In our last submission we expressed our plans to present six articles dealing with six conditions that have to be met in order for one to have eternal salvation in heaven. We will not go over all that we talked about there, but we will remind all that there are certainly conditions to salvation, no matter who denies it. The only conditions however, are those God has placed upon it. Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Being born again is a condition that God has placed and man simply cannot ignore or deny it and still have a home in heaven. Jesus said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). Being converted is a condition to eternal salvation that God has put on it and man cannot set it aside. Thus, we must admit there are conditions. As noted, we are going to talk about six that most conditions that man must meet are encompassed in. For our first one, in this article we will discuss “hearing God’s word”. Salvation coming from hearing God’s word is the God ordained method. Paul wrote, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Cor. 1:21).

We often point people to the book of Acts when they are seeking to know how to be saved. The book of Acts is sometimes called the book of conversions for it is a history of the establishment of and the gradual spread of the Lord’s church. In this book we find many examples of individuals and groups being converted. There are a number of things found there, all of which we will cover in our list, but not all are specifically mentioned in every case. For instance, when Saul of Tarsus reached Damascus and was told what to do to be saved, he was not told to believe. The reason, of course is that he already believed. In each case of conversion, all that is mentioned is either what they needed to do at the time or that which they first needed to attend to. However, in every case of conversion found in the book of Acts, the process began with the proclamation and the hearing of God’s word. For instance on the day of Pentecost found in Acts chapter two, Peter preached to them and the text says, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

Let’s face it, salvation is dependant upon one obeying God. We will cover this more in later articles but, Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). The Hebrew writer said that Jesus is “…the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb. 5:9). Now the fact is, one cannot obey that which he or she does not know to obey. We cannot obey the will of God without God revealing that will to us (I Cor. 2:9-13), and then we must then what that which He has revealed actually says.

Most will readily agree that one cannot be saved without faith. Again, we will spend more time on that in another article, but it is clearly taught in the word of God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). By grace are we saved through faith (Eph. 2:8). However, not all are in agreement to the manner of receiving faith. What does God’s word say concerning that? Paul stated, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Just back up a few verses and Paul lays out the whole order of events. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on 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 a preacher?” (Rom. 10:13-14).

In our introduction we noted that one of God’s basic conditions for salvation is that one must be born again (John 3:3-5). James wrote, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18) and Peter wrote, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (I Pet. 1:23-25).

Indeed, the first step toward one’s salvation is to hear the word of God. This is, of course, the reason in the great commission Jesus stated, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). It is of absolute necessity that one study the word for themselves and not just accept what someone says the word of God says, but determine for oneself what is actually God’s conditions that must be met (Acts 17:11).

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By Robert Oliver

Contributing columnist

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