The "Steps of Salvation"
Kind of...
I semi-jokingly made a post the other day about printing up t-shirts of the above image, but the response was so great that I actually made it happen. Grab a shirt or a mug at my Etsy store.
At the same time, I got a number of comments about the list, and I thought it presented a good opportunity to talk about the “steps of salvation” as they’re often understood.
To be clear first of all, the black and white design is based on a very popular shirt of recent years in which recognizable lists of names or other nouns were printed in this exact fashion—”John& Paul& George& Ringo." or “Jerry& Elaine& George& Kramer.” etc.
That might help explain the brevity of the message, as I got a number of comments and messages suggesting changes. To answer a few specific ones:
Missing words
The most common addition to the five steps of salvation is “Live faithfully.” I think the spirit behind the suggestion is right, as the Christian life begins, not ends, with the plan of salvation. However, if we understand the first five correctly, the sixth isn’t really necessary.
Repentance is a change of life. Confession is not just a verbal acknowledgement that Jesus is real, but that He is Lord. Belief means not just believing in Him, but also believing Him (see Hebrews 11:6). And, baptism is our death to self and resurrection to a new life (Romans 6:3-4). So, faithful living is fully implied when each item on the list is understood properly.
Another good suggestion was to add “love God” to the list. It’s true, there is no salvation without loving God. I think there’s a better case for this one than for live faithfully. However, I would like to think that if someone can be made to understand their need of forgiveness and how God loved us enough to give it to us (John 3:16), then they will respond with love for God. To paraphrase Luke 7:47, he who is forgiven much, loves much.
Missing verses
No, the shirt doesn’t have verses. That’s where you come in! I think of the shirt merely as a conversation starter. Beyond that, I think every Christian should have a basic grasp of some verses to back up our understanding of the Gospel.
Though you can use Romans 10:17, you don’t really need a verse for hearing. Anybody you’re talking to is already in the process of that step.
Repent and be baptized can be grouped together under Acts 2:38: “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
Believe and confess can go with Romans 10:9-10: “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; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Memorization is good for us, and it only makes sense that we would be able to back up our view of the plan of salvation from the Scriptures.
Are they really “steps?”
Ironically enough, I’m not a big fan of the framing of “steps of salvation.” Steps are one-time measures we take, something we complete and move on.
But when it comes to salvation, we don’t ever stop listening to the Gospel. We don’t just believe once. Repentance is a lifestyle, not an event. Confession becomes a life motto. And though baptism is the one that we do only once, its consequences reverberate throughout our lives.
Thinking of them as five steps makes salvation just a bit too formulaic and can put salvation back on us, instead of Christ if we’re not careful.
So why the five steps?
Because it’s an easy on-ramp to a conversation about salvation that can lead to discussions about all of those extras—what Jesus has done, why we should love God, the importance of living faithfully, and so forth.
And, baptism alone makes the list pop. It’s the hottest of hot-button issues in the religious world, and always has been. If you want to start a conversation about the Bible, few words work quite as well as “be baptized.”
An acceptable oversimplification
So, the five steps of salvation make for a very poor substitute for a conversation about salvation. On the other hand, they make a solid door opener to such a conversation, and those are the kinds of conversations we should be seeking to have.
If you want to grab a shirt or a mug and help me fund future book designer and editor costs, you can do so here.
Notes
As always, this article is free. Other than book content for paying subscribers, I’ve decided against putting my articles behind a paywall. Even my latest book is free.
However, that all comes with a cost. Paywalled articles drive more premium subscriptions, and that’s income I’m passing up to make everything free.
If you’d like to support me in this work and help continue to make the free content feasible for me, you can go here.