Before the foundation of the world, God made one decree that contains all of God’s Will for His creation. One part of God’s decree was the Plan of Salvation. It had to be included by the triune godhead because, since all humans would sin, there would be no human being available for God eternally without it. So, the triune godhead developed a Plan of Salvation and took on roles to accomplish it.
The Golden Chain, as it is called, is found in the book of Romans and says the following:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Rom. 8:29, 30).
The five steps in this passage show that God, not man, created the Plan of Salvation. It simply lists 5 steps in His plan but is not exhaustive.
One version of the exhaustive steps in the Plan of Salvation are election, predestination, regeneration, effectual call, the Gospel, sorrow, repentance, saving faith, redemption, justification, adoption, sanctification, salvation, and glorification. Some may even list others.
After the first step, election, which applies to all Christians, each step starting with regeneration applies to every individual to whom the Plan of Salvation applies separately.
In Reformed theology, as part of the Plan of Salvation, theologians use the term “conversion” to refer to the steps of regeneration, effectual call, the Gospel, sorrow, repentance, and saving faith. Other denominations use the term differently, but the author considers the Reformed theological position correct.
Beginning with regeneration, the Plan of Salvation is applied to the individual. God may choose the elect and predestine them, but the Plan of Salvation must be applied to each individual separately.
You might say the Bible lists only five steps in the Plan of Salvation based on the passage above that contains the Golden Chain; therefore, there are only 5 steps. But this would be incorrect.
For example, the Bible does not always list everything a person can do to receive eternal life. In John 6:40, Scripture says that if we look at Christ and believe in him, we will have eternal life. It is true that belief in Jesus Christ is ALL we need to be justified and have eternal life. But does this mean that every passage of Scripture that discusses how we are to be saved or have eternal life is wrong? Of course not!
The Bible teaches Christians that to receive salvation and eternal life, in addition to belief in Jesus (John 3:36; Acts 16:31; Rom. 1:16, 6:40), we must believe that God caused the resurrection of Jesus (Rom. 10:9), be baptized to confess our belief in Jesus (Mark 16:16; Rom. 10:10), repent (Acts 2:38), hear the Gospel of Jesus (John 5:24), belief in the Father (John 17:3), and more.
Holy Scripture teaches Christians that belief in Jesus Christ is all we need for salvation and eternal life. And this is true. But it also teaches that those who are saved exhibit other things in the process, and that is also okay. Christians must believe in Jesus Christ to obtain salvation and eternal life. However, it is not the only thing that Christians who have salvation and eternal life must have. Christians must also believe that the Father caused the resurrection, hear the gospel, believe in the Father, be baptized, etc. These are additional things that all Christians have, but belief in Jesus Christ is the only thing required for salvation and eternal life.
Similarly, the Bible lists five steps of the Plan of Salvation in the so-called Golden Chain, but others can be added to complete the list. The list in paragraph three above is an example.
Christians should look at each individual step of the Plan of Salvation and understand how each has affected their lives to this point. This will help Christians understand that salvation is not just one event, but a process God has set forth before the foundation of the world that affects each individual Christian uniquely.
