Is it enough to just believe in Jesus?

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Wansvic

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2018
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#41
Not according to Jesus Himself. He said:

“"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” (Joh 6:47 NKJV)

Not: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life once he submits to baptism.



So you seem to be saying that these people had received the Holy Spirit as the apostles had, yet they hadn't had their sins forgiven. To me, the words are clear; they believed, then were baptized as the sign of Christ having forgiven and saved them.




Paul certainly didn't mean that we can wash our sins away with water. The bible is clear that it is the blood of Jesus Christ that removes sin.





Yes, once we are Christians we should follow our Saviour and be baptized.
Believing in Jesus, and receiving the Holy Ghost do not happen simultaneously. See: Acts 2:4-41, 8:12-18, 9:17-18, 10:43-48, 19:1-7)
 

TrustandObey

Active member
Nov 12, 2024
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#42
Not according to Jesus Himself. He said:

“"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” (Joh 6:47 NKJV)

Not: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life once he submits to baptism.
Come on man.
John 6:47 is a general statement of truth.
It's not a all-encompassing, blanket and definitive panacea on the remission of sins.

This is a hallmark of weak theology.

You take a general verse and use it to negate a more definitive verse.

All the verses are true. Both the general and more definitive ones.

There is nothing in John 6:47 that negates baptism as the moment of the remission of sins.
 

Wansvic

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2018
5,382
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#43
Well, the jailer at Philippi asked a similar question, and the apostles replied:

“So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."” (Ac 16:31 NKJV)
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31 NKJV)

No detailed list! Of course, once a person has been saved, certain things should follow, like being baptised, doing good works, obeying God, but we don't do those things in order to be saved.
Believing in Jesus is much more than a mental acknowledgement of His person.

Jesus is the Word; therefore to believe in Jesus is to believe all that the Word reveals.

Jesus said, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48
 

TrustandObey

Active member
Nov 12, 2024
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#44
Could you make a detailed list in the order they must be accomplished for someone inquiring about what it takes to be saved?
Could you make a detailed list in the order of what must be believed and what must not be believed about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

Can you list to what degree of faith must be attained to reach the level of salvation?

Can you explain when is the moment of our faith in Jesus that crosses over from mere acknowledgement of His existence to a full acceptance of His Lordship?

Must I believe that Jesus is part of a triune Godhead?
Must I believe that He was born of a virgin human mother?
Must I believe that He was fully human?
Must I believe that He physically died?
Must I believe that He physically rose from the dead?
What parts of His second coming must I accept?

And what other levels of faith "must be accomplished for someone inquiring about what it takes to be saved?

Details please.
 

hornetguy

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2016
7,386
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#45
Yet the apostles said to the Philippian jailer: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." Jesus said:

“"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” (Joh 6:47 NKJV)
So.... because of one verse, you conclude that belief is all you need?

"You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder."

How about this one from 1 Peter.... "21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, "

or, from Acts 2....... "21 ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ "

Taking all the multitude of verses about salvation, and being saved, unless one has a pre-conceived notion, then what is stated in post #36 above is a pretty good description about what is necessary to be added to the body of Christ....
 

hornetguy

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2016
7,386
1,949
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#46
Could you make a detailed list in the order of what must be believed and what must not be believed about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

Can you list to what degree of faith must be attained to reach the level of salvation?

Can you explain when is the moment of our faith in Jesus that crosses over from mere acknowledgement of His existence to a full acceptance of His Lordship?

Must I believe that Jesus is part of a triune Godhead?
Must I believe that He was born of a virgin human mother?
Must I believe that He was fully human?
Must I believe that He physically died?
Must I believe that He physically rose from the dead?
What parts of His second coming must I accept?

And what other levels of faith "must be accomplished for someone inquiring about what it takes to be saved?

Details please.
edit: sorry, I quoted the wrong statement... I meant to reply to @Sipsey

Philip was pretty clear about it to the Eunuch ...

36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

and Peter was pretty clear about it at Pentecost.... when Jesus' church was established...

37 Now when they heard this, they were [aj]pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
 

Sipsey

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2018
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#47
Could you make a detailed list in the order of what must be believed and what must not be believed about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

Can you list to what degree of faith must be attained to reach the level of salvation?

Can you explain when is the moment of our faith in Jesus that crosses over from mere acknowledgement of His existence to a full acceptance of His Lordship?

Must I believe that Jesus is part of a triune Godhead?
Must I believe that He was born of a virgin human mother?
Must I believe that He was fully human?
Must I believe that He physically died?
Must I believe that He physically rose from the dead?
What parts of His second coming must I accept?

And what other levels of faith "must be accomplished for someone inquiring about what it takes to be saved?

Details please.
I refer you back to post #11 where I actually address most of your points.
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
6,032
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Oregon
#48
.
When the Lord journeyed thru the land of Egypt during the original Passover
described in the 12th chapter of Exodus; He wasn't looking for piety, nor
repentance, nor charity, nor religion, nor perseverance, nor courage, nor
confession, nor kindness, nor tithing, nor weeping, nor prayers, nor
morality, nor baptism, nor gender, nor age, nor ethnic identity, nor would it
have mattered if people inside some of the homes didn't taste their lamb
because the Lord was looking for only one thing: the blood.

