Doctrines (posted Saturday, August 18 2007)

As all believers know, the way to receive salvation is to have faith alone in Christ alone; believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved; through faith in Him, we will be in heaven forever. It is therefore important to know what this really means.

How does one believe in Christ?

What is believing in someone?

The English word "in" is highly versatile and can have a number of meanings depending on context and regular usage. For instance, "in a box" means physically located in a box; "in a club" means being a member of a non-physical group; and "in an hour" means after some time has passed.

The phrase "believe in a person" also has a number of different interpretations depending on the specifics of what is being said. For example, if someone asks if we "believe in Santa Claus", then by our normal cultural awareness we know they mean if we believe that Santa Claus really exists. Or if someone asks if we "believe in our leader", then we know that they are asking if we have confidence in the person's ability to effectively lead.

Putting these two simple English truths together, the impreciseness of the language makes it difficult to necessarily know what "believe in Christ" means. What any true student should do next is look at what the Bible has to say about believing in Christ, so as to better understand what it really means.

Believing in the existence of Christ

There are very few scholars in any field who continue to doubt if Jesus Christ was a real person. Naturally there will always be some, but the fact of Jesus's living on this earth is well-established historically. Not only is the testimony of Scripture provided, but Josephus, the Roman Jewish historian, mentions Jesus in his work The Antiquities of the Jews. There were even those who hated and attacked early Christianity, including the Pharisees of His day, but their claims against Jesus concerned his character, not his existence.

Going further, there are many who believe that Jesus is God. Among these are demons who will not be saved.

- Matthew 8:28 When he [Jesus] arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"

- James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.

Going further, the Bible teaches that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. This includes those who are not saved, as they recognize their lack of faith in life and their condemnation to spending eternity separated from God.

Isaiah 45:22-24 "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.'" All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, while some day all will agree that Jesus lives and that He is Lord and God, not all will be saved. Thus this is not the kind of belief required for salvation.

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