Believe.
What are the most basic things a person needs to believe in order to be saved?
Paul says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." He says, "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved."
So I take texts like that and begin at the core—the death of Jesus. He died for our sins, which means I must believe I am a sinner. A person that doesn't believe he is a sinner can't be saved. If there is nothing to forgive, Jesus didn't do anything for me. If he didn't do anything for me, I'm not believing him for salvation. If I'm not believing him for salvation, then I'm not saved. So you must believe you are a sinner.
You must believe that there is a God who has created the possibility for sin. That is, sin by definition is the falling short of the expectations of your Creator. So there has to be a Creator God out there who has expectations of humans. God expects humans to trust him, love him and live for him. And we fail.
Which leads us to the third thing we must believe. Because we fail to trust, love and live for God we are under his holy judgment—his wrath. You've got to believe that.
If you are a sinner and there is a holy God, and if you are defining sin as a falling short of that God, then in order to understand what he is doing to make things right you must understand that God is angry about sin. He is a good and just judge.
So, what has he done to solve the problem of our alienation from him? He has sent his Son into the world. You've got to believe in the deity of Jesus. Psalm 49">Psalm 49 says that no man can pay a ransom for another man. A few verses later, in verse 15, it says God will pay the ransom.
He couldn't have used John, or Peter or Paul to die for us. He had to have the God-man die for us. So the deity of Jesus is essential.
You also must acknowledge what Jesus did. He lived the perfect life. I don't think you can believe that Jesus sinned and still be saved. Because then the sacrifice made for you was not what God required, and you aren't believing in what God did for you. So Jesus is the sinless Son of God and he gives himself up to die in my place.
This substitutionary dimension of the death of Christ for my sins is necessary. There are lots of ways the Bible talks about this and I think you can be very confused about some of them while still being saved. I don't want to start listing off all the ways the Bible talks about the atonement and how confused you can be about them while still being saved. Let's just say that what is required is the core of the gospel—that the remedy is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who never sinned got in my place and took the wrath of God for me. He died in my place.
If he had stayed dead, we would still be in our sins. So you must believe he rose from the dead. So now he has risen from the dead.
I am willing to stop there. This is the cluster of essentials for salvation. You might be able to bring to mind some things that are so theologically attached to this cluster that I would say, "OK that has to be included as well." But if someone asks, "What do I have to believe to be saved?" My answer is, you must believe this cluster of things about yourself, about God, and about the cross.
One more thing. I am assuming something because the question was, "What do I have to believe?" But I should make clear that you have to believe something about belief. Meaning, you must believe that belief is required. If you say, "I get all of what was said, but now I'm going to work so that God can make all of this count for me. I'm going to keep the law 85% so that all this redemptive work will count for me," then you've missed it. You're not saved.
For salvation you must believe that instead of working for this salvation, Jesus has already done what needs to be done. We receive it. "As many as received him, who believed in his name, he gave them the right to become the children of God." So I think sin, God, cross and faith. That is the summary, the core of truth surrounding those four things.
Would someone need to believe in the Trinity to be saved?
They certainly wouldn't have to know that word, and they wouldn't have to be able to articulate it very well. But, what they need to do is not deny essential things about it.
So a person may never hear of such a thing as a "trinity" and be saved. But if you asked them, "The Jesus you are believing in, is he divine or is he just a man?" If they said he is not divine, then I think that is a major problem.
I don't think a person has to even hear about the Holy Spirit to be saved. Is that radical? I don't think so.
Now, if you get taught about the Holy Spirit and what he has done for you and then you say, "I don't think it took the Holy Spirit to save me," well, then I'm going to question your salvation. But goodness! I just spent five minutes unpacking the gospel and didn't mention the Holy Spirit at all! And that isn't because he is not essential. We would never believe without him. But knowing the details about how God caused you to believe is not essential. Yet, denying it once it has been made known to you—that would undermine essential things.
(Desiring God Blog)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Can you? Do you?
Soon you will read in the newspaper that I am dead. Don’t believe it for a moment. I will be more alive than ever before. — D. L. Moody
"Can we really know in advance where we’re going when we die? The apostle John, the same one who wrote about the new heavens and New Earth, said in one of his letters, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13, emphasis added). We can know for sure that we have eternal life. We can know for sure that we will go to Heaven when we die."
"Do you?"
Randy Alcorn explains HERE how you CAN KNOW:
Monday, March 16, 2009
Heavenbound or Hellbound ?
If you were to die today, and stand before God, and He asked, "Why should I let you into My Heaven?",
what would be your answer?
