WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION?
Part Three
AGAIN WHAT IS A PERSON TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER THAT HE MAY KNOW THE ANSWER TO HIS QUESTION:

"What must I do to be saved?" and that he has been born again.

MY SYNOPSIS CHRONOLOGY OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL,
{A brief outline or general view and a record of events in the order of their occurrence}

CONTINUED FROM PART TWO
TWO POINTS OF INTEREST HERE WITH PAUL AND FRANK:

• Paul Harper will present the Gospel in the message, and give a request that those who are not saved would open their heart to the Lord.
• Frank T will present Christ in the message. He will specifically point out that salvation is by grace "alone" and faith "alone." There is no invitation, but the weekly Lord’s Supper.

Today I would continue to preach the text as I have, yet I believe that within the message I would present an invitation to respond to the spirit of God.

Now the question is again: "How would I state the invitation, what would be the specific wording .

How can I, as a preacher, present a clear biblical presentation of the Gospel that is a "true gospel." Do I advocate "Lordship Salvation" or "Free Grace Salvation."

A Baptist pastor here in Portsmouth said to a group of us. "How do you present the gospel to a lost man?" Well, I have been doing this for a number of years. Had I been wrong?! Had I made the assumption that some were saved, when they weren’t? That is undeniably frightening. Did I bring about "false conversions"?

HOW MUCH DOES AN UNBELIEVER NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO KNOW HE HAS BEEN SAVED?

• Often it’s "will you take Christ as your Savior." Will you bow your head and pray a prayer asking the Lord to forgive you of your sin and change your life and come into your life." Would that be correct? Could a person truly be saved?!
• The lordship position, however, does not teach salvation by works. But it does teach that anyone who has been truly saved, at the very moment of salvation, is given by God a supernatural love for the Savior (John 8:42). And that the love of the child of God will evidence itself in good works (John 14:15).
  

I asked this question to Lou, and Nathan (Pulpit Magazine)

• When a saved person has been "born again," what has the person done? If I believe salvation is given to a spiritual dead person, or a lost person and he is born again by grace alone, through faith given to him by Christ, at what point has the person done something? Are we talking about the result of salvation that a person responds to been born again? Does a lost person have to respond by his faith, given to him by God? When does a lost person sense repentance? Does contrition, or repentance take place after the born again conversion or before his coversion, or perhaps at the same time?
• Often in speaking to an individual or even while preaching, I will bring out "To be born again, is by the Spirit of God, and occurs in the lost person when the Holy Spirit open the mind of that person, and that person will understand, his need of a Saviour? Does all this happen all at the same time? He is saved,
  forgiven, adopted, infused into Christ, and justified all in a single moment. Then, if I might use that term, the now saved person, is totally aware of his need of salvation, and a saving Savior, and thus as a result of this work of Christ within him, repents and is willing to submit himself totally to the Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior.
• I thank the question is, will the lost person who has been saved, by grace, result in leading that person to
  confess Jesus Christ as his Lord, and this leads to repentance of sin and rebellion toward God?
• I really think this is serious discussion.
• 
  Charles Whisnant on the Pulpit Magazine November 15, 2006 @ 11:43 p.m.

Lordship sees Christ’s once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice on the cross as the only and final payment for sin, and as the only and final means of salvation. It is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The faith of the New Testament, however, is not mere lipservice. It is instead a repentant faith that comes to God on His terms through His enabling, with an empty hand and an open heart. To forsake our sin (which 1 John 3:4 defines as "rebellion") is to be willing to submit to Him. To forsake our pride (as the Publican of Luke 18 did) is to also forsake our own selfish, rebellious agendas and self-worship. And to forsake idols to serve the living and true God (as the Thessalonians did [1 Thess. 1:8-9]) is to cease from false worship and begin worshipping God (cf. Exod. 20:3; Mk. 12:30). It necessarily includes love and devotion.

Presenting the Gospel with a view to Christ’s Lordship

1. Those who come to God for salvation must believe that He is (Heb 11:6). God has revealed Himself, His nature, His work, and His words exclusively in the Bible. It is the God of Scripture we are talking about.
2. Secondly, we must present man and his sin. Man is out of fellowship with God (Isa 59:1-2), in rebellion to God (Eph 2:1-2), under the judicial wrath of God (Rom 1:18; 3:23) because he is a sinner by nature (Ps 51:5) and choice (Ps 51:4). Man rejects God’s rule over him choosing a god of his own making (Rom 1:18-25). Sin is a rejection of God’s person, his rule, his law, his authority, and his provision. Sinners do not believe or trust God.
3. Third, we present the Lord Jesus Christ and His Provision. First, we present that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9-10) which means that Jesus is God and has the authority of God (Col 1:15-19). Second, Jesus is Christ (Matt 16:16). Not only does He possess all of the authority, power, and prerogatives of God, but He is also the Anointed One of God, the One chosen to be the means of salvation for all who respond to Him with repentant faith. His cross work is complete, finished, and totally sufficient as the payment for man’s sinfulness and the imputation of perfect righteousness (1 Cor 15:1-4; 1 Jn 2:2; Rom 4:4).This is all a matter of grace (Titus 2:11). Man does not deserve such provision (Eph 2:8-10). A sinner’s good works or human merit does not commend him to God in any fashion.
   Pointed out by Michael Harding

The question we need to ask, and its not wrong to ask the qustion "How do I believe I was born again, and became Christian Believer, ?" What was the event that I believe I was saved?

Drafted and Posted by Charles E. Whisnant, Proof check in part by Charity Whisnant #93