What Must I Believe To Be Saved?

Tweet
Pin It

Many who claim Jesus Christ as their savior believe they are saved by faith alone. They feel that by simply believing in Jesus as the Son of God and that He died for our sins will get them into heaven. Believing in the original Greek can and often does mean more than a simple mental acknowledgment of facts. God’s Word is written to others for us to read. What it meant to them is what it must mean to us today.

Lesson Text: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Theme: The purpose of this lesson is to examine what the NT writers wrote to their readership concerning believing in Jesus with the goal of determining what they needed to believe to be saved and then make the necessary applications to our own faith.

The Hebrew Word for Believe:

We must keep in mind that many of the inspired recorders of God’s Word were Hebrews. They spoke Greek because it was the most common language of the day across the Roman Empire. While the language they used was Greek, the meaning of the word in their minds reflected traditional Hebrew meanings. The word for “believe” in the mind of a Hebrew is a word of action and not just an abstract belief that something is true, and it dictated how they lived their lives. In other words, if someone did not live according to it, they did not believe it. This Hebrew word is where we get the word “Amen” from. Today, when we end our prayers with the word “Amen,” we declare that what was said is true and trustworthy and must be acted upon in practice.

Conversely, the opposite of the Hebrew word for “believe” means to disobey willfully. The contrast between belief and disobedience is clearly seen in passages such as John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (ASV). The Apostle Peter made a direct connection between belief and obedience in 1 Peter 2:7-8, “Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.” The Hebrew writer wrote in Hebrews 3:18-19, “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” In the Jewish mind, belief and obedience were interchangeable. Only those who believe are obedient, and only those who are obedient believe. Obedience, and not merely a mental acknowledgment of the fact, is the indicator of faith. When we apply the truths of God’s Word to our lives today, our understanding of scripture must align with what the first readers understood. What God’s Word meant to them is what it must mean to us, and to them, obedience was a necessary element of believing.

The Greek Word for Believe:

The Greek word for believe also carries the element of obedience. Stong’s defines it in its verb form as: NT:4100, to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e., credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ): Used in the KJV – believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament defines it thus:

Pistós , which is attested first, means a. “trusting” (also with the nuance of “obedient”) and b. “trustworthy,” i.e., faithful, reliable.

Pisteúœ means “to trust” (also “to obey”), “to believe” (words), and in the passive, “to enjoy confidence” (cf. the later sense “to confide in”).

In Greek, the word for believe or “faith” implies obedience to the words. In other words, believing in Jesus implies believing what He said and taught. This is very similar to the Hebrew meaning of the word.

The English Word for Believe:

In all three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and English, the word “believe” means to accept something as the truth. Words often have more than one sense in which they are meant to be understood. The English word, “Believe” also carries the meaning of inferred obedience. This is when one accepts something someone says as the truth. To illustrate this, let’s consider a politician campaigning for votes by making promises. We either believe him or not. A vote for that candidate may indicate that you believe him. After outlining his or her promises of what they will do if elected, they may say, “If you believe me, you will be better off.” The appeal for your vote is inferred in the request for belief or faith.

If he loses the election, he could infer that the voters did not believe him. In this case, what the voters did was an indicator of their faith. It could be rightly stated that the voters’ decisions demonstrated whether they believed or had faith in what he said. The election’s winner could rightly say the voters had faith in him. The election’s loser could say, “I guess they didn’t believe me.” So, the word “believe” is used in the English language to mean belief, or faith in someone based on what they say with the inference of action. In this case, the need to vote or obey is understood in the appeal for faith.

So, with all this in mind, let us apply this to the words of Jesus. Before we do, let’s read something Jesus said that demonstrates the need to believe everything He said: In John 12:44-49, we read, “Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”

While on earth, Jesus spoke words that He says we must believe. The words of Jesus contain things we must do, actions we must take, and requirements for good behavior. In verse 44, Jesus said, ““He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me” and in verse 48, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” Just like the politician that appeals for faith that infers action from the voter, Our Lord and Savior, the creator of the universe, king of Kings and Lord of Lords, the author of eternal salvation and our judge on the last day has done the same thing.

While on earth, Jesus did not judge. Jesus has now ascended to heaven and is presently reigning from heaven. What is left behind for now is His Words. Do we believe them or not? There is a last day coming in our future. This is a day when we will all learn whether or not we believe in Jesus. And we get an image of this day in John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” Jesus says we must believe His Words, and on that final day, when we all stand before Him with eternity in balance, Jesus says how we lived in obedience to His words, which determine our fate. Those who do well believe in Him and will live forever. Those who do not do well reject Him and shall die forever.