Christian Challenge International

"Ask the Pastor"

We frequently receive questions in email from people about doctrine, practice, etc. From time to time we will post the questions and the answers here on the web page. If you'd like to submit a question, simply email our pastor at Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org or use the form below.

Saturday, December 27, 2003

> Question:
>
> Why does so many preachers teach to be saved all you have to do is
> "believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus"
> when clearly the Lord taught the disciples to "repent and be baptized
> in the name of Jesus and you will receive the gift of the Holy
> Spirit." Jesus also told Nicodemus except a man is born of the water
> and of the spirit he can not enter into the Kingdom of God. This
> sounds more than believe and confess to me. How can so many
> preachers be so wrong?

Doris,

All the apostles taught the same message of salvation. When
Peter said that men should repent and be baptized and thus
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, he had already said, "And it
shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved." (V21) The call upon the name of the Lord speaks both of
repentance and of the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior.

As to why so many preachers teach that to be saved all you have
to do is 'believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus', it is because this is what Jesus and the apostles actually
taught.

Here are examples:

[Paul] "For with the heart a person believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
salvation." (Rom10:10)

[John] "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God even to those who believe in His name."
(John 1:12)

[Peter] "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the
Lord Jesus, in they also are." (Acts 15:11)

[Matthew recording Jesus] "Therefore everyone who confesses Me
before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in
heaven." (Matt10:32)

Doris, I think part of the problem is not understanding what the term
'believe' actually means in the Bible, and also the term 'receive.'
Believing and receiving are things to be done with the heart. They
go far beyond anything emotional.

To believe in the Lord Jesus means that a person has actually
taken Him into their heart. This means that the very Spirit of Jesus
has entered into the human spirit, and that that person is now
sealed to God. The Greek word for believe is 'pisteuo.' This is a very
strong word in the Greek language. It means to be bonded to, to adhere
to, to trust fully.

To 'receive' is the Greek word is 'lambano,' which means to
actually take something to yourself. The point is that when a
person truly believes and/or receives Jesus as their Lord and
Savior, something takes place in their spirit nature. Paul says we
become one spirit with Him. Jesus said 'that which is born of Spirit
is spirit.'

This may not answer your question in full, but it does give an idea
of why preachers preach a message of faith in Jesus. And the fact is
that no one deny the result of truly believing in Jesus. You cannot tell a
person who is born again that they are not born again. Every
person who truly believes in Jesus Christ with their heart, carries in their
heart an internal and eternal witness that they belong to the Lord.
This witness in the heart is proof positive that the person has the
Spirit of Jesus within. (Also called the Holy Spirit.)

Hope this helps,

Buddy

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Lawrence "Buddy" Martin
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org