Noblerare said:
Hi guys, I am a Christian but I have a question about whether or not belief in God is enough to be saved.
Here are some verses that show that belief = salvation.
If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame." -Romans 10:9-11
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedyou and your household." -Acts 16:29-31
You guys get the point. And this sounds great. But, what about this?
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe thatand shudder. -James 2:19
The way I understand it, "belief" in Jesus Christ isn't enough to be saved. True belief in Jesus will result in fruit that is evident by a lifestyle change, a heart change: that you want nothing else to do with the world that satisfies the needs of the flesh but really only care about satisfying God and being led by the Spirit.
However, if this is the case, what do we make of the first 3 verses I posted? They clearly seem to state that belief is all that is needed for salvation.
Can somebody please shine a light on this issue for me? I think how we understand salvation really changes how we live our lives and especially how we evangelize to others (in other words, if belief isn't enough to be saved, we shouldn't be spreading that as a final end).
Thank you for your help.
Hi, Noblerare.
I only read the first 4 pages of this thread (that's as much as I could stomach without getting sick) and, up until that point, nobody had actually addressed the first 3 verses that you posted, so I'll do so now. Before doing so, let me make the following general observation (and I couldn't care less if I get in trouble for doing so)...
It's literally SICKENING to me to see how so many (not all, THANK GOD!) professing Christians (and I'm NOT referring to you by any means) cherry-pick certain verses out of the Bible, totally ignoring their overall context, and basically use them as some sort of "magic wand" that wards off all of the other verses in the Bible. IOW, rather than deal with verses/truths which apparently make them uncomfortable, they cherry-pick a verse or two or three, out of context, and seek to contrast such uncomfortable verses/truths with such. Anyhow, let me now address your actual question...
Romans 10:9-11 is PRECEDED BY Romans 1:1-10:8. IOW, we need to read AND CONSIDER everything that been written up to this point to understand Romans 10:9-11 IN IT'S PROPER CONTEXT. Look, if I wrote you a 16 page letter/epistle, you wouldn't start reading part way through page 10 to understand what I'm saying, would you? Yet, this is precisely what many people do...and I'm personally convinced that many of them do it deliberately to somehow avoid the aforementioned "uncomfortable truths" which PRECEDE IT. In the previous chapters of Romans, we're clearly told that we need to REPENT (Romans 2:3-4), to patiently continue in well-doing or good works (Romans 2:6-11), to crucify our "old man" (Romans 6:6), to bury our "old man" by being baptized into Christ's death (Romans 6:3), to walk in newness of life as SERVANTS OR SLAVES to righteousness (6:8-23), etc., etc., etc. IOW, Romans does NOT teach "only believe". It's only when people cherry-pick verses out of their overall context that such erroneous doctrines prevail.
The same exact principle applies to the other two verses which you cited. If we KEEP ON READING (Jesus wasn't even finished speaking, folks), then this is what we'll see:
John 3:17-21
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world though him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. AND THIS IS THE CONDEMNATION, THAT LIGHT IS COME INTO THE WORLD, AND MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. BUT HE THAT DOETH TRUTH cometh to the light, THAT HIS DEEDS MAY BE MADE MANIFEST, THAT THEY ARE WROUGHT IN GOD."
Look, there's CLEARLY two different classifications of people here:
1. Those whose DEEDS ARE EVIL and don't want them reproved.
2. Those who DO TRUTH (NOT "only believe") and THEIR DEEDS ARE MANIFEST that they are WROUGHT or WORKED in God.
Jesus NEVER preached "easy believism". NEVER.
What about the Philippian jailer? Same principle, JUST KEEP READING...
Acts 16:32-34
"AND THEY SPAKE UNTO HIM THE WORD OF THE LORD, AND TO ALL THAT WERE IN HIS HOUSE. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; AND WAS BAPTIZED, HE AND ALL HIS, STRAIGHTWAY. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, BELIEVING IN GOD WITH ALL HIS HOUSE."
Look, this Phillipian jailer's "believing in God" was OBVIOUSLY based upon what Paul and Silas preached to him. I mean, c'mon, the guy and his family got BAPTIZED, didn't they? What does that tell you? Read Romans 6. I'm quite certain that Paul and Silas stressed to him and his family their need to REPENT, CRUCIFY THEIR OLD MAN, BURY HIM WITH CHRIST AND BE RAISED UP IN NEWNESS OF LIFE AS SERVANTS/SLAVES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS. Paul's gospel message was the same wherever he went and here it is, IN HIS OWN WORDS:
Acts 26:13-20
"At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED BY FAITH THAT IS IN ME. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I WAS NOT DISOBEDIENT UNTO THE HEAVENLY VISION: BUT SHEWED FIRST UNTO THEM OF DAMASCUS, AND AT JERUSALEM, AND THROUGHOUT ALL THE COASTS OF JUDEA, AND THEN TO THE GENTILES, THAT THEY SHOULD REPENT AND TURN TO GOD, AND DO WORKS MEET FOR REPENTANCE."
Did you catch that? Paul was NOT disobedient to what God called Him do. As such, wherever he went, whether among the Jews or among the Gentiles (such as the Phillipian jailer and his household), he told them TO REPENT AND TO DO WORKS WORTHY OF REPENTANCE. In this manner, his obedient hearers were "sanctified by faith that is in me (Jesus)". IOW, sanctifying faith INCLUDES repentance and works worthy of repentance. John the Baptist preached it, Jesus preached it, Paul preached it and Jesus instructed all of His disciples to preach it as well (Luke 24:47). "Only believe" won't cut it. Never has. Never will.
I hope that this helps to answer your question.