When talking about salvation what are the absolutes one has to believe to be saved?
Jesus answered a similar question in John 6:28-29. The people asked Him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” In response He said, “The work of God is this: the believe in the one He has sent.”
So what does it mean to “believe in the one He has sent? First you have to believe you’re a sinner unable to save yourself (Romans 3:23). If you didn’t believe this, you wouldn’t be interested in having Him save you in the first place.
Second, you have to believe that Jesus died for you so your sins could be forgiven (Colossians 2:13-14).
Third, you have to believe that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). The reason for believing this is the Lord’s resurrection proves that all your sins have been forgiven.
The final step is to ask the Lord to save you, because this is how you know you believe the other three things. People who don’t believe Jesus can save them, wouldn’t ask Him if He will save them.
Paul wrote, For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance: that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4).