What it means to "believe".

 

     We know that several scriptures tell us that whoever believes in Jesus will be saved. This is a fact that we can all agree on. However, our understanding of what it means to truly believe in Him will determine what we teach and believe.  If we believe that our belief in Him as the Son of God who died for our sins and rose from the dead is the belief that saves us, we need to understand that this is exactly what James said the devils believe also.

 

“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” James 2:19. KJV

 

     There is clearly a belief that is good and important to have, but is still not enough to save us. This is why the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

 

     Paul instructs the Corinthian believers to examine themselves to see whether they are truly in the faith that saves us. It really isn’t a matter of whether they got save to begin with, since many people know they had an experience with God at initial salvation. It is a matter of whether they may have fallen in their hearts since that time.

 

 Our believing in Jesus is not based on a one-time experience or a continued belief in who He is and what He did for us. It is based on our continued faith in His teachings and our obedience to Him.

 

     Jesus said in Matthew 7:22. & 23, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

 

     We have people here who claim to know Him, and they even call Him Lord. They did miracles in His name, which is equivalent to being involved in ministry in the Church amongst other believers. Claiming to Know Him does not prove it to be true. Knowing Him and Him knowing us is based on a true, life changing relationship. This can often be confused with religion, or what some would call “Churchianity”. Churchianity is simply going to church meetings, having relationships with people, leaning bible doctrines and teachings, and going through all the motions in the church and learning the Christian lingo; all while not being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and walking in the spirit as He changes us and uses us for His glory.

 

Whosever Believes will be saved

 

John 3:16 is probably the most well-known scripture in the bible commonly used to teach that anyone who simply believes in Jesus will be saved.

 

“ 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.”

 

     It sounds really simple. Just believe in Jesus and you will have eternal life. Many other scriptures tell us the same thing. Jesus said this many times, and He included gaining eternal life with believing.

 

     In Acts 16:31, it says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household”. No other conditions or instructions are given for salvation, therefore it seems very simple, to just believe in Him and you are saved – period! We can agree and conclude that this is true. However, we still have not defined what it means to believe in Jesus. The scriptures do not say to believe in His existence; to believe in who He is and what He did alone. This belief is what the demons believe, and even a large number of sinners believe in also. Most of the religious world who all use Jesus name as the foundation of their faith all believe all of these things deeply. This includes those of horrific heretical teachings and the cults. Are they saved because they claim to believe in Jesus?

 

     In Greek, "believe" is the verb pisteuō (πιστεύω), which goes beyond intellectual agreement, to mean trusting, relying on, and clinging to. Derived from the noun pistis ("faith"), it implies placing confidence in, entrusting one's life to, or being fully persuaded by a person or truth, particularly in the New Testament. 

 

     Jesus told His hearers that unless they deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him daily, they cannot be His disciples. He said John 12:25, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

 

     This is believing! It is not simply believing in who He is and what He did! It is putting complete faith in Him for our lives; how we are to live, act, think and speak. We are no longer our own if we belong to Him. And our belief in Him has changed our purpose and loyalties in life. Everything has become about Him and pleasing Him above all else. Our desire if to please Him and obey everything He taught and commanded of us. Unless we do these things, we do not truly believe! This may sound harsh to some people, but it is the truth of the scriptures that many people had a hard time receiving, and many walked away from Jesus after believing in Him.

 

Born Again

 

     What seems harsh or too difficult to many people is more than possible in Christ Jesus. What we cannot do on our own is made possible in true salvation. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3, ““Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

 

     In this scripture Jesus is saying that unless a person is Born Again, they won’t be able to “see” the kingdom of God. This seeing is a present tense spiritual ability to see God’s working in the world. In verse 5 He then says that without being born again a person cannot enter into the kingdom. This is both spiritual and eternally in heaven. There is a spiritual kingdom on earth, and a heavenly kingdom in eternity.

