"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
Believe. It is a
simple word; however, the subject is complex.
To believe means to place confidence in, to entrust, or to place your
faith in. And that's where it gets
complex. It is easy to say that you
believe in something yet harder to actually do it. To believe in God is to entrust Him with your
very life. When you read John 3:16 above
and it says to believe in Him (meaning Jesus Christ), it means that you believe
with every part of your being by placing your complete faith in Him alone. When you know that Jesus died on the cross
for you so that you could be forgiven and experience everlasting life in
heaven, then it gets a little easier. Many
will tell you that it is too simple.
That one must work or earn her way to heaven. God loves you more than to think you could
ever get there on your own. Only those
who are perfect can get to heaven…except for the death of Christ on the
cross. God loved you so much that He
sent His one and only Son to pay the penalty that you would owe.
God
loves you
But because of his great love for you, God, who is rich
in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--
it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4-5
It is only by God's grace that you can enter heaven. It's because He loves you so very much. Perfect love is hard to understand. Most people don't come close to experiencing
it on this earth, because all are sinners.
None is perfect. So you cannot
show perfect love to another. God's love
and mercy is so great that He forgave you and gave you a new life. God is just and fair. God is also full of mercy. It is a balance that no one fully
understands. He knew that He would have
to judge you and that you could not enter heaven because of your sin and
wrongdoings. Because of His mercy, He
provided a way. It is by grace that you
are saved through Christ. What is
grace? It is what is given when you
don't deserve it. That's how much He
loved you.
God
sent Jesus to die for you
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured
out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were
still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man
someone might possibly dare to die. But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Romans 5:5-8
Of all the religions in the world, Christianity is the only
one that involved the death of a righteous man.
Who else died for you? No
one. Oh, there may have been some good
men with lots of great thoughts but there are none that gave up heaven and
stepped onto earth to die just for you.
That's what hope is all about.
That's what love is all about.
That's what grace is all about.
Hope does not disappoint you because God poured out His love into your
heart by allowing Christ to die for you.
Then, God sent the Holy Spirit to be your guide and to help each
day. Without God's help, you are
powerless. Christ died for the
powerless. God knew that you would never
gain access to Him. God showed His love
to you by sending Christ to die for you.
God
wants you to believe in Jesus
What is believing in Jesus?
It is putting your trust completely in Him. Look at it another way.
Believing is not…
You believe that there is one God. Good!
Even the demons believe that - and shudder. James 2:19
Believing is not just knowing something. James 2:19 says that even the demons know and
believe that there is only one God.
Think about it. Satan knows there
is only one God and He knows the true God.
Does that mean that He is in heaven with Christ? Certainly not. Believing is not just knowing something; it
is placing faith in something. The
demons have not placed their faith in God and God alone.
Knowing about God is not enough. Knowing that Jesus died on the cross for you
is not enough. What is enough is placing
your faith in Jesus to the extent that you are willing to turn from your
wrongdoing and trust Him with your life.
Believing is…
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become the children of God. John 1:12
To those who believe and place their trust in God, the Bible
promises that God gave them the right to become children of God. It is the highest honor one can have, to be
called a child of the most high God. You
must receive Him by allowing Him to be a part of your life and trusting Him in
every area. You must believe in Jesus to
the extent that you allow Him to change your life through the work of the Holy
Spirit.
God
promises eternal life through Christ
God wants you to believe and place your faith in Him through
Christ, but He also wants to grant to you the promise of a better life to
come. Jesus was the only one who could
do this because people are sinful and God is holy. You could not enter heaven if it were not
for Christ.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus... 1 Timothy
2:5
Only Jesus can be the go between. No one else.
Not a mother. Not a priest. No one.
Yes, the fact remains that Jesus is the only mediator between God and
man. So no one can come to the Father
except through Him.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no
one can boast, For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for you to do. Ephesians 2:8-10
When you really believe in Jesus, you understand more that
you could never have done what He did.
It is God's gift to you. You
cannot take the credit for it. You
cannot do enough good works to ever earn your salvation. It is just a gift from God. And it is a gift that each person decides
whether he or she will accept or reject.
If someone were to offer you a gift of an ink pen, you could
decide if you wanted to take it or not.
It you took it, you might appreciate it and therefore want to do
something in return for the gift-giver.
With God, He offers Jesus as a free gift. You either take it or you don't. And with many more consequences than
accepting an ink pen or not. If you
accept His free gift, you would hopefully appreciate it so much that you would
want to serve God. You don't do things
for God to earn your place in heaven; you do things to say thank you for
allowing your Son Jesus to die on the cross for you.
Simply put, it is God's grace. It is not you. You are God's precious workmanship and you
are recreated to live your life by honoring Christ. It is simple faith. It is simple trust. It is the blessed hope you have that not only
will God be here to help you through this life, but that when you leave this
earth, you can go to heaven and live eternally with Him.
Believe In Him. He
sent Jesus to die for you.
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved-- you and your household."
Acts 16:31
Acts says that when you believe in the Lord Jesus, you will
be saved. It goes on to say that your
whole household will be saved. What this
is saying is that salvation will be brought to the house (see Luke 19:9)
because the same light of Christ will be given to all in that home. Anyone who believes will be saved in the same
way. When Christ is in your life, others
in the household will certainly see it.
They too, will have the same opportunity to make a personal commitment
to Jesus.
Believe
So, how do you believe?
You believe with all your being. You
say it with your mouth, you believe it on the inside (in your heart) and you
show it on the outside by everything you say and do. If you say you believe and do not live it
out, then the question is, do you really believe? You believe to the point that you put your
whole trust in Christ and place your faith in Him and in Him alone. He desires to give you hope and help in every
area. He desires that you believe.
