NTS Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household”- Acts ch16 v31

The message of the New Testament centres upon what God achieved in Christ, through his death on the Cross and his Resurrection.
Our part in the work therefore rests on our trust in what was achieved. In other words, it follows on from our faith.

That is made clear even in the gospels, where faith is the first thing that Jesus demands and receives from his followers. At the very least, they are trusting in his authority, believing in him as the one sent from God.
Jesus praises their faith and complains about the weakness of their faith. Neither his words nor his deeds can have any effect where faith is absent.
So when the repentant woman washes his feet, rejoicing in his promise that her sins have been forgiven, he gives her the assurance that “your faith has saved you” (Luke ch7 v50).
He describes his followers as “these little ones who believe in me” (Matthew ch18 vv5-6).
And he looks for this faith in himself to continue even after his death. For he says to Peter at the Last Supper; “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22 v32).

The language of John’s gospel offers a distinction between different aspects of belief.
There is the simple acceptance that something is true - “believing THAT”.
Then there is the more fundamental trust in a person - “believing IN”.
The function of “believing THAT” is to prepare the ground for “believing IN”, which is the real key to New Testament faith.

We see how this works from the stories in Acts.
People believe because of the information they are receiving from the apostles- “Many of those who heard the word believed” (ch4 v4).
That is the pattern we find in many episodes, outlined in speech after speech.
But the most important consequence of this teaching is that they believe IN the Lord (ch9 v42), or IN Christ Jesus (ch24 v24).
Everything else follows on from that. For “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin through his name” (ch10 v43).
Therefore those who join the new church are identified, primarily, as “believers”- “all who believed” (ch2 v44).

Romans explains how the power of God is available for salvation “to everyone who believes” (ch1 v16).
Salvation is identified as “righteousness”- that is, a right relationship with God, or “peace with God” (ch5 v1). And the righteousness of God is available “through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (ch3 v22).
In other words, this depends, once more, on the belief “IN”, the response of trust.

Again, a man’s faith is reckoned as righteousness if he “trusts him who justifies the ungodly” (ch4 v5).
A little later, it is reckoned to us “who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord” (ch4 v24).
Only in that sense is it possible to derive salvation from belief “THAT”; we believe that God has done something, in order to place our trust in what he has done.
“If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (ch10 v9).

The rest of the New Testament tells the same story;
“You have confidence in [more literally, “you are believers in”] God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory” (1 Peter ch1 v21).
“We who have believed” will enter the rest which God has prepared (Hebrews ch4 v13).
This “rest” is also described as “life”;
“I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John ch5 v13).
That is why John’s epistle makes belief one of the primary commands of God;
“This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another” (ch3 v23).
The connection between the two halves of the command is that “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God” (ch5 v1), which means that our fellow-believers are also our brethren.

This virtue in faith follows on from the fact that Christ himself has already done what needs to be done.
We benefit from what he has done by accepting what he has done (believing THAT) and putting our trust in what he has done (believing IN).

Of course James criticises those who merely say that they have faith (which is not the same thing), but even James does not suggest that a man can be saved without any faith at all. Works are commended as the evidence of faith, which means that faith must have come first in order of time.
His remarks about those who “believe that God is one” only illustrate the distinction found in John; their fault is not going beyond the belief THAT. The demons have the same knowledge, as he says, but they don’t have the necessary relationship of trust with God. They don’t have belief IN (James
ch2 vv14-19)

In fact the principle of “trusting in God” is a thread which runs through the whole of the Bible.
Thus it is Abram’s trust which carries him, in obedience, from Ur to Canaan.
It must have been David’s trust in the Lord that made the Lord seek him out as “a man after his own heart”. At least his life-story shows that it wasn’t his obedience to the laws of Moses.
It was faith in God’s power that carried his people through times of trouble from Egypt to Babylon. That kind of trouble brought out the prophet’s declaration that “the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk ch2 v4).
For that matter, only faith could have preserved the faithfulness of Job and saved him from despair in the face of circumstances which he could not understand.

Faith is a natural, almost inevitable, element in the relationship between God and man, when God is what he is, and man has little else to offer than his trust.
It should not be surprising, therefore, that faith is essential to the restoration of the relationship, as achieved through Christ.

This personal trust is the real key to the New Testament understanding of salvation.