Now as long as the blood was applied as directed; even the Wiccans, the
Voodoo priests, the mediums, the terrorists, the Hamas, the Hezbollah, the
Syrians, the Palestinians, the LGBT, and North Korea's Kim family dynasty
would've been safe inside those homes because the people's personal
conduct wasn't important that night.

1 Cor 5:7 . . Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us.


FAQ: How might someone participate in Christ's Passover?

REPLY: I suggest an RSVP

Find a quiet spot, anyplace will do.

Cover your face with your hands for a sense of connection and tell God, in
your own words, out loud or under your breath, that you've thus far not
measured up to His standards and you're pretty sure you never will. Tell Him
you'd like to take advantage of His son's crucifixion to protect yourself from
retribution.

People need speak up like that only once and never again because Christ's
crucifixion is very much superior to the Levitical atonement system.

For example: the great day of atonement, a.k.a. Yom Kippur, is always
catching up; it can't even keep up, let alone get ahead. The moment the
annual ritual ends, people begin accumulating sins towards the next Yom
Kippur; which is a whole year away.

In contrast, Jesus' crucifixion atoned for the people's entire lifetime-- their
past life, their current life, and tomorrow's life. Consequently those who take
advantage of his crucifixion to protect themselves from retribution are
guaranteed to be passed over at the great white throne event depicted by
Rev 20:11-15 where people that are unprotected will be slammed with a
mode of death akin to a foundry worker falling into a kettle of molten iron.
_
 

Beckworth

Well-known member
May 15, 2019
833
348
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#49
Or must you believe on his name? I read the KJV and have trouble with this. At the end of the Gospel According to John it says that the signs written about are there so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. The reading can be tricky unless I'm just being very careful about it, but it seems along with what is written about in John 3 it might be necessary to believe on his name, ie. it's not enough to just believe in Jesus. I think this is important. I also think this subject is important for recognizing that the KJV is the Holy Bible to be read as it's the most reasonable (the standard red letter edition, in my opinion) and if you believed through another Bible you might not actually be believing on his name since something could be changed.

Definition of “in”—“something located inside a specific space.” Believing IN Jesus is just what it says—believing in something ( in this case SOMEONE) in a specific space, in this case a specific person.

Definition of “ON”—something that is touching something else, whether physically or metaphorically.” In this case, believing on His name is simply believing in Jesus because His name is “touching Jesus, metaphorically.

God’s word does not differentiate between believing on His name or believing in Him. There is no distinguishable difference. It all amounts to the same thing in the long run. Since God did not differentiate between these two expressions, neither should we.
 

maxwel

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2013
9,833
2,889
113
#50
Could you make a detailed list in the order they must be accomplished for someone inquiring about what it takes to be saved?
I have no idea exactly what DJT_47 was getting at (he'll have to speak for himself),
but I do think it's fine to point out that the word "believe", in scripture, refers to a number of understandings and processes which all sort of occur simultaneously.

In English we use the word "believe" to signify something like "assent to a proposition."
But in the Bible, that simple term is rich, and deep, with many layers of understanding... which are all part of turning our life over to Christ.

Again, I'm not sure what DJT_47 was talking about, but I'm not talking about any works that occur after salvation.
I'm just pointing out the the word believe, in scripture, has a lot of depth.


God Bless.
.
 

Sipsey

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2018
1,573
755
113
#51
I have no idea exactly what DJT_47 was getting at (he'll have to speak for himself),
but I do think it's fine to point out that the word "believe", in scripture, refers to a number of understandings and processes which all sort of occur simultaneously.

In English we use the word "believe" to signify something like "assent to a proposition."
But in the Bible, that simple term is rich, and deep, with many layers of understanding... which are all part of turning our life over to Christ.

Again, I'm not sure what DJT_47 was talking about, but I'm not talking about any works that occur after salvation.
I'm just pointing out the the word believe, in scripture, has a lot of depth.


God Bless.
.
I completely agree. The context provides nuanced meanings throughout Scripture. The query was likely the result of a question I directed to another member about belief plus what qualified one for eternal life.
 

TrustandObey

Active member
Nov 12, 2024
104
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#52
I refer you back to post #11 where I actually address most of your points.
Sispey,

Nothing in post# 11 addresses any of the issues in post# 44.

You are the one pushing faith alone regeneration theology.

In what sequence must our faith progress to "be accomplished for someone inquiring about what it takes to be saved?

Just be honest and address the issue.

How much faith?
Faith in what?
Faith in what order?
Faith to what degree?
 

Sipsey

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2018
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755
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#53
Sispey,

Nothing in post# 11 addresses any of the issues in post# 44.

You are the one pushing faith alone regeneration theology.

In what sequence must our faith progress to "be accomplished for someone inquiring about what it takes to be saved?

Just be honest and address the issue.

How much faith?
Faith in what?
Faith in what order?
Faith to what degree?
I am afraid we have both misunderstood each other. No problem. But that’s way too many questions for me to answer. I am just a sinner saved by grace, not a Theologian.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
63,315
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#54

John 15 verse 5c; Philippians 2 verse 13 ~ Apart from Me you can do nothing. For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.