Believing?
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
John 3:16 is one of the well known verses in the Scripture. As followers of Christ, this verse provides the reasons why we believe what we believe. We believe in God who loved us so much. We believe that God loves to the point where He gave His only begotten Son to us. Through the Son, we will receive this gift, the everlasting life. As we look at this verse more carefully, we discover one verb “believes.” It says, “whoever believes in Him (Jesus)” should not perish. It sounds like “believing” is significant concept in this process of salvation.
The first part, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” indicates the act of God. There is nothing we can contribute to this area since this was God’s divine plan and God’s divine action. Thus, we do not share any aspect of it. We are loved by God, but we did not initiate or make God love us based on our merits. God loves us as we are. At the end of the verse indicates what we will receive by believing. We should not perish but have everlasting life. It is the same, we do not take anything in this process. We cannot make ourselves not to perish. We cannot make ourselves live everlasting lives.
But there is one middle part of this verse, which provides an important aspect of our Christian journey. “Whoever believes in Him” What does that mean by believing? Is it an action? Is it a concept? How do I know if I believe in something or someone? Isn’t believing more like faith? But isn’t it a description of an action?
Faith & Works
“Believe” is defined as, “Accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth.” Thus believing is certainly an action. It internalizes what we observe. Accepting something as true is a big deal. What about faith? “Faith” is defined as “complete trust or confidence in someone.” Thus faith is a description of the action. Without an action (belief), there can’t be faith. Faith describes the action of believing.
In the Scripture, it talks about faith journey. Having faith or believing in Jesus, certainly makes changes. Romans 10:9-10 says, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” In this verse we can see once again that we will be receiving salvation by believing. Believing will bring changes in our faith journey.
Sometimes, I encounter people saying, believing in God is a personal and private matter. If you believe in your heart, that’s enough. It is a heart issue. Who knows what I believe in my heart? That’s actually really true that no one knows your heart. Believing is a personal matter that nobody should force anyone on beliefs. However, it seems that when we believe in something, our actions will reflect what we believe. If someone says, “I love Toyota cars so much.” But if that person buys a Chrysler, what will be your perception of that person? There is nothing wrong with buying different brands but it seems like that person’s action is not really reflecting his belief on automobile brand. Thus that person made a decision to buy something else when a serious financial commitment is required.
We cannot separate works and faith. If you believe in something, that will lead you to take action based on that. If there are no actions, that may mean that there is no believing.
Believing in Hope
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)
John explains this beautiful message. By the love of God and the work of Jesus, we are called to be children of God. We cannot make ourselves children of God. It is God who takes that action. But here is an interesting insight. We have to believe that we are children of God. As children of God, we know that we will be like Him when He comes back. Having this hope to see Jesus again will have enough power to make us to take action. “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Having hope definitely takes believing in action. That believing certainly makes us to take action to be like Jesus.
Works are important because works are reflections of what we believe. If you want to examine your faith, take a look at your actions in your life. Am I acting upon what I believe? That will provide us a good indication of our faith.
Real Faith
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? O you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:14-26)
The words of James are simple and self explanatory. Yes, we need to believe and have faith. But having faith and believing requires us to act upon it. The prophet Elisha believed the Spirit. But he received a double portion of the Holy Spirit when he asked. We need to take our action! I have no doubt that you are here because you believe in Jesus. But Let me push you little bit forward. Why don’t you act upon it by serving and getting involved in ministry in your faith journey?
I hope that we can re-exam ourselves once again as we reflect on our actions, based on our faith in Jesus Christ.