Suggested Pre-Reading: Faith Toward God 1

In the same way that faith in a god is not enough, so too faith in a Jesus is not enough. Of course, by “a Jesus” we mean not the real One, but the multitude of fake ones that have existed from the days of Paul until now.

Paul rebuked the Corinthian church for believing in “another Jesus”, rather than believing in the Jesus of Paul’s preaching. From this we learn that saying “I believe in Jesus” does not qualify as a genuine, Biblical faith in Christ. Just as faith in God must be based on the particulars of Scripture, so too must faith in Jesus be based on the particulars of Scripture. Virtually every New Testament book warns of false teachings – if God does not desire accurate faith in Jesus, then what are all the warnings about? Jesus Himself warns us, saying:

Why would Jesus reject people who in His name prophesied and cast out demons and performed miracles? He tells us – they were lawless. But how were they lawless? Their lawlessness is seen in their response to Jesus – they offered up their works as proof of their righteousness before God. To stand before God on the Day of Judgment, and to offer up your works as proof of your worthiness, is a tell-tale sign that you believe in another Jesus, because the gospel of the real Jesus states that man can never by works justify himself before God. We are righteous because of Christ, not because of our works. Paul reminded the Corinthian church of this great truth:

And Jesus, when asked what the great work of God is, did not say “justify yourself through prophecy and miracles”. Rather, He said

Faith in the real Jesus is not limited to this one doctrine of Christ making us righteous by His blood. But it is a key doctrine and essential to the gospel. If one does not believe it, then one most certainly does not believe in the real Jesus. And if one does not believe in the real Jesus, then their faith is in a Jesus, which will not be enough on the Day of Judgment.