Demons believe the gospel but are not saved, what is missing?

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posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,843
13,558
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#41
Satan was a marvelous angel before he rebelled and became Satan. Please don't make me search for that passage, make your fingers do the walking.
sure. but that doesn't address any of the questions i asked, at all, that Nehemiah's comment brought up.

'
even angels long to look into these things' ((the gospel)) -- 1 Peter 1
 

Jackson123

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2014
11,769
1,371
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#42
Matthew 7:21, NIV: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Call Jesus Lord, mean believe that Jesus Lord or God.

But not all save.
Not only demon, some human that believe Jesus God not save.

Who save?
This verse say, the one that do the Will of the Father.

What is the Will of the Father?

The Will of the Father is believe in Jesus in the sense of agree with His teaching and try the best to do His teaching.

Example: believe that Jesus God but work as Assassin or prostitute for living Will,not save
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
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#43
Matthew 7:21, NIV: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Call Jesus Lord, mean believe that Jesus Lord or God.

But not all save.
Not only demon, some human that believe Jesus God not save.

Who save?
This verse say, the one that do the Will of the Father.

What is the Will of the Father?

The Will of the Father is believe in Jesus in the sense of agree with His teaching and try the best to do His teaching.

Example: believe that Jesus God but work as Assassin or prostitute for living Will,not save
Another way of saying the will of the Father is for us to live without sin so we may be with Him eternally. You say to believe in Christ, it is saying the same thing. Only through Christ can we do that.

I agree, we can't have Christ within us and want to be an assassin or prostitute. We must repent.
 

Ahwatukee

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2015
11,159
2,376
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#44
A perfect point. But it leaves me wondering if it is possible to believe Christ can save, but not use Christ for the forgiveness of our sin, but to keep our sin without asking Him to forgive? Scripture tells us that belief is enough, but you could believe God could forgive without asking Him to free us of our sin.
To answer your question, it is faith in the shed blood of Christ which covers our sins.

The fact is that, good works is a result of our faith and the indwelling of the Spirit. In other words, good works is the result of faith, not the cause of faith. We are not saved by those works, but glorify God through them and we are also building up our treasures in heaven.

We are saved by grace through faith and this not by our own efforts, it is the gift of God. Regarding this, I would direct you to the household of Cornelius, who while Peter was still speaking, they all received the Spirit, speaking in languages and prophesying and that without keeping the law or performing any works, but were saved because of their faith in what they were hearing. I would also direct you to the thief on the cross of whom Jesus said "today, you will be with me in paradise." That man could not come down to do any works, but believed and was saved.

James tried to say that Abraham was credited with righteousness by performing the act of sacrificing His Son, which is false. Abraham was credited with righteousness way before Isaac was ever born, when He believed in God who said "count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be." Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham believed God! He had faith and that without performing any works. And this took place before Isaac was ever born.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,776
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#45
19Thou believest that there is one God ; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
What precisely is this verse saying?

1. Satan and his evil angels know that there is only one Lord God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, who cast them out of the third heaven.

2. Therefore they also know that all other *gods* are false gods. Indeed they are demons themselves, and behind every pagan idol stands a demon.

3. They also know that when they rebelled against God they were condemned to the Lake of Fire (eternal Hell) for eternity. Therefore they know that their time is short. As we note in Rev 12:12, the Devil knows that his time is short, and therefore it follows that all the evil angels also know this.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

5. They may even know how near their time of judgment is, therefore they have redoubled their evil machinations on earth. Chaos and anarchy are hallmarks of demonic activity.

6. Knowing that their final doom is sealed, and that there is no redemption for them, they are fearful and tremble as they anticipate Hell. Which means that they have a better understanding of the agonies (or torments) of Hell than do humans. Thus when Christ cast out demons, they implored Him to not sent them to Hell before their time (Mt 8:28,31).

And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?... So the devils [demons] besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

So what James was saying had absolutely nothing to do with faith in Christ by demons. What James was telling us is that it is simply not enough to have an intellectual knowledge of (or give intellectual assent to) the existence of God. Genuine faith means repentance and an intimate personal relationship with God and Christ, and this leads to a righteous life which includes good works (called *pure religion* by James). If there is no spiritual fruit, then there is no reality of Christ.
 

