1. Fill in the blanks from the chart for this lesson.

STEP	COMMAND	FIRST REFERENCE	ACTION
1
	Believe
		Luke 15
			speak!

2. Read the reference in your Bible and choose an appropriate match from the right-hand column.

 

	Romans 10:17		a.	Baptism does also now save us
	John 8:24		b.	Be baptized and wash away your sins
	Acts 16:31		c.	My Lord and my God
	Acts 17:30,31		d.	God commands all men to repent
	John 20:28		e.	Believe on the Lord Jesus
	Acts 22:16		f.	Ye shall die in your sins
	I Peter 3:21		g.	Faith comes by hearing

3. This lesson will show us how we can return to God. God loves us and desires our salvation. Jesus taught that if we are going to please God (and be saved), it is going to be on the basis of our learning and doing His commandments. Note John 14:15: "If ye me, my ." If you believe in God, and if you believe that God speaks through His word (as we learned in Lesson 2), you surely desire to know all of the things that the Bible says to you.

4. Accepting our responsibility to obey God in all things in no way minimizes the parts that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit play in our salvation. There are five steps that we are required to take as acts of obedience in order to have our sins washed away by the blood of Christ and be added to the one church Jesus purchased with His blood (see Acts 2:38-47; 20:28). On Pentecost (in Acts 2), Peter made it clear that this obedience is essential to our salvation. Acts 2:40 says, "And with words did he testify and exhort, saying, from this untoward (perverse) generation."
Let us now study the five steps from man to God as they are taught and commanded in the New Testament.

5. The Parable of the Sower is one of the longest studies of "hearing" in all of the Bible. It is found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8. Let us note two key verses:
Mark 4:24: "And he said unto them, Take ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that shall more be given." The word "what" means that we are to pay attention to the CONTENT OF OUR RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. Much religious instruction is not pleasing to God.
Luke 8:18: "Take therefore ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he to have." Here Jesus is teaching us about our attitude with regard to the things we hear. Hearing is therefore MY RESPONSIBILITY.

6. Romans 10:17: "So then cometh by , and by the of God."

7. Acts 2:22: "Ye men of Israel, these words..."

8. The command to "hear" is therefore a command to .repent"listen!"Take the Lord's Supper

 9. Hebrews 11:1: "Now is the of things hoped for, the of things not seen." The stories in Hebrews 11 are about Old Testament people who obeyed God. But they obeyed Him because they believed in Him enough to obey!

10. John 6:29: "This verse is found in the great "I Am the Bread of Life" chapter. "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the of God, that ye on him whom he hath sent." Jesus here clearly taught that faith is essential, and that faith is a WORK.

11. John 8:24: This verse is in the "I Am the Light of the World" chapter. " said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your : for if ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." Here He makes faith a requirement unto salvation.

12. Acts 16:31: This is the story of Paul and Silas in Philippi, a city in northern Greece. In answer to a question from the Philippian jailer ("Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"), they answered: " on the , and thou shalt be , and thy house." They did not tell him to "believe only." They did not tell him that nothing else was required. As a matter of fact, they continued teaching him and his family, and they were immediately immersed (see verses 32-34).

13. Mark 16:16: "He that and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Believing is put before salvation. 

14. The command to "believe" is therefore a command to ."accept!"repentconfess

 15. This is an uncommon word in everyday life, but it is a command from the Lord Jesus. Repentance is something that would not be necessary if we had not sinned. But the Bible is full of stories of sin and its consequences. Romans 3:23 says: "For have , and come short of the glory of God." In light of the reality of our sins, the Bible commands us to repent.

16. One place in the Lord’s own teaching that contains three parables showing the action of and need for repentance is .Luke 17Luke 15Luke 1

17. One of the things that Peter commanded the sinners in Jerusalem to do on Pentecost was to repent. Acts 2:38 says: "Then Peter said unto them, , and be baptized of you in the of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This verse is the answer given by the Holy Spirit through Peter to a question in verse 37: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

18. Exodus 13:17 shows us that repentance involves "returning." "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that led them not through the way of the land of the , although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people when they see war, and they to Egypt."

19. Acts 3:19 gives another example of people who needed to repent (change their hearts and lives about their sins). " ye therefore, and be converted, that your may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

20. Years later, the apostle Paul was in Athens, preaching to people who worshipped idols (much like millions of people today). They, too, were commanded to repent. Acts 17:30,31 is the text.

Match the words listed in column one with the phrase in column two that follows in the passage.

	the times		a.	all men every where to repent
	now commandeth		b.	whom he hath ordained
	because he		c.	hath raised him from the dead
	in the which		d.	of this ignorance
	by that man		e.	he will judge the world
	in that he		f.	hath appointed a day

21. The last verse we will note on the subject of repentance tells us something about the heart and attitude we must have when we repent. The reference is Job 42:6: "Wherefore I , and repent in dust and ashes." We need to learn to view our sins the way God does and repent of all sin and TURN!

 22. Now we come to a step of positive acceptance—acknowledging Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior. The New Testament has numerous examples of people stating that they believe the truth about Who Jesus really is.

Match the reference with the proper statement.

 

	Romans 10:9,10		a.	These things are written that...
	Matthew 16:16		b.	I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
	Acts 8:37		c.	Some would not confess Him
	John 20:30,31		d.	With the mouth confession is made unto salvation
	John 20:28		e.	My Lord and my God
	John 11:27		f.	Thou art the Christ
	John 12:42,43		g.	Martha made the good confession

23. This command to CONFESS is a command to SPEAK!

24. Note that the verses in this section do speak of baptism (immersion). They also tell us what takes place in the mind of God and the soul of the sinner when one is immersed according to the will of Christ. Read the verses and then answer the questions specifically from the verses themselves.

Romans 6:3,4: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Into whom were they baptized? 

Into what were they baptized? 

In what did they now walk? 

Acts 9:18: "And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized" (This is the story of Saul, later called Paul).

Saul arose and was.

Acts 22:16: "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."
Who was told to be baptized? (Read the early part of Acts 22, if necessary.)

What had not been washed away yet? 

Galatians 3:27: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

Into whom were they baptized? 

Which people had put on Christ? 

I Peter 3:21: "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Which of these did Peter write (put a check mark by the right answer)?

Baptism doth also now save us.

Baptism doth also not save us.

Acts 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."

What two things did Peter command them to do? and be 

How many of them were told to do these two things? 

In Whose name were these commands given? 

What did he say about the sins of those who would be baptized? 

I Corinthians 12:13: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or 

Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

Into what had they been baptized? 

Acts 18:8 (the story of how the church at Corinth began): "And Crispus, the chief ruler of the 

synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized."

What three things does this verse say that many of the Corinthians did?

, , and were 
 
 

25. Match the "chapters to remember" with the appropriate subject.

	Hear (Listen!)		a.	Romans 6
	Believe (Accept!)		b.	Romans 10
	Repent (Turn!)		c.	Matthew 13
	Confess Christ (Speak!)		d.	Luke 13; 15
	Be Immersed (Yield!)		e.	Hebrews 11

26. The Bible tells us that we are to keep God’s commandments. That has always been so. Now we know what His commands are today. Jesus said: 
 

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