 

     Being Born Again is simply entering into a brand new life, seeing things spiritually, and being changed by this new revelation of truth in Christ Jesus. Many people go to Church and “believe in Jesus”, yet they are not changed. The Holy Spirit has not entered and transformed them into new people. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power that can change their lives (2 Timothy 3:5).

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new”.

 

     This is the “born again” experience for all who come to Christ in faith. When we truly believe, this is the unavoidable and absolutely essential result. When we are born again, we start a new life – in which old things are passed away, and all things become new. When we become new, we become obedience to Chris’s commands. We obtain a new inner desire to please God! This will drive us to obedience and keep us from living in sin habitually. There are no exceptions to this! If there is no transformation, there is no salvation!

 

     This is not to say that there will never be a struggle or battle against sin, or a time of sanctification in which we grow in our faith and overcome things in that process. However, the desire to be holy and to please God is immediate in most cases. We are not born again if our minds have not been renewed with a desire to please God.

 

Faith alone

 

     Many Christians love to cling to the belief in faith alone, in which they exclude all forms of works whatsoever. We know that according to Ephesians 2:8&9 that it is by grace we are saved through faith, and not of works. This is a truth that nobody will deny. However, understanding faith and works is critical to understanding what is being said in this verse.

 

     Many people will claim that salvation is by grace alone, while others will say it is by faith alone. Then others will say that neither of these are to be without works if they are truly connecting us to God. Although salvation is truly made available to us by grace alone, faith is what connects us to grace. We cannot do anything to save ourselves! However, we can choose to receive what God has provided us with by His grace. If we do any “works” in the process of receiving His grace, those works are simply a choice to receive and walking what He has provided, and not something we could ever boast in ourselves over. Our faith and our actions are due to His grace in providing a way for us.

 

     When people claim “faith alone”, they are saying this in order to exclude our works in the salvation process. They don’t want to give people any room for boasting in their choice to receive Jesus. They don’t understand that nobody can boast in their own choice, even though they did make the decision after it was given to them. God doesn’t force anyone to receive Him and follow Him. He wants our choice in the matter, just as we want the choice of the person we choose to marry in life, and don’t want them being with us because their will was forced to be with us. God wants the true love from our hearts, with a choice to love Him and obey Him.

 

     In the book of James, verses 14 & 15, James says, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?”

Then in verse 24, “So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.”

     A lot of people will attempt to make what James is talking about to only have to do with anything other than salvation. Although James uses examples such as telling a brother or sister in need, “Good luck, I’ll be praying for you”, rather than actually doing something to help them when you are able, these are only examples he used to explain how faith is meaningless and powerless without actions.

 

     In verse 15 he asks, “Can this kind of faith SAVE anyone?" He didn't ask if faith without works can help those in need. He very specifically tied faith to salvation. Then he teaches that faith without works cannot save anyone, since it is dead without works. This leaves us with the issue of what many find a bit contradictory with what Paul said about works. So, who is right? Paul or James?

 

     If the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, inspired by God; then if we truly believe this, then all scriptures must work together and can never work against each other! And this proves to be a fact, if we simply take the time to use them together and pray about the answer. If we choose to hold to one or the other, while rejecting, reinterpreting, or ignoring the others, then we do no good service to ourselves or others. We only deceive ourselves and choose to believe a lie.

 

     When we use scripture with scripture, the truth always comes alive and makes sense. So we need to look at these scriptures and see how they can work together – without making any of them into something they are not. So, in order to do that, we need to ask ourselves what exactly works are in these contexts.

 

     When it comes to Paul’s writings against works, those works really aren’t in question here. Most everyone can agree that Paul was dealing with the works of the law. Paul was dealing with Jewish believers and those affected by them as they would insist that the law still needed to be kept. Mainly the laws of Sabbath, circumcision, and dietary laws. They were not dealing with moral law, which Paul did still believe was necessary and good. There will be some differences of opinions on this, since many people don’t believe any form of law needs to be kept for salvation – including moral law. However, Let’s not get into that here, and let’s consider what James was talking about.

