Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Who is Jesus to you?
Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
There are 18 scriptures that clearly tell us that we are saved by believing in Jesus. The problem however is that even the devil and his angels believe Jesus is real. They even believe Jesus is the Son of God.
Matthew 8:28-29 (NASB)
28 And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Mark 3:11 (NASB)
11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”
So if even the demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and our salvation is through believing in Jesus, how are the demons not saved? Does this not clearly mean that there must be more to salvation than believing? The key to this understanding is in what exactly you believe.
We are not saved because we believe Jesus is real. We are not even saved because we believe Jesus is the Son of God. We are saved because of whom we believe Jesus is to us personally.
Consider a silly conundrum that has been happening in the United States in recent years. Donald Trump was the President of the United States and yet many in the country would make ridiculous statements like "He is not my president. I didn't vote for him!" If that same person was asked to name the President of the United States to win a free car, they would quite quickly say, "Donald Trump"! You see, they knew in their minds that Trump was the President of the United States, but they did not believe it in their hearts that He was their president.
There is a clear difference between believing Jesus is the Son of God in your mind, and believing it in your heart. When you believe it in your mind, you accept it is real. When you believe it in your heart, you gain a desire to serve Him. You gain a love for Him. The demons know Jesus is the Son of God and will state as much, but they do not love him. They do not ever call Him 'Lord'.
When you think about Jesus, do you just believe He was real or do you see Him as your Lord and Savior? When someone is talking about God, do you cringe a little or do your ears pick up with interest? These are the keys to knowing if you are truly saved or not.
I was originally saved in 1982 and a handful of years after that I began to slide into sin. I fell away from the Lord for around 30 years. During that time, there were a few times I attempted to return to church but it never stuck. I didn't go to church and I didn't even pray. Some would argue that I was not saved, but I was still saved. Every time people at work started discussing religion, it never made me cringe or push away, but it always drew me in. Every single time, I still defended God and Christianity. I did not know very much of the Bible and I was angry with God, but I still believed in my heart that Jesus was Lord. My spirit was still always drawn to the Lord.
Do you believe in Jesus? Do you see Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you understand that your soul was lost before and it is now saved because of your belief in Him? Are you drawn to support Jesus when others talk about Him? If you say yes to all of these things, you are saved because you don't just believe He is real, but you have come to believe in your heart that He is your Lord.
On the other hand, if you believe in God and Jesus, but cringe when someone talks about it, or get annoyed by it all, you might want to really give some deep thought into whether you are saved or not. For that sounds dangerously like you have accepted Jesus is Lord, but He is not "your" Lord.
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
There are 18 scriptures that clearly tell us that we are saved by believing in Jesus. The problem however is that even the devil and his angels believe Jesus is real. They even believe Jesus is the Son of God.
Matthew 8:28-29 (NASB)
28 And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Mark 3:11 (NASB)
11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”
So if even the demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and our salvation is through believing in Jesus, how are the demons not saved? Does this not clearly mean that there must be more to salvation than believing? The key to this understanding is in what exactly you believe.
We are not saved because we believe Jesus is real. We are not even saved because we believe Jesus is the Son of God. We are saved because of whom we believe Jesus is to us personally.
Consider a silly conundrum that has been happening in the United States in recent years. Donald Trump was the President of the United States and yet many in the country would make ridiculous statements like "He is not my president. I didn't vote for him!" If that same person was asked to name the President of the United States to win a free car, they would quite quickly say, "Donald Trump"! You see, they knew in their minds that Trump was the President of the United States, but they did not believe it in their hearts that He was their president.
There is a clear difference between believing Jesus is the Son of God in your mind, and believing it in your heart. When you believe it in your mind, you accept it is real. When you believe it in your heart, you gain a desire to serve Him. You gain a love for Him. The demons know Jesus is the Son of God and will state as much, but they do not love him. They do not ever call Him 'Lord'.
When you think about Jesus, do you just believe He was real or do you see Him as your Lord and Savior? When someone is talking about God, do you cringe a little or do your ears pick up with interest? These are the keys to knowing if you are truly saved or not.
I was originally saved in 1982 and a handful of years after that I began to slide into sin. I fell away from the Lord for around 30 years. During that time, there were a few times I attempted to return to church but it never stuck. I didn't go to church and I didn't even pray. Some would argue that I was not saved, but I was still saved. Every time people at work started discussing religion, it never made me cringe or push away, but it always drew me in. Every single time, I still defended God and Christianity. I did not know very much of the Bible and I was angry with God, but I still believed in my heart that Jesus was Lord. My spirit was still always drawn to the Lord.
Do you believe in Jesus? Do you see Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you understand that your soul was lost before and it is now saved because of your belief in Him? Are you drawn to support Jesus when others talk about Him? If you say yes to all of these things, you are saved because you don't just believe He is real, but you have come to believe in your heart that He is your Lord.
On the other hand, if you believe in God and Jesus, but cringe when someone talks about it, or get annoyed by it all, you might want to really give some deep thought into whether you are saved or not. For that sounds dangerously like you have accepted Jesus is Lord, but He is not "your" Lord.