The next step in getting right with God is believing in His son, Jesus. If you haven’t noticed I am following the steps outlined under “plan of Salvation” above. I am attempting to express my understanding of the steps to salvation as outlined on that page. So, we must believe in Jesus.

Perhaps the most famous verse in the bible is John 3:16:” For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus also said: ” I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” (John  8:24).

What did He mean by “I am he”? He meant that He is the Messiah, Christos in the Greek, or Christ. He is the one that was prophesied throughout the old testament scripture and He, in His life here on earth, fulfilled not just some of these prophesies but every single one of them and they number in the hundreds.

An angel of God told Joseph, the betrothed of Mary, Jesus’ virgin, human mother: ” And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (.Matthew 1:21). That is what the Messiah came to do, as discussed in the previous post, to die upon the cross of Calvary, shedding His blood that we may have remission of sins when we obey Him.

Jesus, Himself is also deity. He is part of the Godhead that consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three are so close to one another that one cannot do or say anything apart from the other. See Philippians 2:6. We must believe that Jesus is, as the son of God, deity also with the power to save us from our sins.He went willingly to the cross, despite being deity Himself and became the perfect sacrifice, according to God’s plan, for mankind’s salvation.

We cannot be right with God if we do not believe in His son and His power to save us from our sins,thus reconciling us to God once again. Sin is a very tragic thing that isolates us from God so that He does not hear us (Isaiah 59:2). The bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God ( Romans 3:23).

 To be reconciled to God so that He will hear us and receive us as His children, we need the power of Jesus shed blood on the cross. God designed our redemption that way. Jesus also said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). There is no other way to serve God, but to believe in Jesus.

But is believing enough in and of itself or must we do more to acquire our salvation? We must indeed do more, as the bible teaches. James tells us that even the devils believe in the one true God (James 2:19) , but does this belief save them. Just believing that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God is not enough. The scriptures say there is more we must do. Indeed believing is only the second step; there are four more the bible teaches us we must do to be saved. We will discuss these in future posts.

May God bless you and keep you until next time.