Question: How do I respond to someone who says they believe in Jesus but not the gospel?
Profile: Male, North America, Christian, Under 19
Answered by: Richard Martin, who has been a volunteer with us since October, 2016.
Answer: Please see: https://www.gotquestions.org/quintilemma.html
Hello, and thanks for submitting a great question! You may want to ask that person to explain what they mean when they say they believe in Jesus. Not everybody is coming from the same starting place, which means that their definition of believing in Jesus does not match the Bible’s definition. Therefore, to truly believe in Jesus is to believe what the Bible says about Him. And what the Bible says about Him is known as the gospel.
If you put it together, this means that Jesus and the gospel are inseparable. If true belief in Christ is to believe what the Bible says about Jesus, and what the Bible says about Jesus is the gospel, then you cannot believe in one without the other. The opposite of this is true too, if you don’t believe in one, you can’t believe in the other. Let’s dig a little deeper.
The gospel is laid out simply for us in 1 Corinthians 15. In verses 1–4, the Apostle Paul says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
From this passage, Paul tells us that the gospel is “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” As a result of believing this gospel, verse 2 says that “you are saved.” Therefore, you cannot believe in Jesus and reject the gospel, because the gospel testifies to who Jesus is and what He did.
The gospel testifies to who Jesus is by revealing His true nature. In 1 Corinthians 15:3, we see that Jesus died for our sins, and was buried. The fact that He died demonstrates His humanity. Verse 3 continues on by saying that after Jesus died and was buried, He rose from the dead. The fact that He rose again demonstrates His deity. When you put it together, you learn that the true nature of Jesus is that He is 100% man and 100% deity.
The gospel further testifies to the true nature of Jesus by revealing what He alone could do. Again, verse 3 says that Jesus died for our sins. What this means is that He alone was able to pay the penalty for all sin. In John 1:29, John the Baptist recognized this about Jesus by saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” In Leviticus 17:11, God gives us the remedy for sin, which is to say that God tells us how sins can be forgiven. It says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Until Jesus died on the cross, shedding His own blood for sin, the problem of sin was never fully solved. Prior to this, animals were sacrificed, but as Hebrews 10:4 says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” But once Jesus laid down His own life, no other sacrifice was necessary. Hebrews 10:12–14 says, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Only the blood of Jesus was qualified to fulfill the requirements of Leviticus 17:11 because only Jesus was sinless.
When you consider what the gospel tells you about Jesus, you can’t reject it and still claim to have belief in the Savior. If you do, then that claim is not based on reality, and it is not based on the Word of God. The Jesus you believe in is not the Biblical Jesus. On the other hand, if you believe what the gospel says about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, then you can believe in the real Jesus. Belief in this Jesus leads to eternal life.
Romans 10:9–10 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The ultimate question is “Do you believe Jesus Christ is who the Bible says He is, and are you trusting Him as your Savior?” If so, you can have eternal life. If not, don’t let today go by without knowing the real Jesus, and how your sins can be forgiven.
For additional insights, please reference the following articles:
In Christ,
Richard
