and move toward God."

Confession and Baptism

"Confession is another important step in receiving salvation. Romans 10:9 says, 'If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.' Confessing Jesus as Lord means that we acknowledge publicly that He is the King of our lives. It’s an outward expression of the inward faith we have.

But confession doesn’t stop at words. It leads to action, and that’s where baptism comes in. Baptism is the moment when we are united with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. In Romans 6:3-4, Paul explains that baptism symbolizes our old life being buried and our new life being raised up with Jesus. It’s not just a symbol, though—it’s a crucial part of how we receive salvation.

Baptism is where God washes away our sins and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, as we see in Acts 2:38. It’s not something we do to earn salvation; it’s something we do in obedience to God’s command. And through it, we experience the transformation of becoming new creations in Christ."

Good Works: The Result, Not the Cause

"Finally, let’s talk about good works. You’ve probably heard people say that Christians should do good works, right? But here’s something important to remember: we don’t do good works to earn our salvation. We do good works because of our salvation. James 2:26 tells us, 'Faith without works is dead.' In other words, true faith will naturally lead to good actions.

Our good works are the evidence that our faith is alive. They’re the fruit that grows from the tree of faith. But they’re not what saves us—only Jesus saves. After we’ve been saved by grace through faith, we live out our faith by doing good works, not to gain God’s favor but because we already have it."

"So, what’s the order of salvation? It begins with God’s unconditional love and grace. Salvation is a free gift, but it’s conditional on how we respond. We have free will to believe or reject the gospel. Faith, repentance, confession, and baptism are all parts of how we respond to God’s offer. They aren’t ways to earn salvation; they are ways to receive it. And once we’ve received salvation, we live it out through good works that reflect the change God has made in our hearts.

I want to encourage you to really think about where you stand today. Have you made the decision to trust in Jesus? Have you taken those steps of faith, repentance, and baptism? Remember, God is offering you the most amazing gift of all time—eternal life through Jesus. The choice to accept it is in your hands."

See you next week!