Is Believing Required?
As I think back over the past years, one thing that was constantly being said was that in order for anything Jesus did to be ours, we had to believe it. You had to believe what He did or it just wasn’t in effect in our lives. This of course was used when things didn’t work out as well as planned in our day to day existence, because then if things were not going the way they thought they should be going, we were told it was because we didn’t believe enough. In other words, our faith had failed.
Is there supposed to be a scale we can go by says just how much we have to believe in order for redemption/salvation to be ours? What if it is on a scale of one to ten? At what point are we safe, so to speak. What if that scale drops to 5, are we still ok as far as making it to heaven is concerned? Or further still, what about the days we experience total disbelief and even wonder if there is even a God at all? Does that mean we are then no longer saved? Does it mean if we die in this condition that we would go to the hell the church has created and burn forever?
If believing for redemption is an actual fact then what about the devil? It says in James 2:19 that the devils believe. If believing was a requirement of redemption/salvation and the devil believes, would that not mean that the devil has been redeemed/saved??? Would that not mean that because he believes, his entrance into heaven has been secured, according to the preaching and doctrines of the evangelical church is concerned when it comes to those that make it to heaven or fail and make it to hell instead?
The issue of believing comes into real serious question when we look at the fact the devil believes. If believing is what makes our entry into heaven a reality, then we must agree that the devil will be there because it is plain in James that he does believe. Can you see how ridiculous this makes the issue of having to believe to be redeemed a fact?
Believing is very important because I can now say I did not consider myself a believer until the day I saw that I and the rest of the human race had been redeemed. That is what made a believer out of me. I did not have to believe to be redeemed but became a believer when I saw that I was already redeemed. And of course that was done apart from anything I did or did not do because redemption is a work of the cross and not a work of my belief or unbelief for that matter.
Jesus completed the work the Father had ordained before the foundation of the world and it was physically completed at the cross. The sacrifice was sufficient and the Father was well pleased with the Son. So do I have to believe for Him to be pleased with me? No, He is pleased with the Son and I am in the Son. We must remember that the Gospel is not about how I view God. It is about how God views me and He views me through His Son and the price He paid for all humanity on the cross. Never forget the fact that God concluded all under unbelief so He could have mercy upon all. Not just a few, but all.
I see the logic in what you are saying. If everything pertaining to our belief system decides where we spend eternity we had better get it right. I simply believe that God our Father knew how screwed up we all were and He had to come up with a redemptive plan that would save us from our sin ( missing the mark) ourselves and our unbelief. Well praise His Holy name, he did just that through the finished work of the cross of calvary.
Of course the benefit of believing in Christ can’t be overstated. This is where salvation becomes a reality and the process of being saved is a continual renewing of our minds to His mind and a relationship with Jesus is born. One of the things that I heard just lately that really spoke to me was understanding that salvation is a process but redemption is not. The Redemption of the world is a finished work with nothing else to be added, thus Salvation is quite simply a revelation of Redemption.
Something else you said is huge. The importance of God the Fathers view and opinion of us. As you say today its a hodge podge of varied views and opinions of God around the world today.
To see that we are all viewed as one in Christ is crucial, when the Father sees the Son He sees us because we are all in the Son. We didn’t get there by our doing, we were drawn into Him on the cross. Does my mind and heart comprehend the Wonders of His marvelous Grace and His plan of Redemption, absolutely not. I don’t know thats its even possible on this side of heaven.
Thanks for this one , have a good day my friend , truly this is Good News for this is the Gospel.
Randy
Good to hear from you this morning. It is indeed important to understand the difference between redemption and salvation as well as the true meaning of sin. Those are two things that have opened my eyes more fully to this gospel of grace and peace. Thanks for your insight and comment.
Hi, I’m new here and new to the concept that all will be redeemed. I’ve been reading through some of the old threads. Are you saying that God sees the whole world as presently “in Christ”? What about being baptized into His Body by the Holy Spirit, like it talks about in Ephesians. I thought that was when we were put “in Christ”
kstarr
Hi kstarr. Thanks for commenting and asking about the blog. I cannot respond to you this evening but will do that tomorrow. I have other things going on right now and just don’t have the time to respond.
Yes I do see the entire human race as presently “in Christ” and that happened at the cross. The verse you mention is in 1 Corr 12:13 and it says we were ALL baptized into one body. Everyone was placed “in Christ” at the cross and he died and rose again with all in Him and seated all in heavenly places “in Christ Jesus”. This is not a future event but “spiritually” it has already been accomplished.
Everything the Old Testament prophets foretold about the coming Messiah that was coming to redeem the entire human race happened at the cross. The Bible is very clear on this in numerous areas. If you continue reading some of my posts you will see that I deal with this extensively in many of my posts.
Appreciate your comment kstarr. Thanks for reading and please continue to do so. Your questions are appreciated.
I wrote a 3 part series on the “Believing Issue” and I think Ken may have copies of it. In part of the article I mentioned how the apostle who believd that Jesus loved him best, John makes mention throughout the “gospel ACCORDING to John”, over 92 times the “if you believe” phrase.
Yet, towards the very end of the same gospel ACCORDING to John himself, he ends up denying Jesus along with the other 10 disciples. “They all left Him (Jesus)” it says. Not a single one of them ever really believed in Christ throughtout the years that they walked, ate, and talked with Jesus. It took a woman to convince them that Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus even said that they believed in Him because of the miracles He performed and the food He had provided for them, but they did not believed Him for who He was and had come to do because they were without understanding.
Thank God that Jesus made sure that there weren’t no believers left on earth, otherwise His resurrection would have been in vain. For it was Paul who taugh that “God had concluded them ALL in unbelief in order to have mercy upon ALL.” Romans 11:32-36. The snag of the “believing” issue is taken out of context when religion and the pulpit quote out of Romans 10:8-10. Here’s where the deception lies and I have a clear teaching on this 10th chapter of Romans and what it really means and the only way to understand the salvation verses out of Romans is if we read at verse one of the chapter and go beyong the 10th chapter.
Yet we read in Romans 3:3 “So what if some did not believe? Will that take away from the faith of God?” In other words, NO! But remember when Jesus said to His disciples: “If you (anyone) denies Me before men, I will deny him (them) before My Father.” So Peter was not the only one who denied (was found in unbelief) when 3 times refused to acknowledge that he knew Jesus (maybe more out of fear for his life than anything else) but so it was with the other 10 disciples….”they ALL left Him.” And one would think that Jesus woud have kept to His word of “If you deny Me, I will deny you”, but thank God He didn’t. Now, that’s what you call mercy!
Thank God that the cross did away with the faith of men. Men having to have faith to believe and also did away with the having to believe. Because the only faith that God has ever accept it and been pleased with, has been only with THE FAITH of the Son of God who gave Himslef for me” as Paul mentions in Galatians 2:18-21. Man’s faith to believe was done away the moment Jesus fulfilled the law. For the law required faith and belief.
But grace only requires a “Thank You!” Religion forces people to believe out of FEAR, GUILT and CONDMNATION, Hell, fire and brimstone. The fact is that ALL were concluded by God as unbelievers and it was God who concluded them ALL as believers because of the finished work of the cross. Jesus was, is and will always be the only One that God has ever concluded to have had faith and believe. The rest of the world are just a by-product of Jesus’ faith and belief. We are ALL engrafted in Him because of His faith and His believing. Be it Jew, Gentile, Slave, Bond, Free, male or female. How is that for a clear picture on the believing issue?
Halellullah!
dead2sin23
your space is amazing!
very good, look forward to view your other articles