Believe in the Lord Jesus and You Will Be Saved
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We are told by him and his apostles that we need to believe in Jesus to be saved, but what does this really mean?
Here are two definitions of "believe":
1. Accept that something is true. "Be convinced by"
2. Hold something as an opinion;" I think it likely that..."
These two definitions assume there are reasons to believe something. To think something is likely, rather than unlikely, means we have weighed the evidence for each side and found one side to be more likely; therefore we believe it. It's the same with being convinced by something. This suggests there is something that has convinced us, this could be evidence, or persuasive rhetoric that appeals to our emotions, either way there are reasons for our belief.
When we look at the evidence presented in the New Testament, we can say with confidence that there is sufficient historical evidence that Jesus existed and that the apostles' accounts of his life are an accurate reflection of who he was and what he said. You might have a knee-jerk reaction that says the biblical writers can't be trusted, but that belief is usually based on feeling rather than evidence.
The apostles, including Peter and Paul, suffered greatly to pass on the message about Jesus' resurrection. If they were making up the story, one of the many witnesses would have recanted rather than facing torture or death. But none of them did. They all believed that they had seen the risen Christ and that this was the foundation of their faith in him and his promise of eternal life for all who believe. See chapter 15 in Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 15), to read about the many things that Paul endured and how foundational Jesus' resurrection was to his faith.
"But if there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain."1 Corinthians 15:13-14
But believing things about Jesus is not the same as believing in him, or his ability to save us. This takes another kind of belief, which can be called faith. This isn't believe without any evidence, but it is belief due to a different kind of evidence. We have faith in him because he showed us his trustworthy character. He has been faithful in word and deed.
Jesus said he was sent by God and demonstrated this by the wisdom of his teaching, his miracles of healing and provision and many exorcisms. God raised him from the dead, just as Jesus had himself predicted, thereby vindicating him and proving that he was who he said he was. In other words we can trust what he said and have many reasons to have faith in him.
To use an everyday example of having faith in someone, let's look at the faith we place in a friend when we loan them money. If that friend has demonstrated their integrity to us over time, we are more likely to have faith that they will pay us back. If our friend has let us down or been dishonest, we may not have as much faith that they will repay the money, we may just hope they will. It is our friend's character, demonstrated through past behaviour, which increases or decreases our faith in them.
It is the same with Jesus. His character and actions lead us to have faith in. He asked us to believe in him. If we do, he said we will follow in his footsteps into eternal life being saved from death and from the judgement we deserve for our wrongdoing while on earth.
"Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." John 11:25-26
"Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live you also will live." John 14:19
"For by grace you have been saved, through faith." Ephesians 2:8
One of the stories that demonstrates the kind of faith that God is looking for is found in the book of Numbers. Jesus himself refers to this story when he is speaking to Nicodemus about being "born again" in chapter 3 of John's gospel.
"Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3
Jesus is trying to explain to Nicodemus, a teacher himself, that everyone needs to be born of the spirit in order to enter God's kingdom of eternal life. This spiritual transformation begins when we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit by having faith in Jesus as our healer and saviour. To explain the idea of having the kind of faith that leads us to open up to the healing and saving power of God, Jesus refers to the story in the Book of Numbers.
God sent "fiery serpents" to bite the Israelites as a punishment for their constant rebellion against him after he set them free from slavery in Egypt. After some of the Israelites died from these snake bites, the remaining people repented and so God gave Moses a way to heal them. Was it a recipe for a salvific lotion or medicine? Did he ask Moses to lift up his staff as he did at the Red Sea and command the people to be healed? No, he asked Moses to make a bronze serpent and to hold it up on a pole, so that everyone who looked on it would be healed. This would have taken great faith on the part of the Israelites, who must have been thinking, "How is looking at this bronze serpent going to stop me from dying from these snake bites?"
But the cure didn't come from the serpent. It came from them having enough faith to follow God's command to look. God is saying that we will be healed when we have faith in him and what he tells us, even when we don't understand fully why he asks us do something, or how it will come to pass. This is the message that Jesus was trying to get across to Nicodemus.
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life in him." John 3:14
If you haven't read the story Jesus is referring to please go to Numbers 21:4-9. It's easy to pass by these Old Testament references when reading the New Testament, but they are always illuminating.
It was the act of faith that saved the Israelites from death and it will be our faith in Jesus that will save us from death too. We only need to look at Jesus "lifted up"and have faith in him to heal us and save us from death, even when we don't understand how that will work. That's what faith is; a belief that something will or did happen, even when we don't know how.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen...By faith we understand that the universe was made by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made by that which is visible." Hebrews 1:11
Faith and the importance of having faith, is written about often in the Bible. Many people demonstrate their faith in God, but this verse in the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament is the only time where faith is defined. Faith is not about believing something without evidence; faith gives us assurance in what we hope for and conviction about things we have not seen.
Assurance, in these verses, means confidence. Conviction means certainty. Those of us who believe and have faith in Jesus are confident in him even though we haven't seen him. This is what he expects from his followers.
"Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and put it in my side. Do not disbelieve but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed." John 20:26-29
It's not blind faith. It's not belief without evidence. He is asking us to trust in him because of who he is and what he has already done for us. He is our mediator; he is our king; he is our judge; he is our redeemer, he is our healer and our saviour. If we would look to him, in the same way as the rebellious Israelites looked to the serpent on the pole, with full conviction that we will be healed and saved from death, he will be faithful to fulfil his promise.
A.W. Tozer explains it well in chapter 7 of his book "The Pursuit of God."
""Looking" on the Old Testament serpent is identical with "believing" on the New Testament Christ. That is, the looking and the believing are the same thing. And he (the reader) would understand that while Israel looked with their external eyes, believing is done with the heart. I think he (the reader) would conclude that faith is the gaze of the soul upon a saving God...From all this we learn that faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze at the heart of the Triune God."
If you are feeling God pursuing you, or you are pursuing a relationship with God, then reading "The Pursuit of God" is well worth your time. It is very short but packed full of wisdom and insight. The good news about Jesus is simple, but we have had 2000 years to make it complicated. A.W. Tozer cuts through all the complex theology and takes us back to the heart of the matter.
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." Hebrews 11:6
There is a reticence from many to draw near to God because they fear condemnation. "I don't need to be saved.!" really means "I don't want to be judged!" But Jesus didn't come to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17).
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1
He is the judge, not the condemner. You can draw close to God in faith and he will reward you with forgiveness and a love you have never experienced before.
"For I am sure hat neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
This is what the enemies of God are trying to stop you from understanding and experiencing. They are the ones heaping condemnation on you or laying on you heavy burdens, not God. All he asks of you is to turn and look, to repent and have faith, to change your ways and believe that he is the one who can save you.
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