God's Ladder

God's Plan for redeeming man!

There was a man that was stick in a well.  He feared he would die in that well because he knew he was unable to climb out and save himself, so he began to shout for help.  He shouted and shouted until someone heard him and was going to help him out of his situation.  The helper went and got a ladder to pit into the well.  I ask you is that man in the well saved?  NO!  He must partake of the ladder of salvation that was provided for him in order to be saved.  

Mankind is just like the man in the well.  We are in a place we we cannot save ourselves.  We all have fallen into that situation where we need saved!  Rom 3:23  All of us have sinned which means all of us need a savior.  What do we get for the sin that all of us have done?  Rom 6:23  Death is separation in the Bible.  This verse is saying that our sin, that we all have done, will eternally separate us from God.  We are separated and from God and stuck in a well.  We can't save ourselves from this well and God knew that.  So, out of His love, he provided us a ladder in the form of Jesus Christ.  Rom 5:8  I want to ask you, as the person in that well, are you saved because God provided this ladder?  NO!  Not unless you partake of the ladder that God provided.  The mere presence of the ladder isn't enough.  We must trust that ladder can do its job and support us while we climb out of the well on the ladder.  Here is how we use the ladder God has provided us to exit our well of sins.

First rung on the ladder, we must have faith.  Heb 11:6  This is the first rung in the ladder an it is very important.  It is our first step.  The old saying goes, "The journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step.  We get faith by hearing the Word correctly taught. Rom 10:17

Second rung on the ladder, we must repent.  Jesus said if we do not repent we will perish in Lk 13:3,5  Repentance is more than saying, "Sorry God" it's changing the way you live.  You avoid sin because you never want to be back in that well again!  

Third rung on the ladder, we must confess Christ.  Mt 10:32,33  I find the former part of this verse very comforting, but the latter part is very sobering.  This sung comes natural.  As we hear the Word of God and our faith grows we will repent as we understand more of God's will for our lives.  Repentance, or us changing the way we live will cause others to ask about  this change and we will automatically confess Christ in our lives.  

Fourth rung in the ladder. we must be immersed into Christ in the likeness of His death, burial, and resurrection.  Rom 6:3,4  The key words in there are "buried with him in baptism" because we must understand we are not alone in the waters of baptism.  We are buried with him!!  From the moment we're buried with Jesus we are never alone!  He lives in us.  Gal 2:20.   Concerning baptism, many teach sprinkling, wiping, or dabbing water on a person is sufficient. NO, that is not true.  We read that we are baptized, or immersed, into Jesus' death.  When a person dies and they buried do we sprinkle, wipe, or dab dirt on them?  NO!  We COMPLETELY cover them with dirt.  Thus, baptism in water, we must be completely cover with water!  This is where our sins are removed.  Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16  

Fifth rung in the ladder, we must remain faithful.  Acts 14:22  Faithfulness is more than parking our bodies in a weekly service.  Faithful can be defined as fully relying and trusting in God daily.  If we sit in a pew on the Lord's Day every week and don't rely on Him the rest of the week THAT IS NOT FAITHFUL.

This ladder and the definition of these rungs are found in God's Word.  They are in their so we know we are saved. 1Jn 5:13   We must partake of what God has provided.  He has provided a ladder to Him through his Son, Jesus Christ.  We must climb the rungs that have been provided.  we must be saved God's way and not our own. 

This is the ladder God has provided and when we try to skip rungs on the ladder we can not get to where God wants us to be.  Have you ever tried to climb a ladder with a missing rung?  It doesn't work!  

If we are to partake of the ladder that provides us to get out of our well of sins we must climb on God's rungs because man's ladder is broken and can not save us.