Belief is not enough
What does belief really mean? What does the Bible say about what belief really means?
Now what does society in this current world think it means? The Bible is the only accurate answer.
1. What does belief mean?
2. What are the implications for those who believe?
3. What are the consequences for those who don’t believe?
1. What does belief mean?
Belief is the Greek word pisteuo, which means faith, to know God as the Messiah, and salvation in his name. To believe that He is ready to help his FOLLOWERS.
I said that belief is more than an intellectual thing, it is more than knowing that God exists, it is more than knowing about who he is and what he did. It is more than having a PhD in theology, more than knowing the worship songs at church, it is more than going to church every Sunday. It is to know who He really is.
2. What are the implications for those who believe?
To believe in God means to listen to him. In Hebrew the word listen is “Shema”, which translates to both listen and obey. Those two concepts go together. That is what God is expecting from those who claim to be Christians or believers. Listen and obey.
To believe means to know his commandments. The only way to know God and what he wants from us is reading the Bible, reading and obeying. If you don’t obey, what is the point of having so much knowledge about who he is. This is why it’s not about knowing what the Bible says, it's about doing what it says. When you read the Bible your faith increases, when you read the Bible, He gives you strength to face every temptation. When you read the Bible you learn that if you want to be a follower of Jesus, you must deny yourself. You have to die to the old person that you once were.
To believe means to bear fruit. The Bible says that by our fruit people will recognize us. Fruit speaks about our character, about how we live according to the scriptures. It is to have God’s character, it is to have the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5 talks about this.
To believe means to share the gospel to everyone. Jesus said that he sends us to preach the gospel like the Father sent him. God’s mission since the beginning was to save us and to bring salvation to all nations. He gave us the same command so that we can focus on that call and not on our daily routine, where we focus only on our families, work, what we don’t have and what we would like to have. It truly grieves the Lord that we do not focus our lives on what He wants us to do, but on our own desires and worries.
3. What are the consequences for those who don’t believe?
For those who don’t believe, the Bible is very clear:
John 3:18 “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”.
Belief, according to the Bible, is not just intellectually acknowledging that God exists. Biblically speaking, to believe is to really know who God is, to listen and obey him, to bear fruit and share the Gospel. That is what believing truly means.
The Church claims (pretend or aim) to be believers when they just add Jesus on their agenda, they don’t allow Jesus to be the agenda, they don’t allow Jesus to be the one who reigns in their lives. The Bible is clear, Jesus was clear that there are only two ways: either you believe (according to the Bible's standards) or you don’t believe.
In this situation there are only two options:
1. Believe, to have eternal life and no condemnation.
2. Do not believe, which results in death and condemnation.
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