In this daily Bible reading is the account of Jesus going to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, opposite from his town of Capernaum. When he arrived, two demon-possessed men met Jesus. When they saw Jesus they cried out saying, “What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
By this incident, we see that the demons know who Jesus is. They acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God. I guess one could say that they believe in Jesus. However, this spoken belief does not save them from an eternity in Hell, which the Bible says is their destination.
Many churches teach that if one believes in Jesus then that person will be saved and allowed into Heaven. However, I don’t think that these churches adequately teach what ‘saving belief’ means. As a result, there is confusion in Christianity.
Many say they believe in Jesus. However, their belief is like the demons’ belief. It is a mere intellectual assent. Saving belief is more than that. First of all, saving belief means turning from or repenting of sin. Then, saving belief means trusting Jesus and doing what He tells us to do.
The Bible says that Jesus is the living Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God. We must therefore read the Bible to know how to live and to believe in Jesus Christ. The Bible is the key to knowing how to believe in Jesus. I believe the Bible is essential to our Salvation journey.
