As I sit here tonight, I am perplexed at how complicated people make belief in Jesus Christ. By belief, I do not mean the belief that He existed as a historical figure. That is actually, I think, more widely accepted than not.
Most people would agree that a man named Jesus was born and raised in a small Jewish town in the middle east and grew up to be a powerful and convincing and very moral spiritual teacher who had many die-hard followers. Most believe that He caused so much controversy that the Jewish religious leaders of the day actually did kill Him on a cross by crucifixion. Some don't believe He actually died, but that He simply passed out and was later revived. Many who believe that He really died don't really believe that He rose again. Many don't really think that deeply into the whole situation, choosing instead to take the entire story as some sort of ancient fairy tale of good verses evil with good finally triumphing over evil and death in the end...and we all live happily ever after.
What is faith? Hebrews 1:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith is NOT believing because cold, hard proof exists to prove a claim. Proof, in reality, nullifies faith. Faith can not really exist when there is proof.
I have faith that George Washington was the first president of the United States because historical documents show me this. Then again that's not faith, is it? No...I believe Washington was the first president because I have been taught this and there are many documentations to prove it.
Many people believe in Jesus because they were taught that he was, is and always will be. We have the Bible and several other historical writings that tell of His existence, but when one says he believes in Jesus, what is he really saying?
To believe in Jesus as ones salvation and way to Heaven is to believe INTO Jesus...to become a part of Him and have Him become a part of you (John 17:20-23). Jesus prayed that we would be one with Him meaning also that we would be one with our creator.
To be a truly saved, born-again Christian, one must believe in the power of the gospel (Rom 1:16), for only in the message of the gospel is there found salvation and only through one man is that salvation offered to a lost world of sinners on the road to Hell.
The gospel itself is often misinterpreted. What is the gospel? Many say accept Jesus into your heart and you'll be saved. Believe in Jesus and you'll be saved. Be baptized and you'll be saved. Paul states that he wasn't sent to baptize, BUT to preach the gospel, obviously differentiating between the two (1 Cor 1:17). In 1 Corinthians 15 1-4 he reminds us of what the gospel is...and is not. Now go back to Romans 1:16. The gospel...nothing else...is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
After a true faith in the gospel is established, everything else will follow. There is nothing else to do on your own power to be saved. Jesus did everything on the cross. There is no more work for us to do (Eph 2:8-9). Oh, don't get me wrong, the works will follow true belief, for good works are manifested by true faith (James 2:18-26).
When Jesus said it is finished, He meant there was nothing else to be done for us to be able to be with Him for all of eternity. He had taken all of our sins...the sins of the whole world...on Himself. He was humiliated and tortured for the crimes we committed. He wasn't placed on the cross by the Roman soldiers, He laid Himself there out of love for an undeserving world. As those nails pierced His skin, His only thought was, "Father forgive them for they don't know what they're doing". He loved us SO much(John 3:16), that He paid the death penalty (Romans 6:23) for us so we wouldn't have to. Just before He commended His spirit back to Heaven, He said , "it is finished".
He did all that for us because he loved us so much. Leave it to humans to complicate things.
It’s really simple, isn’t it?
Most people would agree that a man named Jesus was born and raised in a small Jewish town in the middle east and grew up to be a powerful and convincing and very moral spiritual teacher who had many die-hard followers. Most believe that He caused so much controversy that the Jewish religious leaders of the day actually did kill Him on a cross by crucifixion. Some don't believe He actually died, but that He simply passed out and was later revived. Many who believe that He really died don't really believe that He rose again. Many don't really think that deeply into the whole situation, choosing instead to take the entire story as some sort of ancient fairy tale of good verses evil with good finally triumphing over evil and death in the end...and we all live happily ever after.
What is faith? Hebrews 1:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith is NOT believing because cold, hard proof exists to prove a claim. Proof, in reality, nullifies faith. Faith can not really exist when there is proof.
I have faith that George Washington was the first president of the United States because historical documents show me this. Then again that's not faith, is it? No...I believe Washington was the first president because I have been taught this and there are many documentations to prove it.
Many people believe in Jesus because they were taught that he was, is and always will be. We have the Bible and several other historical writings that tell of His existence, but when one says he believes in Jesus, what is he really saying?
To believe in Jesus as ones salvation and way to Heaven is to believe INTO Jesus...to become a part of Him and have Him become a part of you (John 17:20-23). Jesus prayed that we would be one with Him meaning also that we would be one with our creator.
To be a truly saved, born-again Christian, one must believe in the power of the gospel (Rom 1:16), for only in the message of the gospel is there found salvation and only through one man is that salvation offered to a lost world of sinners on the road to Hell.
The gospel itself is often misinterpreted. What is the gospel? Many say accept Jesus into your heart and you'll be saved. Believe in Jesus and you'll be saved. Be baptized and you'll be saved. Paul states that he wasn't sent to baptize, BUT to preach the gospel, obviously differentiating between the two (1 Cor 1:17). In 1 Corinthians 15 1-4 he reminds us of what the gospel is...and is not. Now go back to Romans 1:16. The gospel...nothing else...is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
After a true faith in the gospel is established, everything else will follow. There is nothing else to do on your own power to be saved. Jesus did everything on the cross. There is no more work for us to do (Eph 2:8-9). Oh, don't get me wrong, the works will follow true belief, for good works are manifested by true faith (James 2:18-26).
When Jesus said it is finished, He meant there was nothing else to be done for us to be able to be with Him for all of eternity. He had taken all of our sins...the sins of the whole world...on Himself. He was humiliated and tortured for the crimes we committed. He wasn't placed on the cross by the Roman soldiers, He laid Himself there out of love for an undeserving world. As those nails pierced His skin, His only thought was, "Father forgive them for they don't know what they're doing". He loved us SO much(John 3:16), that He paid the death penalty (Romans 6:23) for us so we wouldn't have to. Just before He commended His spirit back to Heaven, He said , "it is finished".
He did all that for us because he loved us so much. Leave it to humans to complicate things.
It’s really simple, isn’t it?