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What Must One Believe To Be Saved?
Who wants to take a crack at the list of propositions, reduced to its irreducible minimum, that MUST be believed in order to be saved? By "saved," I mean eternal life with God.
What is the bare minimum for saving faith?
And I mean this literally. If, in your view of things, it is not essential to salvation that one believe it, don't put it on your list. "Irreducible minimum" is what I'm going for here.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Colby on
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Charles,
Excellent point. Your teasing out the implications or connotations of what Paul means by "confessing the Lord" makes good sense.
Colby
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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May I suggest a different line of thought. Salvation is of God and comes through the work of the Holy Spirit as I am sure we agree. It is all dependent upon the work of Christ including His sacrifice and resurrection (we could expand on this as well, but will stop). How much truth does one need to recognize their sin and need for a Savior? My experience has been that people come to saving knowledge/awareness at different points. Some come quickly with little info shared and we have seen life transformation in those people. Others have required more info before being awakened and experiencing life transformation. The key for me relates to the reality of their need and God's provision and that they respond to Him. I tried to keep my comments simplified, but we could expand on each point some for clarity, but will restate my main point this way - They are saved when the right amout of gospel truth is met with the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit and they see Christ the Savior and self the sinner and recognize their need for Him.
I don't there is a list, but a God awakening.
Lord Bless,
LT
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"I will restate my main point this way - They are saved when the right amount of gospel truth is met with the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit and they see Christ the Savior and self the sinner and recognize the need for Him."
LT,
Thank you. By all means, feel free to take a different approach. For others following this discussion, what do you think?
- "I don't think there is a list, but a God awakening."
Colby
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Galatians 1:8-9 is helpful when discussing this topic. Paul wrote,
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”For Paul, the dividing line was the gospel. What is the gospel?
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Permalink Reply by JB on
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What is the bare minimum for saving faith?
Acts 2:21,
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.Eph. 1:13, …after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
JB
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JB,
Thank you.
- What does it mean, as you understand it, to "call on the name of the Lord?"
"On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’" (Mat7.22)
Colby
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In light of the preceding verse referenced, in obedience to His commandments; i.e. to love the Lord our God with all our hearts souls, and minds, and loving our neighbors as ourselves, and by faith, appealing to God on, or relying on Jesus Christ’s righteousness and authority, for acceptance by God, and not on my own righteousness.
JB
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Thanks, JB.
*To call on the name of the Lord.*
*To hear and accept the truth of the Gospel.*
*To obey the great commandment: to love God and our neighbors.*
*To have faith, appealing to God, and relying on Christ's righteousness and authority.*
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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I like the following account in Acts 8 for it tells me one thing for certain -- that wherever there is someone ready to believe the gospel and someone who knows the gospel, those two people are going to meet up even if it takes supernatural efforts. One of the things that is very essential is that the person is able to see who Jesus is.
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south[b] down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[c]34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”[d] 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. (NLT)
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I might add that the rest will follow ... once someone sees who Jesus is, repentance and belief follow ... salvation is all of and from God ...
Job 42
New International Version (NIV)
Job
42 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”I would say the bare minimum is being able to truly see who Jesus is. It's one thing to hear the Gospel or hear of God; another to see God.
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"Being able to truly see who Jesus is. ... the rest will follow."
Amanda,
Thank you for sharing your insight and for the Scriptural evidence from the Books of Acts and Job.
A follow-up question is this:
- What do you mean when you say "to be able to truly see who Jesus is?" Who is Jesus? What must we know and believe to be true about Jesus, at a minimum, in order to be saved? (For example: Must we believe that Jesus is God, to acknowledge the deity of Christ? Is it sufficient to believe only that he is a prophet sent by God and a wise teacher? What are your thoughts?)
Colby
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