Are There Steps To Salvation or Not?
In one breath, many Christians claim that there are no steps to Salvation, yet in the next intake of oxygen, they vociferously proclaim that believing on Jesus Christ is the first step to Salvation.
Which is it? Are there steps to salvation or not? Are the steps identical to the way of salvation?
But allow me the latitude to share this open secret with you. In this life, we are confronted with steps in everything that we do and steps to salvation are not different.
In this Bible study, I will answer two main questions. First, what are the steps to salvation according to the Bible, and second, could demons be saved?
This means that if you follow the steps in this Bible study, at the end of it, you could be saved.
I am Leroy Daley and every Sunday I do a video Bible study. Click the link to watch it or continue reading. I have been traversing the Book of Acts for months now and I’m about halfway.
Apostle Paul Continues His Second Missionary Expedition
So today, we are going to continue with Acts Chapter 16, and I am at verse 18.
Now just a brief background. Apostle Paul and his contingent of Believers were in Macedonia. They had been to Lydia’s house and they were going to the riverside to preach to the women who came to hear them.
And there was this psychic woman who was following them every day and declaring that they are servants of the Most High, and Paul cast out the demon out of her, and this is where we’re going to pick up.
“And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, [note that Paul didn’t address the woman, he addressed the spirit in her just as Jesus did] I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
Acts 16:??
Christians Avoid These People – Please!
Being a psychic woman, that means the spirit that was in her enabled her to tell people private things about themselves and things that’s going to happen, that sort of thing.
She’s like a modern-day psychic reader. This is one of the reasons, Christians need to stay away from these people. You defile yourself; if you go to or receive consultation from them, you defile yourself. Therefore, Christians stay away from:-
- Psychics,
- People that useth divination,
- Observers of times,
- Enchanters,
- Witches,
- Charmers,
- Consulters with familiar spirits,
- Wizards or
- Necromancers.
- .
“For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”
Deuteronomy 18:12
Because of these activities that these people practice the Lord God sees them as abominations to Him!
“And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, [they couldn’t make any more money from this psychic woman, because the spirit that was in her was cast out by Apostle Paul] they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, [the religious rulers].”
Acts 16:??
And brought them to the magistrates, saying, these men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
“And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, [lawful is the operative word] neither to observe, being Romans.
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Why Pray At Midnight?
And at midnight [midnight is such an important time for prayer for Christians, note this, midnight is an important time for Christians to pray, so at midnight] Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
Sirs – What Must I Do To Be Saved?
By the very nature of this question, you know that steps to salvation are implied. For, as long as we have to do something then steps are involved!
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
And they speak unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.” Acts 16:32.
And this is where our major reading ends for the day.
Yes – There Are Steps To Salvation
Many Christians will tell you that there are no steps to salvation. Yes, there are no steps to salvation. But I want to let you know, I want to remind you that everything that we do, involves steps, even if those steps are not explicit or known by us.
Sometimes we are not even paying attention to realize that steps are involved. For example, taking a shower, there are steps involved in taking a shower.
Steps To Take A Shower
We do not go into the shower in our clothes, lather up and then wash off being still fully dressed, and then we come out and go to work or when we come out, take off the clothes, and then go to work naked.
No! That is not how it goes; there are defined steps that we take. Mainly, we undress, you may turn on the water heater, turn on the water to run to get your temperature right. I wet myself from head to toe then I lather. You do not have to, many people do not.
So there are steps even to taking a shower. There are steps that we take to brush our teeth. There are steps to groom ourselves.
We do not get dressed take a shower and then go to work wet, no! And there are steps to receive salvation.
I Need Your Help!
The Lord Jesus Christ has completed our Salvation. Now, it is there for us to now obey him and receive it. If we cannot obey him, we cannot receive salvation; therefore, we have no inheritance with him.
If you are new to this channel or have not yet subscribed, please take a few seconds to do so now and while you are at it, turn on notifications, hit the bell icon to enable them, and then choose all.
That way you will not miss any of my new Bible study as YouTube will notify you as soon as I post new content.
Additionally, I encourage you to like this video. Liking it helps this channel to grow and to reach more people and I thank you for showing your love. Now let us resume today’s Book of Acts Bible study.
Believe Only?
So, believe only and you will be saved. This statement is unbiblical and a myth. Believing on Jesus Christ as the only Begotten Son of God is the foundation of our salvation.
Everything that we do as Believers or Christians, stems from this. But we are also sons of God, yet, Jesus is the only begotten son of God.
That means the Father left Heaven, came to Earth, got a woman (Mary) pregnant and Christ was born. He is begotten of God, right, that is what that means.
Salvation Is Like A House!
