Skip to main content

The Gospel Plan of Salvation: Believe



“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.” John 5:24

Basis of Belief

     What do you do when you hear some form of information? You may accept it as factual, or you might not believe it at all. When we are young, we may not believe the stove is hot. In fact, possibly the orange glow of the burner or open flame is appealing to the eye and the warmth is a nice feeling on a cold day. However, if you chose to touch it, you will certainly be burnt and certainly believe what your mother may have warned you about. Belief is established when one is presented with truth and when we hear truth, we have the option to believe it or not. 

Continuation of Belief

     In matters of faith, belief is an integral part of God's plan for saving man. Last week I wrote about the fact that we must hear the good news. We must hear, but what do we do once we have heard? If we are to come to faith, we must hear the truth and believe the truth. This leads us to salvation that is found in Christ Jesus. Jesus said,  “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 The word believeth is special. It is a verb, a present active participle. The rule is that the present tense of a verb denotes duration, i.e. denotes that something "goes on" happening. So when Jesus says whosoever believeth in Him, He is saying that it is an ongoing thing. I imagine, if you were burned by a hot stove, you would remember and keep on believing, right? 

The Necessity of True Belief

        To believe is not coming to a mental ascent based on your own cognitive ability, it is coming to a realization based on the truth of the Word. We may see evidence in creation that points us to the possibility of a God, but the Word is what tells us who God is, a God we can hear about, believe in, and come to be His child.  He is the God who, if we keep on believing, will lead us to eternal life.

        Belief or faith is not an absolute in salvation but they are but steps along the way to come to be a child of God. We see from the Scriptures that none of the five steps of the Gospel Plan are absolute on their own but all must be satisfied for one to be in Christ.                  

Grace and Peace, 

Ryan 

                                                                                               



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Raise an Ahaz

           Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel.   And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree . 2 Kings 16:2-4                   When was the first time you drove a car? What about the first time you jumped off a diving board or gave a speech? After that first time, it certainly became easier. What about the first lie you told? Did it become easier? King Ahaz of Judah was evil and far from the example of David. Ahaz was the first to offer child sacrifices to t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jehoram and Accent

          Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.       2 Ch 21:5-6       Regional accents are quite interesting when you consider all their quirks and differences from each other. However, as one who has lived in varying locations and cultures in the United States, my accent is sort of all over the place. When I was visiting some family in Eastern Arkansas, my cousin correctly introduced me as my cousin Ryan from Texas. However, the young lady to whom he introduced me said, "You're from Texas?" I affirmed yes. To which she replied, “You don't sound like you're from Texas.” Maybe it was the fact that I grew up right on the Rio Grande or maybe this girl just e...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Do I Know If I Am Right with God?

          How do I know if I am right with God? The question is simple, but it requires us to put some effort into figuring out an answer.  Since this takes effort, many people will ask the question and never look for the answer. This is an extremely dangerous way to live as you may be blissfully ignorant, but being blissfully ignorant of God’s word can lead to terrible eternal consequences. So, let’s answer the question in short. How do we know if we are right with God? To answer this we should ask ourselves some simple questions. Have You Heard?              The first step in the process is hearing the word of God. I know this seems like taking a step back from answering our serious question, but we have to address the fact that we need to hear God’s word. Logically speaking it all starts here, but as we move forward we need to continue to hear God’s word.           Romans 10:17 (K...
Post a Comment
Read more