The word "Believe"

Something has really been on my heart lately and it pains me horribly the more I think about it, but I have been encountering it more and more through witnessing and getting involved in the whole Myspace/Facebook thing. I "believe" this is of the most utter importance right now.

I simply write what I believe God wants me to write. I always plan to sum it up in a couple paragraphs, but I can't guarantee anything because that's never happened! I back up everything I write from the Bible, but if you see any contradiction or errors then please let me know and I will gladly apologize for any discrepancies!

I want to write about the word, believe.

Believe -
verb - used without an object
to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so: Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully.

Let's look at it in context of probably the most recognizable Bible verse of all time.

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Now back to the definition. "although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so". We have absolute proof Jesus Christ exists. Creation had to have a creator, nothing creates something. We have the infallible word of God. There are no contradictions in the Bible and it has been scrutinized more than any other "book" in all eternity. You cannot say the same for Nostradamus or Muhammad and his Quran The Bible was written by God through 40 different men over a period of 1500 years. There is historical and scientific evidence of what the Bible says is true, but our society wants to over-look it because they do not want to "believe" in anything higher than themselves unless they can go on living in sin. Pride is what is getting our country into trouble, pride is what caused Satan to fall, I hate to say it, but pride is what is going to drive people to hell.

Another proof is that we have a God given conscience. We know right from wrong very early on in our child-hood whether our parents tell us or not. We know it's wrong to lie, steal, dishonor our parents, lust, and murder. God's law is written on our hearts whether we "believe" in Him or not.

The fact of the matter is, just because someone calls themselves a Christians does not make them a Christian. Jesus Christ is not a free ticket to heaven we can pull out when we die and say, "oh yeah, I said a prayer when I was 7". If you believe in Jesus Christ then you believe in everything the Bible says. You believe that Satan lives right now, you believe abortion is wrong, you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son, you believe pornography is evil, you believe fornication is evil, you believe that we live in a fallen creation and that we are sinful beings, you believe that Jesus said we will perish if we do not repent (turn from our sins), you believe we are called to spread the Gospel of Christ, you believe that there is a HELL right now and that many people are indeed going to go there.

If you only believe in some verses in the Bible and not the others then you are a hypocrite and unfortunately America is full of them.

If someone believes that our Lord God sent His son to die the most horrible bloody death and endure all of the wrath of God on Him for our sins to save us from Hell then how is it that people think they are saved by simply filling out a decision card in a church and then they are set for life??? Or by saying a simple sinners prayer and then go jumping into sin rather than falling into it.

Friends, the Bible says that others will know us by our fruits. Salvation is not works-based, but our fruit and works is evidence of us being born-again. Read the whole book of James. When someone gives you a verse to read, I suggest reading the whole book and parallel the verses to others, because so many verses are being taken out of context so people can shape the Word to their views and experiences (which is why we have so many denominations)

If you have no desire to grow closer to God or read or listen to His word then I would question your salvation. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?"

I fooled myself for 23 years until I understood what the true Gospel is. I acknowledged that there was a man named Jesus and the whole story of Him dying and rising from the dead for my sins, but I did not understand it. I didn't even know what sin was because most people honestly don't preach about it. I read the Bible straight through like it was a pamphlet and didn't even study it before I was saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Now some will say what about Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." That's true, but don't take it out of context, let's look at the whole verse.

Romans 10:9 - 13 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

This verse also includes "belief and trust". That's what it means to call on the name of the Lord.

I'm not saying you have to be a Bible scholar, a pastor, or a missionary. But as Christians everyone should be able to answer why they believe in what they believe, and explain what the Gospel is. It's not that hard:

We broke God's holy Law (The 10 Commandments) and deserve hell - He sent His son to endure His wrath for our sins on the cross and rose 3 days later defeating death - If we repent and place our trust in Him (BELIEVE) we will be saved and inherit the Kingdom of God.

I see many who say they believe they are Christians because they have faith. The sad truth is, atheists and muslims have faith and a lot of them know the Bible better than "Christians" do! So open your Bible so that you can explain why and how you believe Jesus Christ is the real living God.

I believe in the the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe the Bible is the authoritative word of God. And I believe in His promises. Do you?

I love you and that's why I'm writing this. It may apply to you and it might not. But send it to someone who it does if you truly care for them. As Christians we should care more about people's souls than their or our feelings.

In Christ,

Joey