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 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.
This is sooooo simple the world is condemned. Read John chapter 3 (I do not fell like looking it up to give the scripture reference you can look it up for your self it is there). We are as humans condemned because of Adam but if we believe John 3:16 and call on the name of the Lord and believe in our hearts we are saved the book of Acts you can look it up). The only thing that sends people to hell is the rejection of Y-shua maybe I should look that up for the people who don�t know scripture! Sad but true.
In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created. 2 Timothy 1:9, �He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began.�
In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation. Ephesians 1:4, �God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.�
In Christ Jesus you are loved by God with an inseparable love. Romans 8:38�39, �I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.�
In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins. Ephesians 1:7, �In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.�
In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to you. 2 Corinthians 5:21, �For our sake God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.�
In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation and a son of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17, �If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.� Galatians 3:26, �In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.�
In Christ Jesus you have been seated in the heavenly places even while he lived on earth. Ephesians 2:6, �God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.�
In Christ Jesus all the promises of God are Yes for you. 2 Corinthians 1:20, �All the promises of God find their Yes in Christ.�
In Christ Jesus you are being sanctified and made holy. 1 Corinthians 1:2, �To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.�
In Christ Jesus everything you really needed will be supplied. Philippians 4:19, �My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.�
In Christ Jesus the peace of God will guard your heart and mind. Philippians 4:7, �The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.�
In Christ Jesus you have eternal life. Romans 6:23, �For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.�
And in Christ Jesus you will be raised from the dead at the coming of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:22, �For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.� All those united to Adam in the first humanity die. All those united to Christ in the new humanity rise to live again
Shared ~ Thats good Jude, but you can't just stop there. That is just the tip of the iceberg.
*** Yup !!!...Its Good all right and there is no stopping the Gospel...so how about you grace us with a explanation as to what else is needed to fill in that Iceberg...in your own words of course...not a prefab script...thanxs...and have a blessed day...xo
