There once was a little boy.  As this little boy grew, he watched the needless dying of people all around him. He then made the decision that he was going to become a doctor.  He had a dream of one day finding the cure for cancer and other deadly diseases.  He wanted to be able to stop all pre-mature dying that he could.  Therefore, he set out to become a doctor.  The only problem was his parents didn’t have the money to send him to medical school.  He wasn’t deterred but told his parents that everything would work out.  He decided that he would have to win a scholarship if he was going to go to college and become a doctor.  So he put himself to work night after night staying sit up late studying to be able to make good grades.  And good grades he made.  He made such good grades that he became the valedictorian of his class.  The following days there was letter after letter inviting him to come to this school and that school.  Finally, the letter he had been waiting for arrived.  He had been granted a scholarship.
    This is a fictitious story.  A story that, no doubt, shadows the lives of many doctors and doctor students around the world.  However, this story is told to teach a lesson.  There is a common sense lesson which comes forth from this story with the asking of one simple question.  When the story ended, the boy had received a scholarship that would allow him to become a doctor.  Was the boy a doctor when he received the scholarship?  It seems almost silly to ask such a simple question, but it must be necessary because many people do not understand this principle.  The boy desired to become a doctor.  The boy was given a scholarship so he could become a doctor.  At that point, he was not a doctor; however, at that point, he had the “power to become” a doctor.  By the school giving him the scholarship, the boy could go to school for the required number of years and graduate with the degree of Doctor.
    We want to make application of this principle to our lives today in regard to the way we view the word of God.  When we approach the Word, we should approach it with the same common sense that we approach every day life.  In the Bible we have the above principle used to teach us when a person becomes a Christian.  In John chapter one we find a statement which directs our attention to the above principle.  It is written, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”  (John 1:12).  Let’s break this down a little bit.  There were people being given the “power to become the sons of God.”  If they were being given the power to become the sons of God, they were not already the sons of God.  Now, let’s learn a little about the people to whom this power was being given.  These people had received Christ.  They also believe on his name.  These people were being given the power to become the sons of God.  But if a person is saved at the point and time when he accepts Christ and believes on his name, then these people where being given the power to become something they already were.  That, my friend, doesn’t make sense!
    The fact is that we are not saved at the point and time that we believe on Christ and John 1:12 proves it.  When a person believes on the name of Christ and receives Him, he has just been given the “power to become” a son of God.  That means that a person at the point of believing in Christ is not already a “son of God.”
    John 1:12 also teaches that there is something that a person must do after he believes on Christ in order to become a son of God.  When a person believes on Christ, he is given the power to become a son of God.  If a person is given a power to do something, that person must use that power in order to fulfill the desired goal.
    Then what must a person do after believing in Christ?  In order to believe in Christ we must first hear of Him.  Paul wrote that “faith commeth by hearing” (Rom. 10:17).  We must then believe on Christ.  Jesus said, “...if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).   We must then repent of our sins.  Jesus said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).  We must then confess our faith in Jesus with the mouth.  Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).  And we must be baptized. Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
    These are not commands made up by some men in a synod or something printed in a church manual.  These are commands of Christ himself.  They come from the pages of the Bible which are meant for you and for me.  Christ told the apostles to teach people to observe all things that he had commanded them (Matthew 28:20).  If we are to observe all things Christ commanded the apostles, we are to follow the plan of salvation Christ gave to the apostles.  Only after we have completed these things will Christ forgive us of our sins.  Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  The question I would ask of you is: do you love Christ?