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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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Isaiah 53 tells us. It is what the Eunuch was reading. That's where Phillip began. There's no bare minimum when it comes to seeing Who Jesus truly is IMO. But that is the bare minimum for salvation IMO. Which is what you have asked: What must one believe to be saved?

Then he [Jesus] said to them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

How much enlightenment had Peter received before he made this proclamation? How much did it take after that?I agree with LT 100% on this one. 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.

That amount of enlightenment may differ for every soul. For some it may be a very small amount and for others it may be very much.

Anyone can say Jesus is Christ the God. But do they really see that He is? That is the question. Peter later on denied Christ. Three times. He was abandoned by all.

Sometimes we make things harder than necessary and sometimes we can oversimplify things just as well.

Yes, even the devils believe and tremble, as the Apostle James wrote in his epistle, but they are not saved.

  • Nicodemus said: "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God.  For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." (Jn3:2)
  • Thomas said to Jesus: "My Lord and my God !" (Jn20:28).  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Jn20:29)
  • That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Ro10:9)

 

The Scripture about Thomas is referring to physical sight, not spiritual sight, isn't it? Why and how is the belief that devils have different from saving faith?

How much spiritual enlightenment does it take to be able to confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead?

 

*Five Points*

A friend shared this  "short list" of essential (the absolute minimum) beliefs for a saving faith. Any thoughts?

  1. There is only one God, the creator of all things, who exists, and is perfectly holy.
  2. Jesus, who is more than a man, is Lord and the Son of God.
  3. I am a sinner who needs saving.
  4. Jesus died for my sins.
  5. Jesus was raised from the dead. 

AMEN!!

Char-- Yes!  Amen.

  1. Confess Jesus is Lord.
  2. Believe in Jesus' resurrection.
  3. God will do the rest.
  1. Confess Jesus is Lord.
  2. Believe in Jesus' resurrection.
  3. God will do the rest.

 

Colby, wouldn’t it be a little more subjective to confess  Jesus as Lord?

JB

Colby,

 

Anyone can give lip service and confess Jesus as Lord, so we know that confessing is more than simple speech declarations, but a confession that is accompanied with other factors that are emphasis in scripture for salvation, for the born again experience to happen.

 

Without the weight of our sin crushing our heart with conviction for true repentance and confession to occur there is no legitimate born again experience. Now, someone may simply think it or verbally say, yes Lord I believe in you and be born again, while internally the rest of the required actions are happening, so the manner in which people come to Christ may differ, while the internal work of God in the human heart is the same.   

 

It is very popular today to tell someone what Romans 10:9 states in order to simplify the message of salvation, but any study of the word will tell us that there are multiple things happening at the time of salvation and multiple things are require for legitimate salvation to occur in the human heart.

 

For starters salvation is not according to human will, for no one can come to Christ except the Father brings them. Second believing much more than believes in an intellectual, superficial way, though it is inclusive of those things.

 

Saving faith, which is a gift of God to the spiritual dead person carries with it actions and an immediate change and awakening.

 

Is it true that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved? Of course it is, but that confession and believe carry with them much more than surface confessions.

 

Confess Jesus is Lord, we tell people, but what Jesus, which Jesus? Who did what? Too often with our desire to simplified matters we teach a way to salvation that has no hell, no repentance, which makes for an inadequate Gospel. By my own experience I know God can renew a creature without any of those truths being understood by the recipient of grace, but again, the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart is evident and the same.

 

This video does not directly talk about the subject of your discussion, but it does indirectly:

You got it sis Char. :)

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