It is Settled!

A series of lessons from the Bible

by Howell Lasseter

Believe In and Believe

Last week, we learned from Hebrews 11:6 that it is impossible to be saved without faith. What is faith? How do we know that we have faith? Can each of us answer these questions? Do we not mean that we have a belief in something in order to have faith? Yet, do we not also have trust in something in which we have faith and in which we believe?

Have you not heard it said, maybe even said it yourself, "I believe in you," or, "I have faith in you that you can do it." Probably most of us who are parents have said it to our children. Or, we may express doubt in the vehicle in which we want to take a trip. Yes, we express these thoughts regarding our faith in events that occur in our everyday lives.

Going back to our study of last week, it is impossible to please God without having the proper faith in Him. We believe in, and believe, Him. John 8:24: "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." Who is the speaker here? It is Jesus. "Wait a minute," some might say. "You mean I have to also believe in, and believe, Jesus, to be saved?" That is what Jesus said. So, what is the point? There may be those who believe in God, yet deny Jesus as the Messiah; deny He is the One who died on Calvary's cruel cross for the sins of the whole world; deny that those who obey Him may receive forgiveness of sins. "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Jesus gave Himself as an offering that man might be reconciled back to God, from Whom man was separated because of sin.

To review: First, man cannot be saved without believing in, and believing, God. Therefore, those who do not believe in the God of the Bible are lost. Such is the state of the atheist. Second, all who do not believe in, and believe, Jesus are lost. Such is the state of the unbelieving Jew. But, it is possible for one to believe in God as the Supreme Being and in Jesus as His only begotten Son (John 3:16), and still be lost. Many will ask, "How is that possible?" "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." The wise man wrote in Proverbs 23:23b: "Buy the truth, and sell it not." The words of Jesus are truth, as well as the whole Bible. The New Testament is the truth, the law, under which we live today. "Buy the truth, and sell it not"!