...That you are a good person, you performed "works" in His name, that He is such a loving/forgiving God and everyone will go to Heaven, or that He created you and you are a child of God...
But, that is not what the Bible (God's Word) teaches;
The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven...
When you are “born of God”—not the first birth, but the second one, that’s a work of pure, free grace—you become a child of God.
John 1:12-13 says,
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he GAVE the right to BECOME children of God, who were born, NOT of blood NOR of the will of the flesh NOR of the will of man, but of GOD.” The answer John mentions here in this first chapter is that WITHOUT GRACE we are NOT the children of God. That happens consciously through faith in Christ.
Verse 12 sets two conditions: receiving Jesus and believing,
We need to be born. We need to have spiritual life. That is what God does according to John 1:13 without any help from us—"not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God." We are born of God by a free act of sovereign grace. He chooses us before we choose him, (John 15:16, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.) & (Eph. 1:4, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace).
God is not everybody's Father. He created everybody, and they are his. But Jesus says in John 8:42 ,"If God were your Father you would love me." God is not everyone's Father. And the test of who your Father is, is whether you love his Son.
Two weeks before I turned 18, I received Christ as my Savior, and I have never been the same!
Yes, I continued in my sinful desires, I rebelled, and I even questioned why God would sacrifice His son for me, but I will live the rest of my days praising God for sacrificing His son for a sinner like me.
The question is, WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY ? ......................................................
~Eternal life is a free gift~
Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~You can not earn a place into heaven, it is a gift~
Ephesians 2:8-9; 8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
~We do not deserve heaven~
Romans 3: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 3: 12...there is no one who does good, not even one
James 2: 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
~You can not save yourself~
Titus 3: 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy
~God is just-He must punish sin~
2 Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Exodus 34: 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished
Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven~Who is He, and what did He do~
John 1:1,14 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 Peter 3: 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit
John 14: 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
~ Believing is not enough~
James 2: 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder
~True Faith is, turning from your sins and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for your your eternal salvation~
Acts 4: 12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
John 1: 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name
Acts 16: 31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household
Romans 10: 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED"
~How do you know, if you have eternal life?~
1 John 5:11-13 11And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
~My hope and prayer is that anyone who reads this and is not sure of where they will spend eternity, will look over these verses, and I pray that their hearts will be opened to the power of the Gospel~
what would be your answer?
...That you are a good person, you performed "works" in His name, that He is such a loving/forgiving God and everyone will go to Heaven, or that He created you and you are a child of God...
But, that is not what the Bible (God's Word) teaches;
The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven...
When you are “born of God”—not the first birth, but the second one, that’s a work of pure, free grace—you become a child of God.
John 1:12-13 says,
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he GAVE the right to BECOME children of God, who were born, NOT of blood NOR of the will of the flesh NOR of the will of man, but of GOD.” The answer John mentions here in this first chapter is that WITHOUT GRACE we are NOT the children of God. That happens consciously through faith in Christ.
Verse 12 sets two conditions: receiving Jesus and believing,
We need to be born. We need to have spiritual life. That is what God does according to John 1:13 without any help from us—"not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God." We are born of God by a free act of sovereign grace. He chooses us before we choose him, (John 15:16, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.) & (Eph. 1:4, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace).
God is not everybody's Father. He created everybody, and they are his. But Jesus says in John 8:42 ,"If God were your Father you would love me." God is not everyone's Father. And the test of who your Father is, is whether you love his Son.
Two weeks before I turned 18, I received Christ as my Savior, and I have never been the same!
Yes, I continued in my sinful desires, I rebelled, and I even questioned why God would sacrifice His son for me, but I will live the rest of my days praising God for sacrificing His son for a sinner like me.
The question is, WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY ? ......................................................
~Eternal life is a free gift~
Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~You can not earn a place into heaven, it is a gift~
Ephesians 2:8-9; 8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
~We do not deserve heaven~
Romans 3: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 3: 12...there is no one who does good, not even one
James 2: 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
~You can not save yourself~
Titus 3: 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy
~God is just-He must punish sin~
2 Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Exodus 34: 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished
Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven~Who is He, and what did He do~
John 1:1,14 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 Peter 3: 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit
John 14: 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
~ Believing is not enough~
James 2: 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder
~True Faith is, turning from your sins and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for your your eternal salvation~
Acts 4: 12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
John 1: 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name
Acts 16: 31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household
Romans 10: 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED"
~How do you know, if you have eternal life?~
1 John 5:11-13 11And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
~My hope and prayer is that anyone who reads this and is not sure of where they will spend eternity, will look over these verses, and I pray that their hearts will be opened to the power of the Gospel~
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