So, we cannot be saved if we do not believe on Jesus Christ. Believe on him being the Son of God, not believe in him, now you know the difference.
But our Salvation is like a house. If you are building a house, you don’t stop after you have laid the foundation.
Believing on Jesus Christ is that spiritual foundation that we are going to lay and build on. Next, you will move to construct floors, walls, windows, doors, and of course a roof because you’re building a house.
If you stop at the foundation, the house is incomplete.
Believe And You Are Saved
To believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God is the foundation of all our salvation. It starts there but it does not end there.
It’s not just believe and you are saved, not at all. Now for that reason, when the Jailer asked Paul and Silas, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Note the language. Believe on Jesus and you shall be saved, in the future.
He is not saved yet, because salvation is at the end of our faith. He is not saved yet, but if he believes on Jesus he shall be saved, if he does not believe on Jesus he cannot be saved.
It is a foundation doctrine. That statement does not mean that believing alone saved the jailer, no! If that were true, Paul and Silas would say nothing after they told him to believe.
He would not need to hear anything else. Believe and you are saved, end of the story, because if belief alone could save him, that is all they would need to do.
They would not need to tell him anything else.
To Believe Is Not Even The First Step To Salvation
Believing is not even the first step of salvation, but it is an initial one. What are you going to believe then if believing is all you need to do to be saved?
This Is The First Step To Salvation
What are you going to believe? Before you could believe, first, we must hear the Word of God and that is the first step in receiving salvation. We must hear the Word of God.
Did you know that Jesus told us in the Parable of The Seed that only one in four people hear the Word of God and believe it?
Therefore, after Paul and Silas told the jailer to believe to be saved, then they expounded the Word of God to him and his household.
The scripture says, “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.” Acts 16:32.
So they told him the foundational statement, believe on Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, then they expounded the word of God more completely, more fully to him, for him to understand what he needs to believe about, who he needs to believe about and the steps involved.
Nobody In The Bible Followed This Step to Salvation
That is what they did. But we cannot stop here at believing. In the Bible, not one person stopped at believing in Jesus Christ, it is not in the word of God.
If faith in Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God is the only step to Salvation then how comes no one in the Bible follow that procedure?
Because we have no record of anybody who just believe in the word and was saved.
That was not the jailer’s situation. The Jailer did not just believe and was saved. If believing alone could grant the Jailer salvation, then Paul and Silas would have said nothing else to him after they told him to believe.
Similarly, Apostle Peter, on the day of Pentecost, would not need to explain to the multitude what to do to be saved, if believing alone could save that group.
Salvation Is Not About Steps To Be Saved
Can I ask you this, did Cornelius and his household only believe and were saved? No! They believed, then they acted on their belief in Jesus Christ, based on the preaching of the Apostle Peter.
Salvation is not about steps to be saved, but there are steps involved as they are in everything else that we do, because something must be done first, then another thing comes after, which implies a step-by-step process.
Additionally, salvation is not earned; we can never do anything to obtain salvation. The first step to receiving it is to hear the word of God.
If there is no word of God, we are not hearing from God so there is no power of God, and we cannot receive salvation.
So salvation is only bestowed on those who obey the Son of God. We inherit salvation by being obedient to Jesus Christ and by being obedient to his disciples.
we are being obedient to Christ, because he sent them. The only initial proof that we believe that Jesus is the son of God is what we do soon after we have heard this.
So that is the only initial proof that we do believe in Jesus Christ. What did you do after you heard that? So obey Jesus.
Here are Steps To Salvation By Jesus Christ
We must follow the steps that Jesus laid down for us to receive and inherit salvation. The doctrine that baptism is a result of salvation is diabolical and unbiblical.
The Bible teaches that baptism precedes salvation, for we are baptized then we are saved, and not the other way around.
Salvation never comes before baptism. Our salvation is at the end of our faith as I said before. Now this is not something I am making up or this is not something I am plucking out of the air to tell you, it is in the Scripture.
Jesus told his apostles, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. Note the language here folks, ‘and’ requires two conditions of equal value, believe, baptize, you are saved.
If you believe and do not baptize you are not saved. If you baptize and do not believe, you are not saved. You must believe and you must baptize to be saved. Mark 16:16.
He that believed and is baptized shall be saved, two conditions must be true. You must believe and you must be baptized to be saved, and this is not the only scripture in the Bible that teaches this.
Apostle Peter’s Steps To Salvation
On the Day of Pentecost, Apostle Peter taught a similar doctrine. He told them, to repent, baptize, and receive.
Repent, baptize, and receive because after you have believed there are things that should happen, if you believe.
You will repent, and you will baptize if you heard the word of God, but if you did not hear the word of God, you will do nothing.
