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Explaining Belief
In my experience, which includes a very large sample size over several decades now, people can understand a biblical explanation of belief. I say to a person, “Jesus did everything that needed to be done for you to be saved, but how do you receive the benefits of what He did? Scripture shows only one way and that is, you must believe in Jesus Christ.”
Many will and do say that they believe in Jesus Christ. A majority of Americans will say they believe in Jesus Christ, when asked. Yet, “What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?” First though, it is true that you must believe in Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches this requirement, “believe in Jesus Christ,” and I could go for thirty plus minutes showing verses that teach that.
What It’s Not
Before I explain what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, I make this point: “It is by belief in Jesus Christ, and not by works.” To understand belief in Jesus Christ, the evangelist must contrast belief from works, which scripture does all over the place. Belief and works are mutually exclusive. You are either saved by believing or by working, not both. If it’s works, then someone must live a perfect life, which he can’t. Someone will not understand belief in Jesus Christ unless he understands the relationship of works to belief.
Once I eliminate works as an option, I will ask again, “What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?” Not only is belief not works, but it is also not mere intellectual assent to facts, like putting a check in a box. This means that neither is it mindless repetition of words with or after someone, simply saying, “I believe in Jesus Christ.”
Aspects of Belief
When I explain belief in Jesus Christ, I don’t go into a long doctrinal dissertation, proving that belief is both intellectual, emotional, and volitional. It is those three, and you can prove that with various passages for each of those aspects. This is also the history of Christian doctrine of salvation. It is said, belief is, the Latin, notitia, assensus, and fiducia. Notitia is the knowledge, assensus is the volition or commitment, and fiducia is the trust or reliance. All three go hand in hand, not to be separated from one another, like truth and love go together.
As you read this, you might think, “You’re making this too hard. What about ‘God’s simple plan of salvation?'” Scripture doesn’t say salvation is simple. I’m not saying it isn’t. I think it is, but it isn’t less than what scripture says that it is. The evangelist should not leave out something indispensable to a scriptural understanding.
Scriptural Requirement for True Belief
The Bible does say that there is a belief that does not save. This is quite common that someone falls short of a scriptural requirement for true belief in Jesus Christ. I say that men purposefully leave out the hard part, the least popular aspects that are the biggest reason for not getting a desired response.
Imagine this: “They’re not going to like this about Jesus Christ, so I’m not going to say it.” What’s not to like about Jesus Christ? People are not saved by believing in a Jesus that’s just acceptable to them. He’s got to be who He is. Another aspect to the object of faith is the Deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God.
Deity of Christ
Usually when I explain the Deity of Christ, I do it at the point that I say, “Jesus died for you” or “Jesus paid the penalty for your sins.” I say, “Let’s say that I wanted to die for you, and I think I would, but my death wouldn’t do anything for you — it couldn’t save you. Why? Because I’m a sinner. I deserve the penalty for sin myself. I can’t pay for yours, because I deserve my own.”
Well, who could pay the penalty for sin? A perfect person. A sinless person. Who could do that? What man could do that? Only Jesus Christ, because He is God. He is sinless, because He is God.
I briefly explain the Trinity at this point in the conversation and quote or go to verses on Jesus’ Deity. If someone does not believe that Jesus is God, then He does not believe in Jesus Christ. I include with that modalists, like the apostolics. They have not the doctrine of Christ, so they have not God (2 John 1:9). An evangelist must go much deeper and further on this subject if he is talking to a Jehovah’s Witness or a Mormon, people like that.
Even if you are talking to a Hindu, you’ve got to differentiate a true belief in Jesus as God and the Hindu version that puts Jesus on the shelf with other gods. The true identity of Jesus Christ is that He is God. Again, saving belief must have the proper object and part of that is that Jesus is God.
More to Come
Excellent!
Thanks for the article brother Brandenburg. I’ve got a question and a comment.
Question: Based on the “false belief.” What do you think happened to all the people baptized by John and Jesus? Do you think most of them were truly repentant and born again?
Statement: I was preaching through Hebrews 11 and thinking on faith and I was asking the question “What prohibits faith?” The Lord showed me that the answer was right in Hebrews 11. Each of those people had to overcome something. 1. Faith overcomes the belief in evolution to believe God created the world. 2. Faith overcomes relying on our works and false worship like Cain. 3. Faith overcomes a wicked society and walks with God like Enoch. 3. Faith overcomes the fear of the unknown like Abraham. 4. Faith overcomes the temptation of the pleasures of sin like Moses. Etc. It helped me to think about what different challenges may be in the way of people’s faith, even Christians whose faith is weak.
On more question from a recent discussion I had with my brothers. Do you believe that someone must know that there is a Holy Ghost in order to be saved? Is knowledge of Christ inclusive of the fact that He is part of the Trinity. Thanks
Hi Bro Thompson,
Good stuff from Heb 11. Interesting question on the Holy Ghost. I would argue, Yes. We can’t confess Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit, Paul says in 1 Cor 12. It is also tied into the identity of Jesus and receiving Him, the doctrine of God, ye believe in God, believe also in me.
We know many of the initial disciples of Jesus were not saved, see John 2. This can confuse people on discipleship, a question someone asked recently. By the time we get to the end of the Gospels, discipleship and salvation are one thing. It’s easy to see that in a few passages that former disciples of John weren’t saved. That means they were just baptized, which isn’t uncommon today. We baptize people and find out they weren’t saved. Thanks!
Hello Bro. Brandenburg.
I read all of Thomas Ross’s desertation on salvation and sanctification, years ago when you put it on this site.
I have zero Gr skills, but I thought he said there was a specific tense to the word “pistis” which carried the idea of fully or completely. From that he stated that anyone who believed with that specific word being used, was fully a believer. Not choked by thorns, not dry ground, but a true convert.
Is there such a tense used, or have i completely misremembered what he said?
Bro Jim,
Yes, the perfect and present tense of pisteuo does very often distinguish form the aorist tense of the verb. Sometimes the initial aorist tense belief, point action, will consummate in a present or perfect tense. There is a faith that does not save.
Hello again,
I agree that there is a faith that does not save.
My main question was trying to remember if there was a NT form of “faith” which conveyed a certainty that the person had fully believed unto salvation. Such as Acts 8: 37.
There are people in the NT who are declared saved (Zacchaeus).
I was wondering if that tense expressed that idea – The person has fully believed unto salvation.
Hi Jim,
Sorry if I sounded like I was lecturing you. I wasn’t. Sometimes in these comments, I’m writing for people who don’t know what we’re talking about too, the rest of the audience. Okay, the aorist tense is used for intellectual assent, which is sometimes the gateway to saving faith, but it is in contrast with actual saving faith when this point is being made. There is a tense of verb, the aorist for pisteuo, that shows it is not saving faith, something short of that, and I think that the end of John 2 (v. 22) is the best example. In Acts, it is present tense there in 8:37, and that is saving faith.
I did not think you were lecturing. I come here looking for learnin, that I might be Edukated!
I see the difference in that verse. They did not believe in the sense of being converted, but intellectually consented to what they had been told, but had not accepted until that point. Thanks, that explains it well.