VCO

Senior Member
Oct 14, 2013
11,995
4,615
113
#46
A perfect point. But it leaves me wondering if it is possible to believe Christ can save, but not use Christ for the forgiveness of our sin, but to keep our sin without asking Him to forgive? Scripture tells us that belief is enough, but you could believe God could forgive without asking Him to free us of our sin.
The Difference between Counterfeit Faith and Saving Faith is only about 18 inches.

Counterfeit Faith is ONLY Head Knowledge, and that is the kind of Faith the Demons have.

GENUINE SAVING FAITH, involves your whole being, ESPECIALLY your Soul and your Spirit, and will Genuinely AGAPE LOVE HIM and the Brethren.

HE Put HIS AGAPE LOVE into our HEARTS (Human Spirit), without that AGAPE LOVE BEING THERE, I am sure that one can never muster up anything but the Demon's Kind of FAITH that NEVER SAVES.

When HE POURS HIS LOVE INTO OUR HEARTS, it Changes our HUMAN SPIRIT PERMANANTLY from a once Dead Spirit to an Eternally ALIVE Spirit. The Dead Spirit ONLY CAN FOCUS on what SELF WANTS. The Eternally ALIVE Human Spirit ONLY focuses on WHAT GOD's WILL IS.

The Human Mind is at war, with the Mind of our HUMAN SPIRIT, especially in the beginning, but as your HUMAN SPIRIT feeds on the word of GOD, it will GET STRONGER, and STRONGER, to where it WILL DOMINATE those battles between the Human Spiritual Mind and the Mind that lies between YOUR EARS.

Romans 5:1-10 (NASB)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
5 and hope does not disappoint, because the {agape} love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

You see, THAT Type of LOVE that GOD SOWED into our HEARTS, will produce the exact same kind of LOVE back to HIM and OTHERS, especially the Brethren. No, we no longer have to obey him to be saved, WE WERE SAVED BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF TIME, however, the CHANGE in our Human Spirit, creates an ongoing desire to want to OBEY HIM, out of PURE AGAPE LOVE.

2 Timothy 1:9 (HCSB)
9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

I am convinced that People who have No Agape Love in them are YET to be Born Again, and Jesus says no one can Enter Heaven without out it. They have not willingly out of Agape Love, surrendered TO CHRIST AS LORD, and remain lord of their own lives.
 

crossnote

Senior Member
Nov 24, 2012
30,742
3,670
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#47
We hear that anyone who believes in Christ is saved, yet the demons believe in Christ and they are not saved. Do we have to do more to be saved? What more is required?
Christ did not become an angel dying for their sin thus they have no promise of forgiveness nor have any gospel offered to them.
 
Jun 25, 2020
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#48
We hear that anyone who believes in Christ is saved, yet the demons believe in Christ and they are not saved. Do we have to do more to be saved? What more is required?
James 2:19-20 says "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead"

We are not saved by our works, but saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
But if you do not have works, then your faith is meaningless. A Christian shows by his works that he/she is truly saved.

I am not sure if the above answers your question
 

Jackson123

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2014
11,769
1,371
113
#49
James 2:19-20 says "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead"

We are not saved by our works, but saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
But if you do not have works, then your faith is meaningless. A Christian shows by his works that he/she is truly saved.

I am not sure if the above answers your question
Dog is an animal

It doesn't mean every animal is dog.

Faith bear fruit of love that produce good work Example feed the hungry

It doesn't mean feed the hungry always product from faith in Jesus.
 
Aug 14, 2019
1,374
307
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#50
We hear that anyone who believes in Christ is saved, yet the demons believe in Christ and they are not saved. Do we have to do more to be saved? What more is required?
They know in a way we don't know. We learn as we go. Demon's are created with the knowledge required of them to fulfill the purpose God created them for. What's missing is love for God and that purpose. It's possible for a rational being to receive the revelation of God in the fullest yet still reject Him. What more can God do?
 
