The Necessity of Believing in Jesus Christ

As a pastor, I am sometimes asked about the Jewish people today who believe the Old Testament, but not the New Testament. Are they saved? The Bible is clear on this. When Jesus Christ came, God revealed Himself as a triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are hints of this in the Old Testament. But it was not revealed until Christ came. Now that God has revealed Himself as a triune God, He holds man accountable to believe in His triunity. In fact, the New Testament speaks many times of the necessity of believing in Jesus as the Christ and the unique Son of God. This morning I came across one such verse. 2 John 9 says, "Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son" (ESV). In other words, now that Christ has come, if a person does not believe and follow the teaching of Jesus, they neither truly know God nor are in relationship with God nor can receive His greatest blessings. This reminds me of 1 John 5:11-12, which says, "And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life" (ESV). Now that Christ has come, eternal life is found only in relationship with Jesus. The reason for this is that it is Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins. There is no salvation apart from Jesus and the blood He shed for those who will believe in Him. The good news is that He graciously invites all to believe in Him for salvation!