The Bible says that if we believe in Jesus we will be saved.
So is it correct that all we have to do is believe that he lived once upon a time and we go to heaven?
2006-07-16 16:45:00 · 23 answers · asked by mosesknows 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He(even) gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (TRUSTS IN, CLINGS TO, RELIES ON) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
2006-07-18 05:59:28 · answer #1 · answered by Angie F 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats not quite it. Just believing that he lived a long time ago is easy. So many will say that Jesus Christ is just a really nice guy that was in fact so nice, that people made up stories about him and he became a legend, kind of like santa claus. This is not the entire story. Believing in Jesus is believing everything the bible says about him. He is the son of God, and he is God; he came to earth and took on flesh, so that he could be tempted in the same ways that man is to sin, and yet he was sinless; he was hung on a cross to die, and 3 days later he rose again, defeating death and sin for the believer. His death is the atonement for our sins, praise God! If you are a believer in Christ, you have repented of your sin and are a new creature in Christ. No, christians are not sinless, but out of the fullness of my heart, I long to be righteous and live in a way that is honoring to God. Theres so much more I could say...
2006-07-16 16:51:06 · answer #2 · answered by sarah s 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For some Christians today - particularly Christians of Protestant denominations - that may be what they believe. However that is not what all Christians have believed at all times, and it is not what all Christians today believe. For example, there are over 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians throughout the world who believe that by "belief in Jesus", we must do more than just believe that he existed. If you read the letter of St. James in the Bible, he says it pretty clearly: you believe? Well, so do the demons believe and shudder - yet they are still demons and are destined to eternal condemnation in hell. Why? Because they believe that Jesus existed, that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God - yet they choose not to follow him and to belong to him. So believing in Jesus and being saved is also a matter of living a certain way - living the "life in Christ". It is a matter of following Christ and doing what he told us to do, which is to love God with all our heart and mind and soul, to love our fellow human beings as he loves us, and to love our neighbor as we love our self.
So even from this small answer you can see that there is a lot more to it than just believing that Jesus lived once upon a time. There are many who want to talk about the "historical Jesus", but they deny who he really was. They want to talk about him as an ordinary man, or even a great man; but they want to deny what Christians believe about him - that he is uniquely the "Only-begotten Son of God" and God; that he is perfect man and perfect God - two natures in one Person.
Finally, as an Orthodox Christian, I have to say that there is even more to it - for Christ told us that "unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood" (referring to Holy Communion) "you have no life in you." So for many hundreds of millions of Christians around the world - and here as an aside I will say that the Roman Catholics generally believe this as well, although there are differences in what they believe compared to what the Orthodox Christians believe - for many hundreds of millions around the world, believing in him does not automatically grant us a free pass to heaven if we are not partaking of his Holy Body and Blood, which is the Eucharist.
I hope this answers your question at least in part. It is an excellent question and there are many things that could be discussed about it from a number of different perspectives.
May God bless you and show you the path to eternal life in Christ Jesus! Amen.
2006-07-16 17:02:10 · answer #3 · answered by LDRship 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus didn,t live once upon a time,Jesus is living now and forever and ever Jesus is the Alpha and Omega the first and last.if you really believed in Jesus you wouldn,t be asking this question.You would know that just saying you believe is not all you have to do.Jesus know,s your heart.
2006-07-16 17:04:05 · answer #4 · answered by Joann B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, even the Devil believes in God and that he lived once upon a time. The Devil, as we all know, will not be going to heaven. The Bible says in
Romans 10:9, " That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
I John 1:9, " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
2006-07-16 17:11:19 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. You have to believe that He died on the cross for our sins and that by Him we are made clean. (Born of a virgin,Died for us on the Cross,arose from the grave and went to be at the right hand of the Father) Jesus loves you, dont make it complicated. Get with someone from a good Bible based church and ask them to explain things to you. Pray for the Lord to lead you to Him. You have to really want to be set free from your burdens of sin.
2006-07-16 16:53:55 · answer #6 · answered by cindy j 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means that you know him and have been seeking the truth yourself.
He said "God bless those who doesn't heard but believed." He just wants people to be guided accordingly into believing into God. The really existence of God among us and not of the whims of power and might. Or else, we will just be a self serving individuals among other individuals who only thinks for themselves and live just for the sake of living.
With him, in him, we shall be saved.
2006-07-16 17:09:26 · answer #7 · answered by wacky_racer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that about sums it up
but you have to be good and repent all your sins
what load of crap
by the bible everyone is a sinner.
no masterbating
no sex befor marriage
dont have sex unless you intend to have a child
and using a condom is killing all those sperm
which is a big no no.
thats why aids has spred as far as it has you can blame stupid religious people for that
2006-07-16 17:09:38 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Believing in Jesus is believing that He is the son of God and that he died to pay for your sins and you want to have Him in your heart.
2006-07-16 16:48:42 · answer #9 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
believing in Jesus means following Jesus Christ commandments.
To learn more:
watch http://www.angdatingdaan.tv
visit http://www.angdatingdaan.org
2006-07-16 16:52:50 · answer #10 · answered by jocel_gomez 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