Bible Studies

Believing In The Existence Of God Saves No One

by Doug Laird 
11/21/24
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 If merely believing in the e-x-i-s-t-e-n-c-e of God was the ticket into Heaven, the devil, the fallen angels, and the demons would qualify.

“You believe that God is one, You do well (to do so): the demons also believe, and shudder (James 2: 19 NASB2020 parenthesis mine).”

Believers in the existence of God can “do well” because one can not come to truly believe in something if he or she does not first believe that it exists.

Believing in the existence of God is the first step towards salvation, but in of itself, falls short of the John 3: 5 requirement.

Church pews are filled with souls that believe in the existence of God, have fulfilled all of their chosen denomination requirements, served the Church in some office or capacity, but that does not mean that they have been born again. Sad to say, but some who have sat there for decades, have never had the unadulterated Gospel Message explained to them, or the significance of being born again.

Learning of this critical deficiency on the part of one’s chosen pulpit can be very upsetting.

How important is this?

“Verily, verily (repeated for emphasis) I (Jesus is speaking) say unto thee, Except a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3: 5 KJV).”

Jesus reiterates the point in John 3: 7.

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye MUST be born again (John 3: 7 KJV).”

These words were a part of a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. As such, he could quote Old Testament Scripture word for word, but like many Orthodox Jews, failed to see where such Scripture was pointing to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law (1).

Nicodemus was convinced that God was “with” Jesus, as was the case with many of the Old Testament judges (rulers) and prophets, evidenced by the miracles Jesus had performed.

But there is a major difference between God being WITH a person, and that person being God.

Nicodemus had not (yet) come to understand that He (Jesus) was God the Son who had taken on human form.

Secular historians do not dispute that there had been a first century “man” named Jesus. Some religious groups, then and now, go as far as acknowledging that Jesus was a prophet (spokesman for God), but deny His deity, as being one of the three Persons of the Triune Godhead.

The Triune Godhead always has, does now, and always will, consist of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Skeptics point out that the word Trinity does not appear in Scripture, but note the plural pronouns US and OUR in Genesis 1: 26.

“Then GOD said, “Let US make mankind in OUR image…(Gen. 1: 26 NASB2020).”

In Jesus’ case, He has always been, is now, and will always be, God the Son (2). God the Son took on human form at the First Advent (Christmas) in order to provide the atoning means of salvation.

It was at the birth of His humanity that He was given the name Jesus (3).

To accurately interpret and apply many New Testament passages of Scripture, one must distinguish when He was functioning in His Humanity and when He was functioning in His Deity.

At the First Advent, He became the unique being of the universe, having both a divine and human nature like Adam had before the Fall. After prividing the means of salvation while on the cross (4), He returned to Heaven, with the rise body of His humanity having been transformed into a ressurected form.

He forever remains to be the unique Being of the universe.

His spiritual enemies deny the deity (divine nature) of the Lord Jesus Christ. They did and do so in either ignorance or in rejection of the unadulterated Gospel Message.

His spiritual enemies during His time here on Earth attributed His miracles to demonic activity (5), accusing Him of leading people astray, by claiming to be the Son of God (6), and the one and only means of salvation (7).

Many of His initial followers expected Him to liberate them from Roman domination and stopped following Him when it became clear that this was not going to take place.

One fulfills the John 3: 7 requirement if, and only if, one is born again by choosing to believe when presented with the unadulterated Gospel Message, encapsulated in John 3: 16, 18.

Contrary to what religion would have us believe, NO religious ceremony or ritual taking place BEFORE the sealing (8) of the soul and the regeneration (9) of the spirit saves anyone!

Nor is there any religious ceremony or ritual required to FINISH the process of salvation after one has been born again. Such additional “requirements” imply that faith alone in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ is not enough to be saved, striking at the very heart of Biblical Christianity.

In summary, as of the Church Age, every soul that comes into this world MUST be born again if he or she is going to establish a permanently reconciled relationship with God, and be the recipient of the irrevocable GIFT of eternal life.

One is born again if and when he or she chooses to believe when presented with the unadulterated Gospel Message. Nothing more; nothing less.

Baptism is about identification. Post salvation water baptism rituals are fine when they are used as a public testimony, acknowledging the baptism (10) that ALREADY marked and identified the soul as a child of God, that automatically had taken place the moment he or she was born again. This baptism is the Work of God, not Man.

Water baptism rituals performed by human clergy are not to be seen as a necessary part of the salvation process.

The divine offer of forgiveness and the gift of eternal life, based on, and only on, faith in the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ that He finished (11) on the cross, is open to all.

But one must not only believe in the existence of God, but in His one and only plan of salvation.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; NO ONE comes to (a relationship with God) the Father, except through (faith in) Me (John 14: 6 NASB2020 parentheses mine).”

(1) Matt. 5: 17 (2) John 17: 5/John 1: 1, 2 (3) Matt. 1: 21 (4) 1John 2: 2 (5) Matt. 12: 24 (6) Luke 22: 70 (7) John 14: 6 (8) Eph. 4: 30 (9) Titus 3: 5 (10) Eph. 4: 30 (11) John 19: 30