People will let Jesus be anything, so long as we don’t declare Him to be who He claimed to be. Do you agree?
People will let Jesus be a nice man, a good teacher, a victor for the poor and oppressed, and an all-around good moral man. But will the masses of people let the one who walked on water to be a prophet, a Messiah, a Christ, or God in the flesh? Not hardly.
One of the basic tenets of Scripture is that if a person doesn’t have a right relationship with Jesus who is the Christ, then their entire eternity is blemished, marred, destined for wrath. Jesus confessed this reality once when he taught during the Sermon on the Mount that many people will end up thinking they’ll enter Heaven because of their works…but Jesus said they’ll end up in Hell because they had no real relationship with Him. Here’s what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Ultimately, there are a number of essential things that the Bible teaches a person must believe about Jesus Christ in order to be saved. This rules out millions (billions) of people who have never heard the gospel or didn’t surrender to it.
Here are 11 truths about Jesus Christ that you need to believe and heed. What do you think about these points? Do you agree that people need to heed the true identity of Jesus, as outlined below, in order to be saved? Why or why not? [stextbox id=”custom”]
- I believe that the second person of the Triune Godhead is the Son, whose name is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1; 14:9; Hebrews 1:3-4), and that He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit (John 10:30; 14:9).
- I believe in His pre-existence, incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, burial, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, and personal and visible premillennial return (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23, 25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1-3, 14; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 3:24-25, 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Hebrews 9:24; Revelation 20).
- I believe that God the Father created the universe according to His own will, through His Son Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and in operation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).
- I believe that in the incarnation, the eternally existing second Person of the Trinity accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and so became the God Man while never divesting Himself of His divine attributes (Matthew 1:20-21; Luke 1:34-35; Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9).
- I believe that Jesus Christ represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness (Micah 5:2; John 5:23; 14:9-10; Colossians 2:9), and as the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), He lived a sinless life (Hebrews 7:26; 2 Corinthians 5:21) and died a propitiatory, substitutionary death bearing the full penalty of God’s wrath to save His people from their sins (1 Peter 3:18; Romans 3:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
- I believe that Christ’s death demonstrated love for all humanity, is to be proclaimed and offered to all, and is sufficient to save all (Acts 17:30; Romans 10:10-13; Luke 24:46-47), but that Christ’s death was designed to be efficacious for the elect alone (John 10:15; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 5:9).
- I believe He was buried, arose bodily, ascended into heaven, and is presently fulfilling His intercessory and mediatorial ministry as our Advocate and High Priest at the right hand of the Majesty on High (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 2:30-31; Romans 4:25; 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1).
- As the Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), the Head of His Body the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18), and the coming universal King, who will reign on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:31-33), He is the final Judge of all who fail to place their repentant faith in Him as Lord and Savior (Matthew 25:14-46; Acts 17:30-31).
- I believe that on the basis of the efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believing and repentant sinner is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and that he is declared righteous, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God (Romans 3:25; 5:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18).
- I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross, through the endurance and bearing of the Father’s wrath for sin upon Himself, and that His death was voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).
- I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One through whom God will judge all mankind (John 5:22-23), specifically:
- Believers (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10)
- Living inhabitants of the earth at His glorious return (Matthew 25:31-46)
- Unbelieving dead at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15)
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QUESTION FOR COMMENTING: What do you think about this list? DO you agree or disagree with me? Have I missed anything? Am I hard-headed and close-minded?
* Photo credit: Skott Яeader (Creative Commons)
Charles Specht says
What do you think about this list? DO you agree or disagree with me? Have I missed anything? Am I hard-headed and close-minded?
Harry says
You simply told the truth and the truth shall set them free. God Bless, Harry
Charles Specht says
Thanks Harry. And thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment!
Mike C says
Finally, someone speaking truth! Let’s keep our heads up for our salvation draweth nigh!
Charles Specht says
Thanks Mike! Yes, let’s praise Him!
David Van Drunen says
Hello
Harry, thank you for sharing your views. I have a question:
From #2: What is your understanding of a “personal and
visible premillennial return”?
Charles Specht says
Great question, David.
In short, “personal and visible premillennial return” means that Jesus will come back to earth, literally, and reign for 1,000 years. He won’t be here merely in Spirit, but in actual Person.
David Van Drunen says
I had some more thoughts mulling this over:
Are you in
contradiction with yourself when you quote the section, “…he who does the will
of my Father…” and pairing it with your thought “a person must believe [these
11 things] about Jesus in order to be saved.”? Is being known by Jesus by doing
the Father’s will not enough?
I am not arguing whether these 11 things are
true, but rather if we Need to Know them in order to be saved [focusing on the
idea of ignorance, not open denial]. Is it enough that God knows me? Is it
possible to be known by Jesus without knowing every basic truth about Jesus?
What about new Christians that come to believe and profess Jesus as Lord, are
they at risk of hell if they do not very quickly learn these 11 truths about
Jesus?
David Van Drunen says
I apologize for the formatting, I’m not sure why it’s doing that…
Charles Specht says
David, it wouldn’t be the first time I ever contradicted myself. 😉
(As a side note, please see my reply to Anzaholyman as I answered this a bit over there.)
No one gets saved by intellectual ascent, or by plumbing the depths of theology. We are saved by God’s grace and nothing in or of ourselves.
And yes, salvation all comes down to being “known” by God, through faith in Jesus Christ, alone.
Thanks for the comment, David!
Anzaholyman says
When do you need to know these 11 things in order to be saved, before or after?
Charles Specht says
Notice my “tricky” title: “…Could End Up In Hell.”
Personally, I don’t think anyone really understands even most of these at the moment of their salvation. I know I didn’t. All I knew was that I was a nasty sinner and God was a great Savior. In fact, I don’t think anyone ever truly knows all there is is to know about these 11 things, ever in this life. There are “degrees” of understanding but not perfect knowledge.
With that said, however, I do think that as believers learn, get more sanctified, and grow in their knowledge of the Scriptures, that these 11 biblical truths will become more self-evident.
Thanks for the question!
Anzaholyman says
I assume then like the thief on the cross knowing more doesn’t make you more or less saved?
Charles Specht says
You are either saved or unsaved…there’s no in between.