Believing

I heard an interesting statement on the radio awhile back. A radio announcer said that strong faith in a weak bridge may get you wet, but weak faith in a strong bridge may get you across the river. I’ve heard people say that it doesn’t matter what you believe, what matters is that you believe. I have to disagree. If I believe that I can run my car on water, with no modifications to the engine (and believe me, with the price of gas being what it is, I would like very much to believe that), there is a good chance that I will ruin my vehicle, and a 0% chance that I will get it to run like that, no matter how much I believe it. I think too that some people are confused about what it means to believe. Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” In Romans 10:16, though, it says “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?” putting obedience and belief on equal footing. The idea here is that, if you believe the Bible, truly believe, then you will obey the gospel. If you don’t believe, then you won’t. You can say that you believe all you want, but as James said, “…shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” In the same chapter, James said that faith without works is dead. Do you think that dead faith will get you anywhere?Many people point out that in Ephesians, we are told that we are saved by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. That is absolutely true, because not one of us could ever do enough good things to earn our way into Heaven. I promise you, though, you will never get into Heaven without doing any good things. Of course, in the very next verse, we are told that we were created unto good works. Do you think God put us here to just do our own thing until He’s ready to call us home and give us a mansion? I have pointed out before, also that we can do nothing of ourselves. Any good that we do, we do only as God moves through us. We may not even be aware of His moving at the time, but if you ever try to do something good without God, you will find yourself in one big mess. It just doesn’t work. We just can’t, no matter how much we would like to, or we think that we should be able to. That’s why Jesus said that we have to abide in the vine. Even the strongest Oak tree cannot bear a single grape of its own strength. I also want to make it clear that there is more to belief than acknowledgement. A lot of people believe that Jesus existed who do not even claim to be Christians. There are also some people who claim to be Christians who don’t seem to have gotten any of their beliefs from the Bible. James said that the devils believe, and tremble. Why do the devils tremble? Because they know that they haven’t obeyed. Some people are willing to acknowledge Christ and don’t even have sense enough to tremble. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Jesus said, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Do you think that you can fool Him into believing that you have accepted Him as Lord of your life, if you can’t do what He asks of us? I realize that some people don’t understand that the term Lord refers to one who has the rule over you. If you confess Jesus as Lord of your life, what you are saying is that he has the right to tell you what to do, and you are willing to do it. So many people claim Jesus as Lord of their life and have no intention of doing anything He asks. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.