Believe, Believe, What to Believe?

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ” Acts 16:31. Today it seems that every body wants to quote this scripture, and tell you this is what you must do to be saved. But what does it mean to believe? Can you throw out the rest of the Bible and expect to enter into God’s kingdom? In James 2:19, the Bible tells us that “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” If only believing was all there was to it, the Devil himself would be saved. What then must we believe? Jesus said in John 7: 38 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow Rivers of living water.” Here we see that we not only must believe that Jesus existed, but we must believe and receive what the Bible tells us about salvation.

In Hebrews 5:9, “And being made perfect, He (meaning Jesus) became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Here we see that Jesus is the author of salvation, and to receive it we must obey what he says. Regardless of what we think or what we have been told even by a Church or Pastor. If we want to receive salvation, we must obey the Word of God! If this is a must according to the Bible, let’s look to see what Jesus, the Author of our salvation says.

In John 3:5, Jesus was speaking to a man named Nicodemus. Here this man has clearly asked Jesus how to receive salvation. We know this is the answer Jesus gave to him. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “ Here Jesus makes it very clear. You cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, or receive salvation, unless you are born of the water (that is baptized in water) and born of the Spirit (that is receive the Spirit of the Holy Ghost) This is how every- one received salvation, as recorded in the Bible. Peter an Apostle and follower of Jesus Christ, was asked by men in Acts the 2nd chapter, the 37th verse, “Now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” They felt very bad about the things they had done, but that was not enough. When asked about salvation , Peter answered the same as Jesus. Verse 38 says, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
 

Now, regardless of what you have been told or thought in the past, you must make a decision to believe or reject Jesus!