“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16-17
DEFINTION: BELIEVE
1. To have religious faith: to have a belief in God or in a religion’s gods
2. To accept something as true: to accept that something is true or real
3. To be of the opinion that something is right or beneficial and, usually, to act in accordance with that belief
John 3:16 is arguable the most quoted scripture in the Bible. Yet, it’s also most arguably the scripture most church’s leave open to each individuals interpretation. It was never God’s intent for us to have our own individual interpretations of His word. He states this clearly in 2 Peter 1:20-21 when he says through Peter, “Above all,you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” If God would not allow the prophets who wrote the Bible to have their own private interpretation of His word, how much more with us. That being said, God has always expected that we accept his interpretation of His word as it is, not as we want to read it. He clearly defines love, respect, forgiveness, hope, perseverance and he gives examples to show us what it looks like when someone properly lives these things out. Because our salvation is dependent on our faith and whether or not we BELIEVE, God’s definition of what it means to believe is all over the Bible. Arguably the most powerful definition of belief resides in Hebrews ch 3-5, where God helps us to understand that to believe it to OBEY HIS WORD.
He confirms this is in many verses, but 5 stand out: John 8:31-32 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”, James 1:22-23 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”, John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”, John 14:23-24 “Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”, and finally Matthew 28:19-20“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Unfortunately all too many churches preach that to believe is simply to nod your head and agree that Jesus is God’s son and that he died for you and yet God clearly teaches us through James 2:14-20 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? … faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ?” God has never wanted “Bobble heads” who nod in agreement when confronted with the Word of God, then go about their lives disregarding and disobeying His Word and calling themselves Christians. This pattern created in churches who teach such false doctrine is the core reason the world hates and despises the hypocrisy of so-called “Christians”, who in God’s perspective and interpretation really do not believe and thus are not saved. Studying the full breadth of the scriptures we learn from the Lord that the truth of the scriptures is that Faith=Belief=Repentance=Obedience and Disobedience=Unbelief=No Repentance=No Faith. Where there is no faith and belief there is no salvation. We understand this as parents when we give our children’s commands we expect them to obey it and if they don’t we know they don’t believe us when we says there will be consequences. When they disobey we know there’s a problem with their love for us and our relationship is not right. But somehow when it comes to God and the Bible we think it’s OK to disobey our father and expect he considers our relationship with him to be just fine and to acknowledge that disobedience as faith.
As we study the book of Hebrews together, ask yourself a question. If we don’t know what Jesus commands or His elementary teachings (Hebrews 6:1-3), how can we ever possibly obey them. And if we don’t obey them how could we say before God that we love Him or that we believe in Jesus in the way that the Bible defines what it means and looks like to believe? I pray each of you will study the scriptures and make the decision to BELIEVE which means you will be obeying God’s Word, and thus will be saved and be with Him for all of eternity!
Recent Comments