God’s Simple Plan for Salvation (Episode 33)

Nothing should be more important to us than to be sure that we are right with God before Jesus returns.  If we fail on that point, nothing else matters in the end. In this episode, Evangelist Frank King presents and explains God’s simple plan for salvation.

This subject is important because we can be wrong on many things in life that won’t be a big deal.  But the subject of salvation is the real deal. If we are wrong about that, it will have eternal consequences.

In his letter to the church at Rome, chapter 10, Paul reveals God’s plan for salvation. He introduces the subject by expressing his concern for the eternal fate of Israel. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved,” he writes (Romans 10:1, KJV). The fact that he prayed to God that Israel might be saved suggests that, to him, their salvation was not secure.

The problem was not that the Israelites had no interest in their God. Rather, they had “a zeal of God but not according to knowledge” (verse 3).

Being religiously zealous does not make one saved. Having a religious zeal does not even make you a nice person to be around. You can be one of the most deeply religious people in the world, and at the same time be among the meanest. As for the Israelites, they were zealous toward God but ignorant of the truth about Him. Hence, they had zeal void of knowledge.

Simple but Life-Changing

Verse 9 of the chapter brings us to the climax of Paul’s discourse. He writes, “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” (NASB). And by the way, God who looks on the heart knows whether or not one truly believes in his or her heart.

Wow! That’s about as simple as it can get. So, why do so many people reject God’s simple plan for salvation? For one thing, unbelief is a powerful thing. In the Bible and in the church, we often talk about the power of faith. In fact, Jesus said, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23, NASB). But to those who are bound by it, unbelief is a powerful thing as well.

Also, people tend to associate value with cost. In other words, if something is of high value, it must cost a lot. So, the thinking of many unbelievers is that because they are in a terrible spiritual condition, it must take something radical and extreme to save them. In other words, how can such a simple plan of salvation save a wretch like me?

That is the mystery of salvation. The truth is that we are radically changed by the power of God through our simple and genuine act of faith. It’s called the born-again experience. Through it, God changes us on the inside, making us a new creation.