You have heard the gospel, accepted it as true, and even begun to change your lifestyle through repentance, what could possibly be left in order to accept the free gift of salvation from God? You must confess that you believe these things in front of at least one witness.
Many denominations would have you believe that you have already done enough to be saved. But when faced with the realities of the bible they fall short of everything that God requires from the individual. This is why you must continue to study for yourself and determine what the truth is by rightly dividing God’s word.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
Now you must verbally confess.
But until that moment, I will tell you that the next step in the process of salvation is confession. This is what God has required of men so it is what we do. So before a person can be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins, they must confess verbally, out loud that they believe Jesus Christ is the son of God, and this is the public demonstration of belief. It is the same confession that the Ethiopian eunuch made with Philip after they came to a body of water.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 [f]Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
Acts 8: 35-38
Confession is simple, it requires that you state your belief. This is done so that witnesses can acknowledge you have confessed, and so that in the future Christ will confess you before His Father in heaven.
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 10:32
Once you have confessed, you are now ready to be baptized, the next component of the process of salvation. Usually, confession occurs in the immediate moments before baptism.
Are you willing to walk this path? You have heard the gospel message, believed it, changed your life, and are now ready to confess Christ as savior. But these steps alone are not enough because they do not include everything that the bible teaches in order to receive that gift of salvation. In the next article, we will discuss the necessity and importance of baptism in the salvation process.
I would encourage you to continue studying with your local church of Christ in order to complete your understanding of the truth and complete the process of salvation. What are you waiting for? Accept the free gift of salvation through the systematic process God designed.
