True biblical belief is of the heart - not in the head or mind. God looks on the heart - man look on the outward appearance.
Getting "saved" is simple.
Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
[SUP]9 [/SUP] that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
[SUP]10 [/SUP] for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
The process is simple too.
1) we hear the message of Christ - the gospel of our salvation in Him
2) we believe the message from our hearts
3) we were sealed with the Holy Spirit ( Jesus said in John 14:16 that the Holy Spirit will be with us and in us forever - now was Jesus lying or is he like a "bait and switch" car salesman that has "fine print" which He doesn't talk about )
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
[SUP]13 [/SUP] In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, = 1) the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, = 2) you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, = 3)
you were sealed = aorist indicative tense / passive voice = a one time event in the past.
Passive voice = the sealing was not done by us but by an outside force - the Holy Spirit Himself.
i would agree with this list totally except you left out a few things that are important i think . you are close to the same page as i am on this though it seems . you probably just wanted to keep it short and sweet though ..lol .. as you will see the more i post , i have a hard time doing that usually ..lol .. so basically im gonna add a few steps .
my order or list would be..
(this list could start sooner about the actions of the lord but ..)
A.someone sent or given instructions to stay or go to usually preach the word somewhere(romans10:15 outward action of the lord by way of the spirit james2:21-22)
B.preaching the word(romans10:8 outward action of a current believer justifying their faith james2:21-22)
1.hearing the word (romans10:14 action of a non-believer)
2.believing the word you heard(justified by faith as abraham was, romans4:2-3)
3.confessing that you believe what you heard(romans10:9)outward action justifying that belief , reference to james2:21-22)
4.repenting based on what you believe and heard(acts2:38)
5.baptism by water(outward action justifying our repentance james2;21-22, 1peter3:21)
6.receive or be baptized the holy spirit (outward action by the lord justifying his word and promise)
of course in some instances and examples these are out of order but they can all be found in the examples of someone being born again (getting saved) including the thief on the cross . the first two i put A and B because i think those are more actions of the lord or an existing believer than a new believer. like i said ,those action of the lord can actually start sooner and have more steps but that would almost involve the whole bible and the actions of the lord throughout it if you really think about it.
lets put it to the test with an example.
A.sent or commanded to stay or go someplace
Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with them,
commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
action of the believers that was sent was staying in jerusalem as the lord commanded acts1:5-acts2:13
B.preach the word
acts2:14-36 action of a current believer
1.hearing
2.believing
3.confession they believe what they heard
Act 2:37
Now when they heard this,
they were pricked in their heart, a
nd said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? (this question shows they believed what they heard,which was the word or the gospel which is a confession of faith)
4.repentance
5.baptism by water
6.baptism of the holy spirit
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
notice there is absolutely no mention of a sinners prayer or outward confession of being a sinner. there is only one example of an outward confession of being a sinner , it was the thief on the cross. why was he granted salvation without water baptism which according to scripture is required ? his outward confession of being a sinner counts as an outward action of his repentance which normally is water baptism . he obviously couldnt do water baptism because he was nailed to a cross . that is why he was saved without being baptized with water, because of that action of him openly admitting he was as sinner , he was justified . actions justify us but do not save us . if need be i will go step by step to show how he fulfilled steps 1-5 but not 6 because the holy spirit wasnt given out yet .
whether it is ok to simply confess you are a sinner instead of getting baptized by water is a subject for a different thread i believe .
ephesians1:13-14 is also key to understanding whether we can "lose our salvation" based on the popular definiton or usage of the word "saved". this might be something i would disagree with in your post if im understanding what youre saying about it correctly.(to be discussed at later time)
i would disagree with your interpretation of john14:16 too . however after thinking about where that discussion will lead, and how many rabbit trails will be gone down , i think that it is best to save that for a later time too.. lol
a perfect plan of coming to the faith engineered by the lord ! thank you for posting this ! god bless !
p.s. even though i firmly believe that the sinners prayer is not scriptural , i am in no way saying someone who came to the faith that way cant and/or wont be saved .