onewithhim wrote:
Elijah John wrote:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten so, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3.16
Compare:
And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15.6
Believing in Jesus, is said is enough, for salvation. Genesis has it that to believe in Jehovah is sufficient.
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For debate, isn't simply believing in Jehovah enough to attain salvation? This in spite of John 3.16 and 14.6?
If not, how do you reconcile the verses from John to the verse from Genesis?
And if you take Genesis 15.6 at face value, isn't that proof that Jews also are saved by simply
believing in YHVH?
It's all about belief, right? If so why should belief in the Son be more salvific than simply believing in the Father?
Since the Messiah hadn't come yet, and was still a mystery to men, faith in Jehovah and "walking" with Him was sufficient for salvation. I would think, too, that the faithful men of ancient times had some inkling of a Messiah to come, after learning what Jehovah said to Satan after Adam rebelled (Genesis 3:15). Trusting that that would happen, and respecting all of Jehovah's plans and purposes, a person could be counted righteous because that person was totally devoted to Jehovah. Those that didn't know Jehovah in ancient times will be given the opportunity to learn about Him and Jesus Christ during the Millennium. ("There will be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous." [Acts 24:15])
Now, if the ancient men of old looked forward to Jehovah's plans unfolding, why would anyone reject Jesus when he came? He was Jehovah's means of salvation. Those people that were alive when Jesus was born on Earth were actually looking forward to his birth; at least those people who were faithful to Jehovah. (See
Luke 2:25-32, 36-38.)
So, to accept Jesus is tantamount to believing in Jehovah and accepting His plans. He planned from Genesis 3:15 to save mankind through a Savior.
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Jehovah stated that He was the only savior. In the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 43.11) He indicates that He can do the job alone. Simple repentance and faith was enough for Abraham, why not us, or everyone ever since?
It is Biblical.
Perhaps believing in the conduit, (Jesus) is good for salvation, but YHVH clearly offers a more direct route as well. Not only a more direct route as well, a direct route as an established prescedent. Namely, simply believing in Jehovah.
And consider some of the Spiritual advantages of pure Monotheism and simple repentance over Jesus- brokered intervention:
-No risk of anything that even smacks of the idolatry of Jesus-worship.
-More focused devotion to Jehovah, and Him alone, adhering to the Shema that
He revealed in the Fist Commandment.
-No need to work Jesus into every passage of the "Old" Testament where he doesn't exist.
-No convoluted theology of the Trinitarian construct of "3 is 1, and 1 is 3".
-No barbaric blood theology, but rather worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth.
-Taking Jehovah at His Word in Genesis 15.6:
And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
And not just Abraham, for:
whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered
Joel 2.32