This is a photo of my husband Van with our little dog, Rudy. I've been busy editing a manuscript for a book so Van offered to be a 'guest blogger'. Men have a different way of communicating. I think the male readers, as well as the women, will enjoy his comments on the subject of 'Believing'.
With this blog I hope to cover the Biblical subject of ‘believing’ since we are admonished over and over in the Bible to ‘believe’. Some key questions’ are: WHAT is it a believer believes? WHAT happens to cause a believer to believe? WHO are the believers? We want to understand this important topic, for without believing there can be neither forgiveness nor salvation. God has forgiven and forgotten our sins as shown in Hebrews 8:12. The promise of salvation and eternal life with Jesus is clearly given in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life.”
Believing
is so important that the Book of John was written “that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in
His name.” John 20:31. I Corinthians 15:1-5 presents the gospel
quite concisely. Jesus died for our
sins, was buried, was resurrected, walked the earth for forty days, and was seen
by over 500 people, then ascended into heaven.
He was crucified to set us free from sin and death. That is what we are to believe. The result is we are saved from our sins and
given salvation and eternal life in heaven.
This is a finished work; it has already happened. Romans 8:30
Can
we choose to believe? NO! We are dead in our transgressions and sins. (Ephesians
2:1) Dead men can do nothing! How can we believe if we are spiritually dead? We can’t! First we need to be ‘made alive’. Some reason that, “We believe and then we are
given faith”. They’ve got the cart
before the horse. Since we are ‘dead’, spiritually
speaking, something must happen prior to our believing. We need to be given the faith to believe.Some make the assumption that our achievements, or works, can help us win favor with God. No, like choosing, works require a spiritually dead man to do ‘something’. The belief of many professing Christians is that good works will earn them a place in heaven. This appears to be reasonable, but it’s not Biblical.
Two age old views exist that suggest ways to achieve salvation: works and grace. Some say it’s a little of both. The Bible is clear that salvation is by grace alone, not works.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Salvation happens when God gives His free gift
of faith. What a gift! Incomparable! This gift is given by grace, not through our
choice, and not through our works. There
is no room for both grace and works as explained by Paul in Romans 11:6, it’s
one or the other.
James
wrote, ‘Faith without works is dead.’ (James 2:17) Implied in this truth is that faith comes
first, then the works. What ‘work’ do
we do? It is a singular ‘work’; it is
the ‘work’ of believing. Some think
that when on balance their ‘good’ deeds outweigh their ‘bad’ deeds, they will
make it to heaven. There are fundamental
problems with ‘works’ counting toward salvation. How much is enough? How do you know for sure you’ve passed the test? Whose criteria for ‘good’ are you using? How is it measured? These are serious questions, the answers to
which are fraught with problems.
When
we are given a new heart we become alive in Christ. We are dead spiritually until then. Ezekiel 36:26-27 tells us what God does. “I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit in you…I will put My Spirit in you…”
This is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Luke 3:16, John the Baptist writes, “I
will baptize you with water. But one
more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
with fire.”
We
aren’t aware of our spiritual life until ‘something happens’. God has a time in His plan when He will
bring you into the kingdom. It is as if He
turns on a ‘faith switch’. At that time,
we are quickened, we are sparked to life, we are born again
- whatever terminology you select, the result is the same, we are now able to
discern Spiritual truth. It is those God
quickens who will believe. Jesus speaks
these words in John 3:7, “...you MUST be born again.” When we’re born again we go from being
spiritually dead to spiritually alive. God
has given you the faith to believe. It's the most important day of your life; knowing absolutely you will spend
eternity with Jesus. No longer will we
just think we will go to heaven, or ‘I hope so, on balance I’ve been pretty
good’. Now we know. Some of us know the exact moment this
happened, others are only vaguely aware that ‘something’ has happened.
I had heard the gospel many times, but I just
didn’t pick up on it. My belief, and
fear, was that Jesus had turned His back on me. I knew I wasn't perfect. Then it was explained to me that Jesus didn’t come to call the
righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:13). I
soon found myself on my knees at the altar of the Little Church in the Pines in
Bass Lake, CA, accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. This was July 25th, 1972. I had been given the faith to believe and life
has never been the same.
First
the faith, then the believing. Without faith
we can neither see, hear, or believe spiritual truths. We get our faith from Jesus.
“Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2
Faith
is defined in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:6 tells us “without faith it is
impossible to please God.” It does NOT say “without believing it is impossible
to please God!” Jesus wants us to walk
by faith, not by sight. The object of our
faith is pleasing God. ‘Believing’ is
doing the work of God.
“The
work of God is this: to believe in
the one he has sent.” John 6:29
Can’t
we just call on him, ‘LORD, LORD’ and be saved? NO! Matthew 7:21, Jesus speaking: “Not everyone who says to me
‘LORD, LORD’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of
my father who is in heaven.” His will
is for us to look to His Son and believe, John 6:40. Those who will be saved are those whose
names are written in the Book of Life. Revelation
21:27, “Nothing impure will ever enter it (heaven), nor will anyone who does
what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the
Lamb’s Book of Life.” This is the divine ledger, God’s list of those destined
for eternal life. God sees the believer as ‘perfect’ in His Son. Jesus has
removed all that isn’t perfect. This is why we praise Him.
Share
the gospel. It’s a simple message - Jesus’
death on the cross and His resurrection provides forgiveness of sins and
salvation so we can have eternal life with Him. We may freely love those who don’t believe,
knowing the Lord is the One who opens eyes and hearts. It’s His business. Luke 24:45, “Then He opened their minds so
they could understand the scripture.”
Why
did He do it this way? Who knows, but
He did, for His own good pleasure. “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and
compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Romans 9:15 and Exodus 33:19) If this all seems beyond our ability to grasp,
be reminded of Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Thank you Father for sending Your Son so we
can believe in Him and what He has done for us. Please give us wisdom to understand the
important concept of believing and that it’s Your desire to give us the faith to
believe.