John 7:38-39 He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Jesus talks about believing and receiving the Holy Ghost. Here He adds that we must do it according to the scriptures. He makes it clear that the “rivers of living water” of which He speaks refer to the Spirit, which is the Holy Ghost.
Romans 10:8-17 But what does it say? “The Word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart”; that is, the Word of Faith which we proclaim; Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame.” For there is no difference both of Jew and of Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone, “whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without preaching? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” Then faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Some people say this particular passage of Scripture is the only one that really counts in the whole Bible and that none of the other passages really mean anything. Let’s see what we can gather from a verse by verse examination.
Verse 8: Paul begins by quoting the Old Testament. He says that the word is in their mouths and hearts, which is the word of faith that the apostles preach.
Verses 9-10: The apostle Paul explains what part the heart and mouth play in salvation. A person believes with his heart and confesses with his mouth into (sometimes translated as “until”) salvation. He says that a person shall be saved when this is fulfilled, but he does not say a person is saved only by belief and confession.
Verses 11-13: He goes back to the Old Testament and quotes more scripture.
Verses 14-15: Paul says that a person cannot call on or believe in the Lord until he hears the Gospel preached by a man sent of God.
Verse 16: Paul ties “obeying the gospel” to “believing our report.” If we really believe, we will obey the gospel. When seen it its true light, this passage does not contradict the passages of scripture we read about obeying what the apostles preached. Instead, it actually confirms them.
Verse 17: Finally, he sums it all up by saying, “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Remember, Paul began in verse 8 by saying he was speaking of the word of faith that the apostles preach.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Paul said that the Gospel of Christ is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.” What do we believe? The gospel. If we want to be saved, we must believe the gospel.
Mark 1:15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God draws near. Repent, and believe the gospel.
Again we see the importance of repentance and the necessity of believing. Believing what? The gospel. The above two verses go hand-in-hand with the one we read about believing on Jesus, according to the Scriptures (John 7:38).
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
This shows us that we must have faith to please God.
James 2:17 Even so, if it does not have works, faith is dead, being by itself.
We must have works along with our faith for it to be effective. (Read the rest of James 2 to get a fuller understanding of this truth.)
II Thessalonians 1:7-10 and to give rest with us to you who are troubled, at the revealing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven with the angels of His power, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all those who believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that Day.
Notice in verse 8 how Paul ties in knowing God with obeying the gospel, not just believing it.
In verse 10 we see that what the apostles preached is the same thing that has to be believed in the last days when Jesus comes to be glorified with all those who believe in the apostles’ testimony.
We see from the above verses of Scripture, the believing is indeed a necessary aspect of our salvation. The second aspect is repentance.