B

Blackpowderduelist

Guest
#51
Sure, you can earn your salvation if you just be good enough, work hard enough, and then you can go to Jesus and point out all the good stuff you did, and hear him say, go away I never knew you.
Works based salvation is the fruit of pride. The very sin of Satan himself, "I can be God"
 

Radius

Senior Member
Feb 11, 2013
1,171
181
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#52
That verse would tell us there is something more to accepting Christ in our life that only believing!!
They made their choice in Heaven ages ago to go against God. They were thrown out of Heaven and marked for destruction. God simply does not extend grace to them. Much like there is no second chance for humans to believe after death, so there is no second chance to come back to God for demons and the Devil.
 

mailmandan

Senior Member
Apr 7, 2014
25,475
13,419
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58
#53
We hear that anyone who believes in Christ is saved, yet the demons believe in Christ and they are not saved. Do we have to do more to be saved? What more is required?
Demons believe "mental assent" that "there is one God" (James 2:19) and they also believe that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ "happened," BUT they do not trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for salvation. HUGE DIFFERENCE. To "believe" the gospel (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#54
To answer your question, it is faith in the shed blood of Christ which covers our sins.

The fact is that, good works is a result of our faith and the indwelling of the Spirit. In other words, good works is the result of faith, not the cause of faith. We are not saved by those works, but glorify God through them and we are also building up our treasures in heaven.

We are saved by grace through faith and this not by our own efforts, it is the gift of God. Regarding this, I would direct you to the household of Cornelius, who while Peter was still speaking, they all received the Spirit, speaking in languages and prophesying and that without keeping the law or performing any works, but were saved because of their faith in what they were hearing. I would also direct you to the thief on the cross of whom Jesus said "today, you will be with me in paradise." That man could not come down to do any works, but believed and was saved.

James tried to say that Abraham was credited with righteousness by performing the act of sacrificing His Son, which is false. Abraham was credited with righteousness way before Isaac was ever born, when He believed in God who said "count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be." Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham believed God! He had faith and that without performing any works. And this took place before Isaac was ever born.
You explain it well.

It is a minor point, but I think James spoke from the Lord's truth. That would say that it wasn't the obedience of Abraham that God saw, but that Abraham's obedience was a result of his faith. God spoke of the faith, otherwise one scripture would not agree with another scripture. I think to correctly understand scripture we must look at all scripture. It agrees.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#55
Demons believe "mental assent" that "there is one God" (James 2:19) and they also believe that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ "happened," BUT they do not trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for salvation. HUGE DIFFERENCE. To "believe" the gospel (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation.
Do you have scripture that tells you demons do not understand salvation through Christ?
 

mailmandan

Senior Member
Apr 7, 2014
25,475
13,419
113
58
#56
Do you have scripture that tells you demons do not understand salvation through Christ?
They understand what the gospel means for us, but salvation is not offered to demons through the gospel. They do not trust in the gospel for salvation. Their trust and reliance is in Satan, as demonstrated by their rebellion in heaven and continuous evil works.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#57
Sure, you can earn your salvation if you just be good enough, work hard enough, and then you can go to Jesus and point out all the good stuff you did, and hear him say, go away I never knew you.
Works based salvation is the fruit of pride. The very sin of Satan himself, "I can be God"
To teach that a human can earn salvation through works is a teaching that is not of God. But a teaching that we must not work for the lord after we are saved is also not of God and wrong.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,175
29,476
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#58
Demons believe "mental assent" that "there is one God" (James 2:19) and they also believe that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ "happened," BUT they do not trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for salvation. HUGE DIFFERENCE. To "believe" the gospel (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation.
Do you have scripture that tells you demons do not understand salvation through Christ?
There is no indication in Scripture that salvation was ever offered to the angels and/or demons...
 

VCO

Senior Member
Oct 14, 2013
11,995
4,615
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#59
WHEN DEATH WAS ARRESTED, that song has a special meaning to my human spirit. BECAUSE my human spirit was residing in DEATH, and the Night after my third attempt at suicide in 1977, the HOLY SPIRIT brought my human spirit to ETERNAL LIFE!

 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,175
29,476
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#60
If the Lord wants us to repent as well as believe, it doesn't seem to me it is asking too much of us.
Repentance and belief are two sides of the same coin.

For we are born enemies of God and hostile/rebellious to/ward Him.



2 Peter 3:9 :)