Salvation sequentially viewed, From man's viewpoint

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<tr>

<td>Timeframe/Sequence</td>

<td>Action </td>

<td>References</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Spiritual death, experienced by Adam & Eve and imparted to all their descendants</td>

<td>

Gen 2.16-17
Gen 3.6-7
Rm 5.12, 15

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td rowspan="4">Physical birth and onward until regeneration.</td>

<td>No significant spiritual, useful action; nothing that pleases God; no useful fear of God, interest in Him, or ability to usefully understand spiritual things.</td>

<td>

Rm 3.10-18
Rm 8.6-7
1 Cor 2.14

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Enslaved to Satan and his proxies</td>

<td>

Gal 4.8
Eph 2.2

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Lacking the "new birth" Jesus said was essential to even be able to see the Kingdom of Heaven, much less enter it.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Lacking any innate ability to please God in any way</td>

<td>

Is 64.6
Rm 8.8

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Regeneration.</td>

<td>God creates spiritual life in a person. This is the "new birth." The new spiritual life enables person to begin to usefully think about God: perceiving the realities of God, sin, righteousness, and judgment; and beginning to be drawn to Him and seek Him.</td>

<td>

Eph 2.1, 5
Col 2.13
Jn 16.8

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Consideration of the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.</td>

<td>The person can understand what prior to his regeneration he could not: that God provided Himself in the form of Jesus to live the perfectly sinless life required of anyone to be with God, to suffer God's wrath (death, separation from God) against the sins of those He chose to save, to give those people credit in God's judgment for His (Christ's) own perfectly righteous life, and thus to justify them, rendering them in God's judgment to be without sin.</td>

<td>

1 Thess 1.4-5
2 Cor 5.21

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

Personal decision to commit oneself to Christ as both Lord and Savior.
(note: the list of actions God takes (adoption, indwelling, placing into the Body of Christ, gifting) is not exhaustive, and the timing shown here, at the person's conscious response to the Gospel, is from the person's perspective.

</td>

<td>Personal, voluntary response of committing oneself to Christ as both Lord (God, the One he will follow, obey, and worship) and Savior (believing Christ's death paid his sin-guilt and receiving Christ's righteousness as his own).</td>

<td>

Rm 10.9-10
Ac 16.30

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Adopted into God's family.</td>

<td>

Rm 8.15
Gal 4.5

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Permanent indwelled by the Holy Spirit.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Placed into the Body of Christ, by the Holy Spirit</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Receipt of one or more spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit</td>

</tr>

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</table>