Similarly, Jesus told Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Born of water is water baptism, born of spirit is receiving the Holy Ghost. If you have never been born of water and born of spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom.
Now, the kingdom is where God rules and if you are a Christian and have not entered the kingdom of God you have no power with God, that is what that means.
In The Name – Steps To Salvation!
So every Christian must enter the kingdom of God to have power with Him. In order to enter, Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born of water“, buried under water and you must be born of Spirit, receive of the spirit. It is the same situation.
Finally, Jesus according to Matthew, instructed his eleven leaders, he says, “go ye therefore and teach all nations,” everybody. It does not matter your nationality, the same thing applies to you, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
The key phrase is “in the name,” that is, baptizing them in my name, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world. Amen.
So, the Lord is saying if we accept the teaching of his Apostles after his ascension, that word that he gave them, then we have accepted him, because he sent them, that is important here.
So, when we listen and do and believe what the apostles say we are actually embracing the word of God, the word that Christ gave to them.
Here is a summary of how to receive salvation!
8 Steps To Salvation – How To Receive Salvation?
Now follow these steps to receive salvation:
Step #1:- Hear The Word of God
Step #2:- Receive It!
Step #3:- Repent & Turn To The Lord God
This turning to God after is a major effect of repentance.
Step #4:- Believe The Word of God
Step #5:- Obey It!
Step #6:- Confess Your Sins
This is not a confession of past sins but those of the present. Christ took care of all our past sins. Neither is it a confession “of Jesus to others”. Your public declaration of Christ as Lord has no impact o your salvation.
Christ already paid the price for it. We just need to obey Him and receive it!!
Step #7:- Baptize
Water and Spirit baptisms are a “must” to be saved. See John 3:5. If you have not entered into the Kingdom of God, how could you be saved?
Your salvation, our salvation, is in the Kingdom. We must enter to receive it!
Step #8:- Receive & Enjoy Your Salvation!
Follow These Steps To Salvation And Own It At The End!
So, those are the eight steps to Salvation, not of Salvation, but to Salvation!
If you follow these steps you will receive, you would have gotten, you would have embraced the salvation of God and Christ and receive it and inherit it at the end.
Again, hear the word of God, receive the word of God, repent of your sins, then believe the word. You cannot believe the word unless you repent, and then turn to God. So, we must repent in order to believe.
That is why repentance comes before belief.
Then having believed the word, you need to obey that word, then confess your sins and then receive the Salvation that Christ presents to us, that God gave to Christ for us to inherit.
So, salvation is of the Lord. There is no salvation out of Christ. He is the only way to God. So, if you have not embraced the teaching of Jesus Christ, you have not received the salvation that he presented to the world.
Believing Alone Doesn’t Guarantee Salvation!
So, let me conclude. Could demons be saved? To only believe on Jesus Christ does not guarantee salvation.
If you are only believing, if all you do is, “okay, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” If you are doing that, you cannot be saved, that does not guarantee salvation, because that action by itself is incomplete.
If that were the case, even devils could be saved. So if believing is all you do to receive salvation, then you are saying that devils can be saved, because they too believe in God and they too know that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
So, if you only believe in, you are saying devils can be saved.
Could Devils Be Saved?
Listen, I tell you that, do not believe this that there is one God, thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble, James 2:19.
So if you are just believing and expect to be saved, then devils can be saved, but that is not the case. Devils cannot repent, they cannot be baptized and will not give their hearts to the Lord, thus they cannot receive salvation and that is why the steps to Salvation are important.
That is why these steps are important. Our salvation is completed, Christ completed it. We could only receive it by obeying, he laid out steps in his words for us to receive his salvation, follow them to be saved.
Conclusion
Believing alone is similar to laying the foundation of a house and then stopping construction. But to put in floorings and walls and doors and a roof, we must continue to work.
We must hear the word, we must receive the word, we must repent then believe, that is the construction that we are doing there.
That is putting up the walls, that is putting in the doors and the windows and the roof is receiving that word. The only real proof of believing on Jesus is that it compels us to act on what we believe about him and to receive of him.
If salvation is three steps: Admit, Believe, and Accept, how comes nobody in the Bible follow this model?
What have you done since you believe, have you repented? What about baptism, have you been baptized in the name of Jesus since you believed?
Finally, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believe?
Any belief in Jesus Christ, as the only begotten Son of God, without any corresponding actions of obedience, (fruits meet for repentance), to demonstrate that you do believe in him is a lie, and in closing, no lie could enter Heaven.
No lie is there, no lie can be there. God bless you. The blessings of the Lord are on you, I bless you in the mighty name of Jesus and if he wills, I will see you in another Bible Study next week.
