Follow Up

From a reader:

OK, I see your point on the post about Jews and God. My question is this: doesn’t the Bible still say that one must believe in Jesus for salvation? - Rich

Ahhh... the famous quote, almost identical to Acts 4:12 -

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.

It is important to note that this concept is found in several places in the New Testament. The underlying idea is not that Jesus specifically must be believed in for salvation (as opposed to Jehova - God the Father) but rather, that nobody else paid the penalty for sin. Specifically, it is in contrast to the concept that a person may believe in another (false) god and sill receive salvation.

I read the following quote last fall:

"If a person sincerely believes in God but doesn't have faith in Jesus Christ, they're lost no matter how sincere their belief is."

What quotes like this, and the concept mentioned above never take into context is this: if the statement is correct that belief in God is insufficient for salvation, then several things would be true:
A. The Old Testament is a lie.
B. The New Testament is a lie because the OT was a lie.

And most importantly, to say that belief in God is not enough, in light of Acts 4:12 (or any similar verse) is to relegate Jehova (God the Father) to the role of false god. This puts God the Father as no different than Buddha, Ra, or any others. This goes against all notions of the Trinity. And this is what the entire Bible preaches against.

Conclusion
To state that "belief in God is not enough, one must put faith in Jesus" is a denigrating statement to God the Father. It is not a Christian statement. It is very presumptive, and only found among Christian exclusivists.


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