Am I correct with my understanding of this? Faith in Jesus alone = salvation

Which would include that he is the Son of God? This is all that I can gather from a reading of John 3:14-18 (KJV) when reading it honestly and not trying to bend words into it. What I am struck by is 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and to a smaller extent Romans 3:21-26 and Romans 10:9, which seem to put a different emphasis on salvation. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the gospel seems to be the object of belief, that one is saved by believing the gospel, which I suppose might not be what Paul is trying to communicate. In Romans 3:25 it seems to be saying that salvation comes by faith in Jesus' blood when read a certain way, though, this verse and surrounding verses can be read another way to be completely in line with how I read John 3. In Romans 10:9 in the KJV it says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. This makes sense too considering John 3 since if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead you would believe in Jesus, along with confessing him with your mouth (I cannot read these words the way they are put forth in the NIV and ESV, "that if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved", they don't read like that to me, though I am not saying that that is not what they mean, and I understand they are translating from the Greek), though I don't understand why the "goal post" is moved here from belief in Jesus to something else, though the preceding verses seem to necessitate the language.

The solace in this is that all these issues can be reconciled in that none of these verses can contradict the point of view that belief in Jesus alone is what constitutes salvation, i.e. there is no problem. It is just disconcerting reading these things when I am not entirely sure what constitutes salvation myself, though I lean towards the view that it is belief in Jesus alone, because I don't see how John 3 can be read any other way. I could use some major help in understanding the truth in this. What does constitute salvation? When answering this question please address the things I've written. And please no posts from gotquestions or copy and pastes from other websites unless you have read those materials and agree with what they're saying, but if you do why not put it into your own words? I don't like the regurgitation of materials on the internet and the standard it sets for people to not understand things themselves.

On the topic of gotquestions, they seem to be in line with the belief that it is faith in Jesus' blood that constitutes salvation, though, like I wrote, when I read John 3, I don't see how that is the case.

When responding to me please be patient, I am sincerely trying to understand.

This thread duplicates "Saved by faith alone?"
So please post these thoughts there.
Thanks.

For it is by Grace we have been saved - Its actually not faith that saves us its grace.

but it is recieved through faith

for it is by grace w2e have been saved THROUGH FAITH

2 Timothy 1:9 He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Romans 3:21-25a ~ Apart from the law, righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood.

These are good questions. As you asked, I will address your concerns individually. But I would like to give an overview first to provide context for my detailed comments that will follow.

Trusting in Jesus leads to salvation. But trusting in Jesus is not what saves us. God personally exempts us from the eternal damnation that we earn by sinning when we first put our trust in Christ. This is most clearly steated in 1 Corintians 1:21 ("For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe"). He created the paradigm that He would save from His wrath everyone who believes the seemingly foolish message that Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sins.

I see the verses you referenced as being consistent with this paradigm...
The serpent in the wilderness is an interesting story to read (Numbers 21). After complaining about their situation to Moses, God sent serpents to bite them, and as a result some died. When they confessed to Moses that they had sinned, God told Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and hoist it up on a pole, and He told him that when a person was bit by a serpent, he could look at the serpent on the pole, and if he did he would not die. Jesus likened Himself to the bronz serpent and said that anyone facing God judgement for their sins could look at Him dying on the cross for their sins and live (i.e., look and live). Trusting in Him results in two changes, both of which are actions that God alone can take. First, God no loger holds their sins against them. Second, God gives them eternal life. We see these two elements of God's salvation in many of the verses you referenced in John 3.
As you suspect, this passage is not replacing trust in Christ with trusting the gospel. It is simply describing what we have to believe about Jesus in order for the Father to save us. Specifically, we must believe that Jesus actually sacrificed Himself for our own sins, that He actually died, and that He conquored death and rose from the dead. We receive His offer to forgive us for our sins and His offer to give us eternal life when we receive them from Him directly (because He is alive right now and is drawing all people to Himself).
"His blood" is a referference to His sacrice of Himself for our sins. Hebrews puts it this way...


Jesus entered the single "Most Holy Place" in the unverse with His own blood and "by the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God" for our sins. And unlike the sacrifice of bulls and goats which could never take away sins, trusting in Jesus' sacrifice of Himself for our sins sanctifies us and gives us a clear conscience so that we may serve the living God.
I agree with you that this is a bit confusing. But I look at the explanation that follows to provide context. Romans 10:13-15 describe the steps to salvation in reverse chronological order. Stated chronologically, they say the following: God sends out preachers to preach the gospel, preachers preach, unsaved people hear about Jesus, those who hear about Jesus believe in Him, those who believe in Him call on Him to save them, and He saves everyone who calls on Him.
If God has exempted a person from His wrath and has given that person eternal life by coming to live in his heart, then that person does not need to look at their faith in order to determine if they are saved. He only needs to look inside his heart and determine whether Jesus is in fact living in there. The idea is that "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 Jn 5:11–12) To know if we have eternal life, ew must examine ourselves... "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified." (2 Co 13:5)
Hopefully this addresses your questions.

The confusion is because of the difference between having faith in Jesus Christ alone, is not the same as having faith alone in Christ.

When our faith is in Jesus Christ alone, and not in any other god or christ or spiritual leader, then our faith is in the right Lord and God.

But if we only have faith alone in Christ, without doing His will, then our faith doesn't save us from the judgment against sin and trespass. Because we're still doing wrong against the righteous Lord and God.

So long as we remember that repentance from dead works is necessary to have faith in Jesus Christ and be reconciled to God, then things are kept crystal clear.

Lots of confusion over ideas, beliefs, and words get cleared up real fast, when works enter in. I.e. talk is cheap, because what we are doing tells the tale...

Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

1Jo 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Jas 2:17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

1Jo 2:15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

No. God has spoken in James 2:24-“NOT BY FAITH ONLY.”
Jesus says,” He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. God’s word matters.

" he who believes in Him is not condemed. but whoever does not believe has already been condemned"

simple. straightforward.

I know this verse in John 3 does not mean what you are implying because that makes it contradict other New Testament scriptures like Matt 7, where people at judgment clearly believe in Jesus, are very religious, and have done works in His name. According to your understanding of this verse, they should not have been condemned by Jesus. Please do not judge their hearts by saying they were never saved. You cannot possibly know their hearts nor whether God has saved them or not. The Holy Spirit does not question their salvation nor their sincerity, so neither should you. To do so is presumptuous and just your opinion. Not fact, nor truth.

The key to this passage and the one in John 3 which you quoted goes beyond belief to how they are living. In Matt. 7, those people believed but were practicing lawlessness! verse 23. Whereas the people in John 3 were practicing TRUTH! Verse 21. This harmonizes perfectly with James 2:24 that says we are not saved by “faith only.”

Scripture cannot contradict scripture or else we cannot believe God or anything in the Bible. One verse does not cancel out other verses. All of the Bible must harmonize with itself to be truly divinely inspired.