All One Has To Do Is Believe, Alone?

What do the scriptures say?

Acts 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

Paul told the Philipian jailer he must simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people call this easy-believeism, but it seems very difficult for people to do. Folks always want to add to what the scriptures say and add to the simple plan of salvation by trusting Jesus alone.

That said, I think it is important to know what believe means. Does it simply mean to acknowledge a fact? No. The Catholics believe Jesus is the Son of God, they believe he died on the cross, they believe he rose from the dead. Does this make them saved? No. They are believeing facts, but they are not trusting Jesus as Saviour (there are exceptions, some Catholics are saved).

To believe on Jesus means to completely depend upon him to save you. You can not add to what he has done. You do not need to believe in Jesus PLUS do good works, or perform the sacraments. You do not need to live a perfect life (you will fail if you try). No, you simply depend on Jesus alone to save you PERIOD.

I have given the analogy before, but I think it accurate, imagine yourself in a fire in a highrise building. You are forced to the window, this is your only escape. Below are a group of firemen with a big net. They call for you to jump, promising they will catch you.

What do you do? You could try to climb down on your own, this is equivalent to trying to save yourself.

Or, you can simply jump and trust the firemen to catch you as they promised. This is the belief the scriptures speak of concerning Jesus. You must cease from all efforts to save yourself and completely depend upon him to save you. You must put yourself in a position of complete helplessness and dependence upon him.

The jumping is a work, but it is a work wrought by your faith. If you truly did not believe the firemen could catch you, you would not dare jump. But if you have even a little faith, just enough to jump, that is all it takes. It is not the amount of faith you have, it is the object of your faith that matters. If you trust Jesus to save you, he will.

You cannot save yourself by works, and you cannot keep your salvation by works. You must trust Jesus alone to save you, just as you completely trusted the firemen to catch you when you jumped.

If a person truly trusts Christ, then the Holy Spirit enters that person and abides forever. You do not have to change yourself, the Holy Spirit will change you from within. You will have new desires. You will not serve God out of fear, but love and gratitude for saving you. You will have conviction for sin that you did not have before, some things that were acceptable to you, you will now realize are sinful.

Everyone grows at a different rate, usually according to how much time they spend reading the word of God. The word of God brings knowledge and conviction and will work in the believer's life.

Many people are truly saved, but there is no outward appearance to others. An example of this is the ten lepers whom Jesus healed. They were all truly healed representing salvation, but only one returned to thank the Lord. Many people get saved and go on their way, never bringing forth fruit. Some, a few, become true disciples and bring forth fruit.

 

And thus, Hebrews 10:39. Well put.

 

Everyone brings forth fruit. It is either good or bad. There is no such thing as a no fruit Christian. While the amount that one bears may differ there is ALWAYS fruit of one kind or another.
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

 

"Real" faith will mean person genuine saved by grace of God, will have HS in them, changed inside, new person in Christ BUT

All of us mature at different rates/times, some not taught how to now live in Christ and power of the HS, how to apply/study Bible...

You might see little growth for periods of time, thank god he knows his own, not based upon always outward evidennces...

 

You have to be careful judging people by outward appearance. The scriptures are full of true believers who lived rather sinful lives. Noah, as good as he was, got drunk and lay in his tent naked. He was a drinker. No one would believe Lot saved from the OT, but 2 Pet 2:7 says he was. Samson lived a very immoral life, he left his wife, then took her back when she was with another man, he was disobedient to his parents, he was a gambler, he killed 30 men to get their coats to pay a wager he had lost, he visited a harlot on a regular basis. David committed adultery, then he had Bathsheba's husband killed in battle. Solomon was very lustful and had hundreds of wives and concubines. Peter denied Jesus three times...

So, be careful how you judge others, only God knows the heart.

 

Every believer will can be identified by their fruit. There are no exceptions. I realize that the words of the Lord today do not mean much to many, but I believe them fully.
You will know them by their fruit. A good tree cannot put forth bad fruit. I do agree that all do not have the same level of maturity, but all do have fruit to identify them.
The truth is that many today who think they are saved are not saved. Their fruit proves them.

 

All I can do is what the Lord said and He said you will kniow them by their fruit. I understand that His words mean little to many today, but I am standing by them. You will know them by their fruit. No exceptions given.

 

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. (Acts 8:35-38)

It was good enough for Philip, it's good enough for me.

 

I do not disagree with you, but I would still be careful about judging a fellow Christian. And anyone who has read even a few of my posts knows I have tremendous regard for the scriptures.

 

First we are commanded to judge, not to not judge 1corinthians. This is why satan has been able to get such a strong position in the church. So many miss-quote or miss-represent scripture. Stating scripture is not judging contrary to what satan would like many to believe.

 

That was John the Baptist's message. Based upon that message people were baptized. But that wasn't good enough for Paul. He found some of those same obedient believers who had obeyed John, been baptized by John, had repented and done the good works demanded by John. But more was required. Paul baptized them anyway. Their repentance was not sufficient.

Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 19:4-5)

 

Yes, we are commanded to judge, but Jesus gave warnings about it.

Mt 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye.

The commands in 1 Corinthians do not negate Jesus's warning about being judgmental of other Christians.

Mt 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.

If you are going to judge others, you better make sure you have your own act together.

 

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

You clearly do not understand the command. The Lord was speaking to the Pharisees who looked down on the multitudes. He is warning them that how they judge (look down on others) will be how they are judged. The warning to get the log out of their eye is to one who cannot see at all. They are lost. The one who has a small spec in his eye is one who sees but not clearly. The command is not to a believer. In the passage both are lost. One is blind and one sees but not yet good enough.
To point out what scripture says and warning someone that they show signs of being lost is not judging. If you have faith you can believe that we can know them by their fruit. If you don't have faith you will not believe what is written.

 

I show scripture that I believe refutes Reformed doctrine, I am not attacking those who believe it. I believe it error, if I did not care I would leave you in error, or should I say "pass you by" as you teach God does to men.

 

Exactly! That is judging and it is to be done. :thumbsup: