Just Believe
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). “Truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47). “Jesus said, ‘Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live” (John 11:25, 26).
I can still remember it. After graduation I worked three part-time jobs in my hometown of Vandalia, MO while searching for my first full-time job related to my degree. I had befriended a young man who was the youth minister at another church in town. I’d strayed from my faith during college but came to my senses during my senior year and was now on a quest to read through the Bible and determine basic doctrinal beliefs. Once through the process, I committed to attending whatever church best matched my discoveries. At the time I was considering the question: “What must I do to be saved?”
My youth minister friend was insistent, “You do not have to do anything to be saved, just believe!” He then pointed out some of the verses I’ve listed in the first paragraph above. “But I’m confused,” I countered, “those aren’t the only verses that talk about salvation, and many of the others indicate a need for action. I want to consider the whole counsel of God as I determine the answer to this question.” My young friend did not give up, firmly entrenched in Calvinistic Predestination. What is that, you might ask? It’s the idea, put forth by John Calvin in the 1500’s, that God predetermined who will be lost and who will be saved, and thus we have no part in it, except to follow the path he predetermined. It’s all God, in other words, so we can do nothing to contribute to our salvation.
The trouble I continued to have was this: even mentally believing is an action. God doesn’t just scoop us up and throw us into heaven, effort is involved, both mental and physical. In addition to that, I could not rest with the “just believe” verses when I saw so many more that broadened the spectrum. Such as the need to repent of sin, turning to God’s way (Matt. 3:2; Luke 13:3). Or the need to be baptized into Christ, clothing us with him, dying to the old self and rising from the water a new creature (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:36-41, Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 3:27). What about confessing him as Lord, which I understand to be an ongoing thing as I place my faith and hope in Jesus (Romans 10:9).
My youth minister friend would have countered, “Consider Ephesians 2:8, 9 where it says, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’ Doesn’t this verse remove doing anything?” Yes, I had to deal with that. How was I to merge all these seemingly contrasting things being said by the Bible’s authors? Certainly, I agreed that we don’t work our way into God’s grace, so how does repentance, baptism, etc. fit into the picture? My friend would say they are all things we do after we’re saved, “Just say a prayer asking Jesus into your heart to be saved, then follow up with these actions.” I was even more confused. Say a little prayer to be saved, where do I find that in the teaching of Jesus or the apostles? I couldn’t.
I was confident that anything Jesus or his apostles associated with salvation, with having our sins forgiven, must be part of the process, but how to reconcile this “just believe” message. Then I read several authors who helped explain it, all of them trying to provide the Jewish perspective on words, which is the context the Bible was written in. What I learned is that to “believe” for the Hebrew person, was more than a mental exercise. To “believe” implies action.
Let’s say I’m drowning in a lake, yelling for someone to save me. I see a person with a rope. They can save me, I truly believe! But they throw me the rope, and I refuse to take it. “I’ve already believed, isn’t that enough?” I state. The Hebrew person would say no. Belief implies action. Grab the rope and let them pull you to safety! James 2 and Hebrews 11 further solidify the idea that faith is made real by our response. James 2:22 says of Abraham, “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was made complete by his works.” Not works of the flesh, we cannot save ourselves (Eph. 2 context); but trusting and acting on the works of God. It is called a New “Covenant” because we must respond.
And when properly understood, believing is the path to salvation. Just don’t sell it short. Question: Do you truly believe?
I can still remember it. After graduation I worked three part-time jobs in my hometown of Vandalia, MO while searching for my first full-time job related to my degree. I had befriended a young man who was the youth minister at another church in town. I’d strayed from my faith during college but came to my senses during my senior year and was now on a quest to read through the Bible and determine basic doctrinal beliefs. Once through the process, I committed to attending whatever church best matched my discoveries. At the time I was considering the question: “What must I do to be saved?”
My youth minister friend was insistent, “You do not have to do anything to be saved, just believe!” He then pointed out some of the verses I’ve listed in the first paragraph above. “But I’m confused,” I countered, “those aren’t the only verses that talk about salvation, and many of the others indicate a need for action. I want to consider the whole counsel of God as I determine the answer to this question.” My young friend did not give up, firmly entrenched in Calvinistic Predestination. What is that, you might ask? It’s the idea, put forth by John Calvin in the 1500’s, that God predetermined who will be lost and who will be saved, and thus we have no part in it, except to follow the path he predetermined. It’s all God, in other words, so we can do nothing to contribute to our salvation.
The trouble I continued to have was this: even mentally believing is an action. God doesn’t just scoop us up and throw us into heaven, effort is involved, both mental and physical. In addition to that, I could not rest with the “just believe” verses when I saw so many more that broadened the spectrum. Such as the need to repent of sin, turning to God’s way (Matt. 3:2; Luke 13:3). Or the need to be baptized into Christ, clothing us with him, dying to the old self and rising from the water a new creature (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:36-41, Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 3:27). What about confessing him as Lord, which I understand to be an ongoing thing as I place my faith and hope in Jesus (Romans 10:9).
My youth minister friend would have countered, “Consider Ephesians 2:8, 9 where it says, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’ Doesn’t this verse remove doing anything?” Yes, I had to deal with that. How was I to merge all these seemingly contrasting things being said by the Bible’s authors? Certainly, I agreed that we don’t work our way into God’s grace, so how does repentance, baptism, etc. fit into the picture? My friend would say they are all things we do after we’re saved, “Just say a prayer asking Jesus into your heart to be saved, then follow up with these actions.” I was even more confused. Say a little prayer to be saved, where do I find that in the teaching of Jesus or the apostles? I couldn’t.
I was confident that anything Jesus or his apostles associated with salvation, with having our sins forgiven, must be part of the process, but how to reconcile this “just believe” message. Then I read several authors who helped explain it, all of them trying to provide the Jewish perspective on words, which is the context the Bible was written in. What I learned is that to “believe” for the Hebrew person, was more than a mental exercise. To “believe” implies action.
Let’s say I’m drowning in a lake, yelling for someone to save me. I see a person with a rope. They can save me, I truly believe! But they throw me the rope, and I refuse to take it. “I’ve already believed, isn’t that enough?” I state. The Hebrew person would say no. Belief implies action. Grab the rope and let them pull you to safety! James 2 and Hebrews 11 further solidify the idea that faith is made real by our response. James 2:22 says of Abraham, “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was made complete by his works.” Not works of the flesh, we cannot save ourselves (Eph. 2 context); but trusting and acting on the works of God. It is called a New “Covenant” because we must respond.
And when properly understood, believing is the path to salvation. Just don’t sell it short. Question: Do you truly believe?
Posted in Waking Up Eutychus