Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Keep on Being Saved
One method of teaching sinners how to respond to God’s merciful grace is using this following mnemonic five finger plan:
HEAR – Romans 10:17.
BELIEVE – John 1:11-12; 3:16; Acts 8:36-37; Romans 10:9-10.
REPENT – Acts 2:38; 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9.
CONFESS – Romans 10:9-10; Acts 8:37.
BE BAPTIZED – 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3-5.
Some like to include a 6th step, “be faithful unto death.” That’s a good thing to emphasize. Here’s another way of saying the same thing without needing a 6th finger:
· Hear and keep on hearing.
· Believe and keep on believing.
· Repent and keep on repenting.
· Confess and keep on confessing.
· Be baptized and keep the old man dead and buried and keep living a resurrected life.
Marshall Keeble used to preach a sermon from a chart with five steps to the church and seven steps to heaven. The seven steps were the seven “virtues” found in 2 Peter 1:5-11. He would call the five steps “ladder No. 1,” and the seven steps “ladder No. 2.” Here is his preaching pitch to the masses that allowed him to baptize thousands:
“Here is the trouble with my modern sanctified friends. Poor things are trying to climb ladder No. 2 and have never climbed ladder No. 1.”
One complaint about this modern five finger plan is that it only focuses on what mankind does. That possibly has contributed somewhat to the accusation we teach salvation by works. I will say sadly that too often we emphasize what we do to the almost total neglect of contributions or works of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we only and always focus on the response to the gospel without first focusing on the gospel, and on God’s actions in and to our “obeying the gospel”; then we are missing essential information. Having said that, using simple methods like our 5 fingers to remember how to teach, and others to understand is…handy.
Comments