belief in the Son of God

[carolineh]

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life
and yet the bible tells us that the demons also believe in Jesus
the two ideas do not conflict but complement eachother...the demons may have a head knowledge of Jesus being the one and only true Son of God but they do not believe in Him in the sense that by believing they live their lives in Him...that is what it means to truly believe in the Son...to actively live your life in Him so that you are entirely immersed in Christ and submitted to Him in love and forsaking sin..only this kind of belief is a saving belief and only repentant sinners can be saved from God's everlasting punishment in hell for their sins

 

[starfield]

Confession of sins and repentance are necessary for salvation. A broken heart and a contrite spirit He will not despise. Acts 20:21-Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.Romans 10:10-For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

[moment_of_faith]

Satan and the fallen angels have already been sentenced. I believe they had a chance to repent and did not.

 

[Trax]

Satan and the fallen angels have already been sentenced. I believe they had a chance to repent and did not.

Heb 2:14-17 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (15) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (16) For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. (17) Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

Basiclly what this is saying is, Jesus came in the form of man, to redeem mankind, and not in the form
of an angel to redeem angels.

 

[RedTent]

I think we have to be very careful we follow scripture exactly and not what men say. If we don’t include God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in our conception of God, a God I often hear called Jesus, it is not the true God. Many people using this name for our triune God are very aware of the True God, others are not. Jesus is one with the Father, if the thinking is only of Jesus without the Father, it is a God made up in men’s minds, not the true God.

Scripture says that Christ is our mediator between us and the Father.

1Tim_2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

 

[WolfInOxHide]

I consider belief in Christ to be the same kind of belief that I have in gravity and razor blades.

Instead of the kind of belief I have in my baking skills for example.

And on that note, belief in His name, is to believe that "Ya will save", instead of just to believe "he was a real guy that really did miracles"

 

[chip]

in the strictest since of the word translated believe, would be 'to adhere to'. so it is not a belief a fallen angel could have - "yup that's Him!"; it is to identify with, to cling to, to be not a follower but a disciple (observation vs emulation).

as for saving belief/faith/whatever - we can pick and chose, but God examines the heart to determine your motivations in coming to Him. Wrong motivation, and you are seed that will be choked out or eaten by the crows. but we have to be careful there, fruit inspection and discernment both require a delicate touch.