What Precisely Must One Believe About Jesus?
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alone in Jesus Christ alone. And, one can be ignorant of some of the above truths
and yet believe in justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Thus if we are
not extremely careful, we may not share the fundamental information. We may
share some important information, while leaving out absolutely essential truth.
Faith Is Merely Understanding and Accepting
Elsewhere I have argued
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that Gordon Clark was correct. In his book Faith
and Saving Faith, Clark made a strong case for the fact that faith is merely notitia
(understanding) and assensus (acceptance). Once one understands and accepts
some proposition, he believes it. Clark showed that the famous third element,
fiducia (faith or truth), is a synonym for faith and hence is a tautology.
So in this paper I will proceed with the assumption that commitment, turning
from sins, good works, perseverance, baptism, and the like are not saving faith and
are not conditions of eternal life. The sole condition of eternal life is to believe in
Jesus Christ.
This brings us to the question before us. What precisely must one believe
about Jesus Christ in order to have eternal life?
One Must Believe That Jesus Guarantees Eternal Life
To All Who Simply Believe in Him
A current trend in evangelical scholarship suggests that while there is only
one way to be justified--by coming to Jesus, there are many ways to come to Him,