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And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight. Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will become straight, And the rough roads smooth; And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’  Luke 3:3-6 NASB

In the book of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  In the book of Acts, Paul and Silas tell the Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” And in the book of Romans, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Reading on these passages, you might conclude that believing in Jesus is all that’s involved in becoming or being a Christian. This is absolutely true, but we must consider context to understand what the Bible means by belief. When Jesus called Nicodemus to believe in Him, He was calling him to be born again—to begin an entirely new life devoted to following Him.

Likewise, when the Philippian jailer believed in Christ, he knew he was joining a community of Christians who were being beaten, flogged, and imprisoned for their faith. The cost of following Christ was clear. In the same way, Paul told the Roman Christians that to believe in the saving resurrection of Jesus from the dead was to confess Jesus’ sovereign Lordship over their lives. 

The Bible is the authoritative word of God and it teaches through the books and verses, belief in Jesus for salvation involves far more than mere intellectual assent….. even the demons believe ( verse James 2:19….. ) that Jesus is the crucified and resurrected Son of God. Such “belief” clearly doesn’t save anyone. We all can publicly profess beliefs we don’t hold, but only those who are obedient to the words of Christ will enter His Kingdom.