 

James’ concern for believers was that they claimed faith in Christ, but because they did not have “works”, that they faith could be dead, and they may not be saved – when they thought that they were. Dead faith could not save them, and a claim of faith could be very deceiving if their faith was indeed dead. According to James, that dead faith would not save them. He stated that faith must have works in order to save us. So, what exactly are these works? Are they works of the law? Are they works of keeping moral law? Are they works of the kingdom – such are reaching out to the lost, building lives in the Church, and so on? Or could they be works of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives, which we also know as “Spiritual Fruit”?

 

     To answer this broad question that is often debated and many are confused by, we need to look at faith and what exactly makes it alive and active in us. What “works” connect with our faith to make it useful for us to help us grow? The answer is really not hard if we just think about it.

 

     Our faith in God is connected to our relationship with Him. Our faith and relationship with God is increased as we walk by faith. In life, we have to make decisions daily to connect with God through prayer, to seek Him and His wisdom in His Word, the Bible. We attend praise and worship services for the purpose of connecting with Him, then listen to the preaching or teaching out of our hunger for Him. We share between our brothers and sisters in Christ with encouraging words, spiritual gifts, and even blessing them with our physical help, financial help at times, and anything else we can do to serve them. We reach out to friends, neighbors, strangers, and anyone we can in love with the gospel, hoping for their salvation.

 

 All of these things are the works of our faith!

 

The Works of Faith

 

     I already said mostly everything that really needs to be said. People confuse the works of the law that Paul spoke against – because Jewish believers put too much faith in those works, instead of fully trusting Jesus’ work on the cross to save them. That was an issue Paul had to deal with in order to get people on the right path of faith. What James is dealing with is much different. When Paul said our works are vain, useless, and powerless to save us, he was dealing with works that people trusted in to save them. When James says “Faith without works is dead”, He is talking about the works of faith that make our faith alive and active, fruitful and useful for the kingdom.

 

     The works of faith are then very critical to our faith, as well as to our salvation. If we say we believe (as many do), yet we don’t ever pray, read our bible, encourage other believers, share our faith, and do anything to exercise our faith; how then can our faith be alive at all? It’s like having a car that has no gas in it. It can’t go anywhere or do anything useful for you. According to Jesus, faith can move mountains, if it is just the size of a mustard seed. But having not faith, you can’t even move the mustard seed.

 

     It is clear by James’ writing that faith can indeed die within us. This is why he says everything that he says, because of the certain possibility. We are told to examine ourselves, check our faith and test it. See if it lines up with biblical faith. Faith can die, leaving a person in a position of thinking they “believe”, while not realizing that their belief is only a mental acknowledgement of what they already know – and not a result of what they are actually living and experiencing.

 

What is Grace?

 

     A lot of people cling to grace for their entire doctrine of salvation, refusing to accept any personal responsibility. They see anything we do as adding to salvation through the work of Christ alone. Many of them have a fear of even thinking they can or must do anything to be saved, so they reject every thought or mention of our part in salvation.

 

     Most people understand grace as our receiving something that we did not deserve or earn.  Grace is God’s goodness and His choice alone to save those who believe. This is true, however, the gospel is preached to the unsaved, leaving them with a decision to accept it or reject it. Many will say that God chooses whom He will save, then draw them and save them all by His choice alone. For a Calvinist, God regenerates the chosen ones ahead of time, so when they hear the gospel they will get saved. Not by their choice, but by His choice alone. Others will not go this far, but simple believe that God orchestrates everything for us, knowing that we will get saved, so it all just happens according to His planning.

 

     There is way too much to get into in order to refute such ideas. I want to stay on topic with what it means to believe and what grace really is. The truth of the scriptures shows us that Grace is given to all men through two main sources. These 2 sources are no doubt given to us by the will and plan of God for the world, therefore making salvation by God and His grace. Yet at the same time, God chose for us to receive His grace through faith; and to live out that faith through obedience unto righteousness. Grace is never removed by including our choice, but is actually confirmed by our experience with God’s presence and power. True salvation is experienced because of His grace being made available to us. Yet faith is what connects us to it.

