What Does It Mean To Believe In Jesus Christ?

Today for the sermon, brethren, we're going to consider a very important question. It's a question that I would say not everybody who professes a belief in Jesus Christ understands the answer to. The title of the message is in the form of a question, so I'll give you the question and the title at the same time. That is, what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?

What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? Probably one of the most well-known scriptures in the Bible is John 3, verse 16. It's often quoted around us at this season of the year. Darla mentioned to me that she had made a trip up to Kettle Falls. It was while I was still in Africa, but she drove by Zipps in Kettle Falls, and on the sign out front of Zipps, they had John 3, verse 16.

It's very well known, and we could probably all quote it, but I would like to actually turn to it so we can put eyes on it as we begin today. John 3, verse 16, it's the words of Jesus Christ. He says, "...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." So in this well-known scripture, we find God's promise. It's a promise from God the Father as He sent His Son, that whoever would believe in Him would be granted eternal life. And what an incredible promise that is! What an incredible hope to hang our hat on, so to speak, that eternal life is put within our reach by our Creator and His Son, who He sent as the sacrifice for all sins.

This scripture, John 3, 16, is so heavily quoted, I think, in many ways because of the aspect of Jesus Christ, but we also recognize fully the aspect of the Father's involvement as well. They've worked in perfect unity in this plan of salvation, which was before time began. And so we have this verse that is set before us, and it's an incredible display of God's mercy, of His grace towards mankind, that He would provide such a means for our salvation through His Son.

Now, right across the page in my Bible, John 3 and verse 36, we find a comment that is quite similar to it, John 3 and verse 36. And it says, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him. And so again, we see these two verses that show us that we must believe in the Son of God.

Believe in the Son of God and you can be saved is what it is that's being expressed here. But is there more to the obtaining of salvation than belief in Jesus Christ? And that might be kind of a loaded question in some way, so maybe I'll phrase it a little different. Again, what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? Because there's different perceptions of that, I think, sometimes in the world around us.

Is it simply a belief, as some would use that term? I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believe in the Lord. Do you believe in the Lord? And, you know, there's a lot of people who express belief in Jesus Christ, but is it truly belief in terms of the sense of what the Scripture gives us? For some, it is, truly. And then others, perhaps that's a question that God has not given to you or I to answer.

But for us, we need to understand what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ unto salvation. Now, based on these two Scriptures alone, some have come to believe that all you must do for salvation is to, again, accept the Lord Jesus Christ and to proclaim that acknowledgement, and upon the acknowledgement, then you are saved. No further action necessary. You're under grace. You are saved. But is that fully what it means to believe in Jesus Christ? We all understand that believing in Jesus Christ is foundational for salvation.

There's no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved. And Hebrews 5 and verse 10 states that Christ has become the author of eternal salvation. Hebrews 12 says he's the author and finisher of our faith. And in my mind, I try to maybe understand what that term author means. And for me, this is just my terminology.

I'll say it as he wrote the book on salvation. Or Christ wrote the book on faith. He's the author and finisher of our faith, but he is the first to come into the flesh to live a life before God of faith in terms of unto salvation and having gone through the full process of death, resurrection.

Now he sits as a glorified being at the right hand of his Father in heaven. So in that sense, he wrote the book on these things, and we study his example. And as the scripture, specifically Hebrews 5 and verse 10 states, he is the author of eternal salvation. So God the Father sent his only Son into the world for the purpose of our salvation.

So that the purpose for which we were created could be fulfilled and we could become a part of the family of God. But again, what does it really mean to believe in Jesus Christ? You know, is belief just a good feeling? Is belief a blind acceptance? Somebody told you, you never heard of Jesus Christ, let's say, and somebody told you, and just believe in him and you can be saved and you profess, I believe in Jesus Christ.

Is that all that is required? Is belief in Jesus Christ such that it doesn't require something deeper, such as what we would call living faith? These are important things that we need to ask and answer. It is what God the Father has established through his Son and given for the purpose of our salvation. I remember a number of years ago, I was visiting with a customer in my business and a very nice lady and a religious person by nature. And I remember one day showing up and talking to her and she expressed to me just how overjoyed she was. I was very emotional. There were tears involved, actually. She broke in tears as she's telling me this story of how her daughter had accepted Jesus Christ and now she is saved.

And in my mind, I thought, well, that's interesting. I know you have children, but I didn't realize she had adult children. But again, she explained to me that her 10-year-old daughter had proclaimed the words Jesus is Lord in church. They had gone to church and after church, anyone that wanted to profess belief in Christ. And so her 10-year-old daughter stood up and professed Jesus is Lord. Now, that's an accurate statement. And I say, that's a wonderful thing to profess. And, you know, if this child professes that and holds that as a mindset, that is a good path to be starting down.

