Do we need to believe Jesus rose from the dead to be saved?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Salvation is based on who Jesus is and what He has done. If any core doctrines affecting those points are denied, one denies the truth of salvation and thus cannot be saved. Paul lists Jesus’ resurrection as part of the core doctrines of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). He argued that if He did not resurrect, we would still be in our sinful state, not saved, and have a futile faith (1 Corinthians 15:17). It is critical because salvation is based on Jesus’ death, which paid God’s wrath in full. As death is the result of sin (Romans 6:23), if Jesus had remained dead, then the implication would be that His death was not enough to satisfy God’s wrath. If Jesus did not resurrect, then He is not a Savior, and we are not saved. Additionally, Paul specifically says that we are justified (saved) because of His resurrection (Romans 4:25). This means that His resurrection is as critical as every other aspect of salvation.  Note that it’s possible for a new, immature believer not to grasp the significance of the resurrection and not to think it crucial. However, if they are genuinely saved, their mistaken belief will quickly give way because the Holy Spirit is inside of them, testifying to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection (Romans 8:9–11).

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The Old Testament repeatedly points forward to a coming Savior who would not remain in death. David declared, “you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Psalm 16:10), a passage later applied directly to Jesus’ resurrection.
• Isaiah prophesied that the suffering servant would die for sin and yet somehow continue living afterward: “he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days” (Isaiah 53:10–11).
• Jonah’s three days in the fish became a prophetic picture of Christ’s death and resurrection (Jonah 1:17; cf. Matthew 12:40). Jesus Himself used Jonah as a sign pointing to His resurrection.
• Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac also foreshadowed resurrection hope. Hebrews later explains that Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead (Genesis 22; cf. Hebrews 11:17–19).
• The Old Testament teaches that death is the consequence of sin (Genesis 2:17). Therefore, for salvation to truly conquer sin, death itself had to be defeated, which required resurrection.
• Daniel prophesied a future resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12:2), showing that resurrection was always part of God’s redemptive plan and hope for His people.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• In 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, Paul gives what is considered the first early creed of the church. It reads, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” He then continued, noting that hundreds of people had seen him alive, many of whom were still around in Paul’s day as witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:5–8).
• In context, Paul was addressing an error in the community that denied the resurrection of anyone (1 Corinthians 15:12). His argument was, “if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” While that’s a different question than the one in this article, Paul developed his argument for the reality of a future resurrection based on Jesus having already been resurrected.
• He said, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:16–17). His argument grounds the resurrection of believers on the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus has not resurrected, then He has not conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:54–57). If He has not conquered death, “Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (1 Corinthians 15:18). If those who have died are eternally gone, then we have only hoped in Christ in this life and “we are of all people most to be pitied” because our faith is pointless (1 Corinthians 15:19).
• There are two reasons Jesus needed to be resurrected. First is the basic fact that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Death happens because of sin. The Father placed the sin of others on Jesus, who was perfect, and then killed Him to punish Him in place of the sinners (Romans 3:25; cf. Isaiah 53:10). If Jesus didn’t come back to life, then His death did not fully satisfy God’s wrath. That means that believers are still condemned by their sin and are still facing God’s eternal wrath.
• The second reason is that Jesus’ resurrection was how God applied justification (salvation). Speaking about how Abraham was saved through faith, Paul said, “But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for [Abraham’s] sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in [the Father] who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:23–25). “Raised for our justification” means that His resurrection was critical for salvation. It is not an after-the-fact truth of salvation, but a major component in it.
• While belief in Jesus’ resurrection is critical to salvation, a perfect understanding of doctrine is not. God saves through childlike faith, which may include honest ignorance and a lack of appreciation for the importance of Jesus’ resurrection. However, if they are truly saved, as they mature, they will necessarily believe Jesus rose from the dead. This is because the Spirit who lives within them is the one who raised Him from the dead (see Romans 8:9–11).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

In this age of scientific inquiry, we believe that doubting Jesus’ resurrection is the fruit of modern realism and the pursuit of truth in contrast to the foolish, uninformed masses of the past. However, believing that we know more than those living then is arrogance, and believing they gullibly believed everything displays our historical ignorance. The denial and doubt about the resurrection is nothing new.

In fact, a few years after Jesus resurrected, when Paul mentioned it in passing, the Athenians sneered at his stupidity (Acts 17:32). Indeed, even when writing to believers, Paul reiterated that many saw Him alive afterward (1 Corinthians 15:3–8) and showed them how denial of that fact undermined the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:12–19). So, Christianity has not historically held to Jesus’ resurrection out of a foolish belief in the impossible, but in faith despite the resurrection being humanly impossible. We believe it because it’s consistent with Jesus’ divine nature (Romans 1:4). We believe it because it proves Jesus’ death satisfied sin’s penalty (Romans 4:25). We believe it because even Jesus’ enemies couldn’t deny the impossible had happened (Matthew 28:11–15). We believe it because the men and women who knew the truth were willing to die horrible deaths instead of just admitting it as a fraud (Acts 5:40–42).

Jesus’ resurrection has always been hard to believe, but that doesn’t make it untrue. The author of Hebrews says that faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is not blind stupidity. It’s the conviction of the unseen (Hebrews 11:1). Can someone firmly reject Jesus’ resurrection and still be saved? No, because they demonstrate that they don’t have faith. It’s not enough to believe some things about Jesus. While a new believer likely won’t have perfect doctrine to start, we must come to believe everything about Him; otherwise, the Jesus we believe in isn’t the Jesus of the Bible—He is the only way to be saved (John 14:6)!

UNDERSTAND

• Belief in Jesus' resurrection is essential to salvation because it is a core gospel doctrine.
• Without the resurrection, Jesus has not conquered death, His death has not fully satisfied God's wrath, and faith is futile.
• A perfect grasp of the resurrection isn’t required for salvation, but true saving requires belief in the resurrection?

REFLECT

• How does the reality that Jesus’ resurrection is essential to salvation shape the seriousness with which you hold and share the gospel?
• In what ways does your belief in the resurrection affect your confidence in forgiveness, justification, and eternal life?
• How do you respond internally when doubts about the resurrection or its importance surface in your thinking or conversations?

ENGAGE

• Why does Paul treat the resurrection as so central that without it Christianity completely falls apart?
• How can someone distinguish between a lack of understanding about the resurrection and a genuine rejection of it?
• What challenges does the resurrection present to modern assumptions about what is possible, and how can we respond to that tension?