N.T.S. stands for New Testament Salvation.
This thread is one of a series, and I wanted to mark the fact without making the title too cumbersome.
The series is a sequel to, and the consummation of, the older series on Old Testament remedies for sin.
In that series, sin is defined as a relationship problem; the human will is out of alignment with the will of God.

Also on this theme;
Will the Son of Man find faith on earth?
John; These things are written that you may believe

The story of Jesus is the story of the Sun outside in the day time and it's trek through the heavens. The sun "dies" for 3 days, meaning to the eye's, it stays at the same lowest position for 3 days, then "rises" again.

Worship me or burn for eternity in torment!

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Worship me or burn for eternity in torment!

Quite right....the more you analyse this "Religion", the more you realise it is a Cult.

The "Authors" of these Books and "Gospels" became rich and famous at the times, Then the Romans took it over for control of the people, as in, they knew people are stupid and would do what "Holy Men" told them to.

A wonderful, powerful control mechanism.

As shown by the incredible power it still holds over feeble minded people 2000 years later.

Why anyone would put their "Faith" in a Middle Eastern Arabic tribe religion, thought up during times of stress in the desert, does boggle the mind.

No wonder people have turned to other cults, Scientology, etc etc.....they make just as much Non-Sense.

originally posted by: gort51
The "Authors" of these Books and "Gospels" became rich and famous at the times,

No, they did not. That's just projection.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Protection .....well that's what the Mafia called it anyway....all in the name of forgiving your sins......

Love it!

a reply to: gort51
Check your eyesight, and re-read the fouth letter on that word.

"No, they did not"..

Please explain who "They" is and what did they "Not" again?

a reply to: gort51
I was responding to;

The "Authors" of these Books and "Gospels" became rich and famous at the times,

Knowing that (I included that quotation in the original response), it should be easy enough to identify "they" and what they did not do.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: gort51
I was responding to;

The "Authors" of these Books and "Gospels" became rich and famous at the times,

Knowing that (I included that quotation in the original response), it should be easy enough to identify "they" and what they did not do.

Really sounds like you pulled it out of thin air... Perhaps citations and information on these 'rich' might be in order. Like who were "they" ?

Very Well then.

The other religious thread before yours seems more interesting.

Might join you there?

Have a good one.

a reply to: Plotus
I quoted the "rich and famous" comment from the person I was replying to.
He was the one making the claim, so it's his job to defend it.

a reply to: gort51
I've said my piece in that one, so I probably won't be back there unless somebody replies.

a reply to: DISRAELI

This is the "piso" family argument...

Its shown up on these boards before a few years back... holds no water at all

a reply to: Akragon
I thought the member was claiming that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John became rich and famous. For which, of course, there is no evidence at all. In fact "Q" did not even become famous.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Dang man, I found friction and chaos when growing from a child to an adult......I found I wasn't good at keeping up with my dad's tool's.....when he had two nice new shovels we took em, no we needed em to dig a dugout fort......I couldn't believe I let those dissappear.dang

Troubles here bullies there....in this fallen world. I recognized .........

At first reading Scripture I was so mad at the Roman soldiers, if they had just not........

In the Air Force....though saved by a Baptist preacher goin door to door at 12 years old......I had a problem, in agony!

My buddy had been to nam and said he believed in Buda

Agony for 6 months, I had to know....my buddy said......but.........

Walk in down the flight line to the avionics shop........God told me ........Said He was the God in the KJV Bible.....I went and read it 4 times straight through.....oh that agony.......worse than Charlie rocketing the stairs off the barracks at takli....

Props to you Disraeli.......you post the word of truth........Rapture by Thanksgiving if it happens this year......or Christmas yeah.....He exclaimed Ephraim and Mannassas belong to me......Britain is Ephraim and U S A is Mannassas.imho

Somehow it didn't come out as I intended... I am in agreement with you DISRAELI, and question gort51's assertions that a .... 'they' and 'rich' .... were simply fictional and used for argument only. And as such pointless in debate.

DISRAELI, your preaching to the Choir....

a reply to: DISRAELI

originally posted by: gort51

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Worship me or burn for eternity in torment!

The "Authors" of these Books and "Gospels" became rich and famous at the times,

How about providing us a link for that ridiculous and very ignorant claim?

Just give us the author of the publication you read it in, even. Anything will do, as long as you let us know where you got that information.

CHEERS