 

     Romans 10:17 tells us that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God”. When we hear the gospel message preached for the first time, faith is stirred within us. The Holy Spirit then convicts us of our sins and draws us to repentance. This is the work of God through the gospel and the Holy Spirit, the two things that God chose to use to save men. Yet there have been many people who hear the gospel and feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and His drawing, who refuse them and walk away. This happened even to Jesus, as men who wanted to follow Him eventually walked away. That was their own choice to do. God did not force them to follow Him. Even His conviction on them with the good news could not force them. Each person has to make their own choice. Not only to receive Him and accept who He is, but to walk by faith and build up their faith as they follow and obey Him.

 

     2 Corinthians 6:1 says, “We then, as workers together with Him, also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain”.

 

     The only way the grace of God can be received in vain is to fall from it through sin and disobedience, even while thinking you are saved and have it. Galatians 5:4 says, “you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace”.

 

What Grace does

 

     Titus 11:11-12 “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.  And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God”.

 

     Grace will always lead us away from sin and into righteousness. It never saves people in their sins, but only from their sins. Nobody can serve two masters. Grace is given to all men, yet not all men will be saved by it. That’s because they have to walk in it and be obedient to the commandments of Christ.

 

Jude 3-4 “Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.  I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.

 

     From the very beginning of the church false teachers have entered it, teaching that sin cannot affect our salvation. Jude explains that people were teaching this false idea, and that Grace does not forgive people in their sins at all. God’s grace does not allow us to become immoral and to be saved at the same time. We must choose whom we will serve! A person can convince themselves that they are saved no matter what, because grace is greater than sin! This goes against the scriptures, and they have made grace into a license for sinning. They will deny that this is true! Yet any time you teach that sin cannot affect your eternal salvation, this gives a license for sinning – even if you don’t intend it that way. People by nature look for a way to live like they want to and go to heaven also. It is possible they are not saved at all. Others are truly saved, but when things get bad for them and they become weak, they will see sinning as no real big issue, since nothing they do can keep them from salvation. They have a license for sinning that was given to them by a teacher, even if they claim not to believe in such. They deny teaching it, but they cannot avoid it.

 

Grace is a wonderful thing! And faith is an absolute necessity. Faith connects us to grace, but it must be true, alive, and active. Dead faith cannot connect anyone to salvation. Be sure that your faith is alive! The bible gives us all this instruction. Just because it once was doesn’t mean it still is! The bible also gives us this instruction, to examine our faith and test it. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived by the ear tickling teachings of men. They can be very clever and convincing, yet so deceptive and destructive. I do not believe this is their intention at all. Most of them do mean well, and many do care about people. This is what makes what they teach so convincing to people. Test everything, search the scriptures, and comparing scripture with scripture; and never allow yourself or anyone else to use scripture against scripture!

 

Summary

 

     To believe in Jesus is something many people around the world will do. Yet there are different levels of believing, and there are different parts to believing. To believe is to have faith. And to have faith is to trust everything about Jesus. Not just believing in who He is and what He did on the cross! It must go beyond that, to trusting everything He said, about how we are to live, act, speak, and love God and others. If we truly believe in Jesus, we will obey everything He said to do, live out everything He taught, and we will die to ourselves to live for Him.

 

     Faith without works will put out an image of believing and being a true Christian. Yet what is going on inside of a person is what really determines who is a real Christian. Then what comes out of the person shows that faith is true. True faith changes everything about us. It leads us to the Born Again experience, with transformation of life. Old things are passed away, and all things are become new. The works of faith will be known and seen in us, as we walk in newness of life. We change concerning our desires, our habits, and our will. We now want to please God. We now spend time in prayer, reading our bibles, sharing our faith with others, and seeking God in every way as we fellowship with other believers and worship God together with them. These are the works of our faith. The works that faith is dead without.

