What does scripture say? Luke 8:12 - Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should
believe and be saved.
John 3:18 - He who
believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Acts 13:39 - and by Him
everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God to salvation for everyone who
believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
1 Corinthians 1:21 - For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to
save those who believe.
Ephesians 1:13 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having
believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
According to scripture we are saved the moment we
believe. By adding more "after" that you are
adding to the gospel.
Your 4-step plan of salvation is out of order and is also the result of bad semantics and flawed hermeneutics. Repentance actually "precedes" believe/believe the gospel/faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 21:32 - For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you
did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not
repent and believe him.
Mark 1:15 - The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.
Repent and believe the gospel.
Acts 20:21 - testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of
repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead are
not two separate steps to salvation but are chronologically together. Romans 10:8 - But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart"
(TOGETHER) that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (notice the reverse order from verse 9-10) - that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confess/believe; believe/confess. So, confession is a confirmation that one believes unto righteousness and is not a work for salvation after one believes.
Water baptism "follows" salvation through. (Acts 10:43-47) In
Acts 8:36-37, the eunuch asked what hindered him from being baptized and Phillip said if you
believe with all your heart, you may. The eunuch answered,
"I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Notice in
John 20:31, we read - but these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. He was saved when he
believed and water baptism "followed." Water baptism is not a part of the gospel. (
1 Corinthians 1:17;
15:1-4)
So, the only logical and Biblical conclusion
when properly harmonizing scripture with scripture is that faith in Jesus Christ "implied in genuine repentance" (rather than water baptism) brings the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (
Luke 24:47;
Acts 2:38;
3:19;
5:31;
10:43-47;
11:17-18;
13:38-39;
15:7-9;
16:31;
26:18)
*Perfect Harmony*