The Bible is a wonderful book. It tells us of God’s full salvation. It also tells us how we can receive this salvation and grow into it fully. We will call our initial receiving of this salvation the initial stage. The way we receive salvation in this stage is through hearing the word of the faith, repenting and believing. We will call our going on in this salvation the progressing stage. We progress in our salvation by enjoying the Lord’s provision and by cooperating with Him in all things.
One thing we should remember is that none of us is born a Christian. Being a Christian is something with a very definite beginning in our life. Romans chapter 10 verses 8b-15a and 17 tell us that, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of the faith which we preach, that if you confess with your mouth, Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from among the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth man confesses unto salvation. For the Scripture says, All who believe on Him shall not be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all is rich to all who call upon Him. For, Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one who preaches? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?...So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
These verses clearly show us how we are initially saved. First, someone tells you about this salvation. This is called “the word of the faith which we preach” (Rom. 10:8).
This preaching causes you to change your mind about yourself and the world. Before you heard this word, you were going toward death and God’s judgment like the rest of the world. Now, when you hear this word, you want to have God. You no longer want your sinful life. This experience is repentance.
This preaching of the word of the faith also causes you to feel that the gospel is so wonderful and that the Lord Jesus is so lovable. You have a desire to believe in Him and receive Him. This desire was not in you before the preaching. It was brought into you when the word of the faith came into you. This desire, then, is faith, and it is generated in you by the Spirit and the Word. Now, this word of the faith is in your mouth and in your heart.
The next thing to do is to confess with your mouth by calling on the name of the Lord or by praying to Him to tell Him that you want to receive Him.
Mark 16:16 says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” After believing and being baptized, you are saved.
In the beginning, you had no faith. At some time, you heard the gospel, the word of the faith. Through this hearing, you desired to turn away from the world and unto the Lord, believing in Him. Out of this desire, you called on Him and were baptized, then you were saved initially. The result is that you are forgiven, justified, reconciled, and regenerated to become a child of God having His divine life and nature.
The progressing stage of salvation starts right away. To be forgiven and to be born of God is only the beginning. Now, we all need to go on by cooperating with the Lord and enjoying His rich provision.
In order for the life within us to grow, we need to confess our sins to the Lord. Then, He will forgive and cleanse us; we will be able to come to Him without any barriers so that His life within us will be free to move and grow. In this way, we cooperate with Him.
Next, we need to read His Word every day. His Word is Spirit and life. When we touch the Word through our mentality with our spirit, we get life. We study the Word to get the points of the truth into our mentality through our memory. We pray in His Word to receive its nourishment and be fed (2 Tim. 3:16; Matt. 4:4; John 6:63; 1 Pet. 2:2).
We also need to call on His name. When you call His name, you get His Person. He is now the life-giving Spirit. When you get His Person, you get His life. It is in this way that you can grow (Rom. 10:12-13).
We also need to pray. This is not to ask for things primarily, but to touch the living God in our spirit, to fellowship with Him, and to be filled with Him (1 Thes. 5:17).
We need to meet with the church in our locality. The church is God’s heart’s desire. It is His expression and our family which cares for us and helps us to grow. The church satisfies God and nourishes man (1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:19; Heb. 10:25).
In our daily life, we need to turn to the Lord, pray to Him, and call on His name. When trouble comes, turn to Him. When there is no trouble, turn to Him then, too. He may say that you have lied. Confess that sin to Him. He may say that you are sloppy. Confess your shortcomings to Him. In these ways, you will grow up normally and receive His salvation in full.