 

     If we lack the works of faith in our lives, then we need to ask ourselves where we are spiritually in life. This isn’t about working our way into salvation! It is about examining our hearts and putting God first, It is a simple choice to abide in Christ and His will, to continue in His love, and to walking obedience. This world is full of distractions that we have to constantly make the decision to avoid and put God first. If we don’t do this, we will be distracted, and we will fall from where we really need to be in Christ. This is why Paul said to “walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh”. If the spirit is not fed, the flesh will rise up. And if you are not growing, you are dying!

 

     Believing isn’t a one-time act that lasts forever – without any effort on our part! This is exactly what certain teachers would have you believe. Then when talking about this, they will accuse us of saying that we have to work for salvation and maintain it, when they say otherwise. This is very simple. Jesus said “Abide in me”. Those who do not abide (remain) in Him will be cut off, cast forth and burned in the fire. He very clearly taught that we must make that choice to remain in Him, and that it was not an eternal unconditional position that can never be undone. We cannot save ourselves! Yet we do have the responsibility to remain in the only one who can save us. It is a simple choice on our part.

 

     Jesus provided salvation for us through His work on the cross. We have to receive what He provided. All men have this ability within them. The gospel message is the offering of salvation to “whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord” to be saved. God made the way of salvation for all men through Jesus’ death and resurrection – fulfilling atonement for all men. They only need to hear the gospel, receive it as truth, accept Jesus as the Christ and savior, confess their sins, then live for Him. This decision continues throughout our lives and never changes. We continue to walk in the spirit because of His provision of the Holy Spirit that lives within us. We walk by faith, and not by sight; refusing the flesh and its sinful ways.

 

     Believing in Jesus is simply a decision we make based on the gospel truth we have received, as we walk in the spirit daily in obedience to God’s commands and will for our lives. Without all of this, with believing in who He said He is and in what He did only, our faith would be dead. Some people started off going to church with a dead faith, never truly being saved to begin with. We have to acknowledge that this does indeed happen. However, many people want to label all who fall away as “never saved to begin with”, and this simply is not the case at all. We who are truly saved have been born again. Yet that which has been born can also die. These figurative ways of speaking are used to express our spiritual condition and our connection or disconnection with God.

 

     Don’t be fooled by the teachings of men that want to convince people everything is just fine always, and there is nothing you can or should even try to do in order to make sure you are right with God. They want to sound positive and encouraging, which is good – unless you are pampering people who are not right with God. We need the truth, even when it hurts! There is healing and restoration in truth, not in pampering. “Examine yourself whether you be in the Lord”, as Paul said. Be sure that your faith is alive and active. This is wisdom, not works or self-trust! Don’t allow persuasive false teachers to tell you otherwise! “Many will say to me, Lord, Lord...and I will say depart from ne you workers of iniquity”. These were “believers”. They were the ones saying that to believe is all that is needed, while refusing to accept that we have a responsibility to make sure we are not being led astray by the flesh or by a dead faith.

 

     The grace of God will always be available to us. We just need to walk in it and never assume that it applies to us just because we accepted who Jesus is and what He did for us. Jude 1:4 says “Ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

 

     These ungodly people professed to be Christians. They talked the talk, but didn’t walk the walk. They turned God’s wonderful and amazing grace in a license for sinning. Notice the last part of the verse, that they deny Jesus Christ by doing these things. They claimed Jesus with their mouths, but denied Him by their actions. They claimed faith, yet their faith was dead. They believed! Just like the demons believe. Yet this belief was void of obedience and the life of God and His grace.

 

     Not all who say they believe, believe unto salvation. Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruit”. What is your fruit like? Has it changed? Was it once good, but now rotting because of sin or death? This is not said to condemn, but to encourage you to examine yourself. If you have been dying on the vine, you can regain life through repentance and renewal unto God! Don’t avoid the truth or convince yourself of a lie! Allow the Holy Spirit to refresh your spirit and bring you back to the place of life in Christ that you once experienced. This is the will of God for you!