What does believing mean?
Recently I’ve heard it said that Christianity isn’t all about believing, but also Christianity is all about believing. What a conundrum this statement is when said from the stage and the confusion that it causes is unfathomable. When a friend and I started to question this statement I went to the only place that holds the truth…the Word. What I found is a beautiful truth that I feel all should know and understand so I’m going to let the Scripture speak for itself.
All the prophets testify about him [Jesus] that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Acts 10:43
Through him [Jesus] everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses. Acts 13:39
He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household. Acts 16:30-31
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 1 John 5:1
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Romans 3:22
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:9-10
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16
Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Mark 9:23
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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. John 3:36
(Jesus) Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I [Jesus] will raise them up at the last day. John 6:40
(Jesus) Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. John 6:47
Whoever believes in me [Jesus], as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:38-39
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:31
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:12
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:16
Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Romans 10:4
After you read the truths of the Scripture what do you think? Is it all about believing or is it more? My mind is made up…I, Ashley Magiera, believe that Christ Jesus came to this Earth, was crucified for the nations sins, and was raised again by the power of our Father. I am washed white as snow by the blood of my Lord Jesus.
I am a believer!
Great blog! We are saved by FAITH alone in JESUS alone! Faith is the essence and evidence of being born again. Faith in Jesus is believing that He is the Christ, depending on Him alone for forgiveness and salvation, and treasuring Him above all else. There is a "kind" of believing, however, that does not save. It is the kind of believing that the demons have. They believe in God. They believe Jesus is the Son of God. But they love sin more than they love Him. This is a dead faith and does not save. See James 2:19 and Matthew 7:21. I am so blessed by people like you with TRUE faith!
ReplyDeleteAre you saying my salvation is null and void because I have the wrong 'kind' of believing?
DeleteOh my goodness, NO! From what I can tell, you love Jesus and long to live for Him. That is TRUE faith. That is LIVING faith.
DeleteWell thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my blog. I am sad to no longer be attending Unite or Metro because I just cannot bring myself to step into a place where i was so blatently disrespected and treated with absolutely no form of love from someone that is supposed to be a leader. I will continually be praying for Unite and Metro however.
DeleteOne more thought on the concept of "dead" faith. This "dead" faith that I mentioned above was the problem with Nicodemus in John 3. Nicodemus was part of the crowd that "believed" in Jesus in John 2:23-25, but Jesus would not entrust Himself to them. Here is what it says: "Many people saw the miraculous signs Jesus was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man." Then in John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus he needs to be born again. Obviously, there is a kind of believing that saves, and there is a kind of believing that does not save. The kind of believing that saves is the kind of believing that is produced by the Holy Spirit - it is the kind of believing that LOVES Jesus above all else! It is the kind of believing that turns away from sin and FOLLOWS Jesus. It is the kind of believing that makes you a DISCIPLE of Jesus. "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27). Longing to follow Jesus with you, and all who love Him...
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am so impressed by a young person like you who wants to make sure that what is being taught is TRUE! Don't ever hesitate to ask questions about what is being taught with a humble spirit. I NEVER want to teach anything but the pure truth of God's word. And the more people who are humbly testing it and making sure, the better off all of us will be.
ReplyDelete