But is she saved by that profession at that point as a 10-year-old child? Again, the question is, what does it mean to believe? Is professing or claiming a belief in Jesus Christ all that the Bible tells us that we must do in order to receive eternal life? It's a question we'll consider as we go along. Can we just simply state the words Jesus is Lord? Can we simply claim the name? And that is all that is required to be saved. I got up this morning and I flipped on my phone and there was a news feed through Facebook and I didn't read the entire article, but the opening paragraph was talking about the Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria.

And they said, we execute people because they claim a belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So, if you want to be a Christian, if you want to proclaim that, you're going to lose your head. And there are people in this world, literally, who have died proclaiming, you know, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So, if we're going to proclaim that, if we're going to acknowledge our belief in Jesus Christ, we need to understand fully what that concept of believing in Him entails.

Today we're going to look at what Jesus Himself said and what the apostles stated about the concept of belief in Jesus Christ. What is it? What does it mean? What does it look like? And how will that belief be on display in our life? Let's turn over to Matthew 7 as we begin to consider this.

Matthew 7, verse 21. Here are the words of Jesus as He is out and teaching. Matthew 7, verse 21. Jesus Christ says, And so we see simply that right off the bat, if you're going to claim the name of Christ, or if you're going to say, Jesus is Lord, or Lord, Lord, as in, He is my Lord, and I am acknowledging that. Not everyone that does so, Christ says, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. It's not just the proclamation of the name that is required. There's more that is behind it. There's actually a form of behavior that must follow along with the proclamation which demonstrates that belief. Here, Jesus Christ states that a person must do the will of his Father in heaven in order to receive eternal life. During the will of the Father, it's a requirement unto eternal life. And Jesus Christ said, not just simply proclaiming Lord, Lord is the answer. That is part of the answer. But again, what is it that that entails? It's what Jesus Christ did when He walked the earth, wasn't it? He said, I haven't come to do my own will, but the will of the Father, the will of He who sent me. And so He says for us here, again, not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom, but He who does the will of my Father in heaven. So you're going to submit to God. You're going to live according to His will for us. But that's also going to be encapsulated in the example that Jesus Christ set, because that's what He did when He came. And so an element of belief in Him is to live as He lived and to fulfill not only maybe a sense of a vocal declaration, it is to fulfill a way of life that shows that we indeed believe on Him. Verse 21, carrying on, He says, again, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but He who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, we're talking day of judgment, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? Cast out demons in Your name and done many wonderful things in Your name. You know, haven't we claimed Your name, Lord? Jesus Christ, haven't we said, I believe in Jesus Christ? Haven't we done things claiming the name of Christ? That's what they're saying. We've gone out. We profess Your name. We've done these things declaring Your name. Verse 23, and then I will declare to them, I never knew You. Depart from me who You who practice lawlessness.

And in my mind, that's an incredibly frightening concept to think of, to stand before Jesus Christ in the day of judgment and have Him say, Paul Moody, I never knew You. It's, you know, just the thought of it. Again, Christ tells us in other places that He who declares or acknowledges me before men, I'll acknowledge before my Father, but whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father. So, you know, we don't want to just say, Lord, Lord, and have Him say, I never knew You. There actually is a, again, a declaration of our behavior and our actions that follow up our verbal pronouncement of Christ as Lord.

Again, He said, depart from me You who practice lawlessness.

And so what we see here is there's an additional element to accepting Him because Jesus Christ links lawlessness with those whom He does not know. As in, if you practice lawlessness, He says, I don't know you. You are not one of mine. His sheep hear His voice, but His sheep who follow Him will be living as He lived. So in this one passage alone, we find that doing the will of the Father in Heaven and keeping the law are requirements for those who Christ will claim to know in that day. And indeed, the two go hand in hand, keeping the law and doing the will of the Father. They're not in conflict. They are in agreement with each other. What we're going to find as we move through this message today is that there's not simply the verbal expression that that claim verbally that that gets us in the door of saying that we know Jesus Christ is not simply a feeling of the heart that binds us to Him. Indeed, those must be present as part of the package. We must declare God the Father. We must declare Jesus Christ. And it must be, in that sense, an emotion as a part of our heart and our expression. Those things must be a part of the package, but it doesn't stop there. Indeed, it must follow through with our faith and our actions as well. If we're going to claim to know Jesus Christ, it's a claim of intimate relationship. If we're going to claim to know God the Father, it's a claim of intimate relationship. And indeed, if we're going to claim those things, then we must be found living in a way that demonstrates the way of life that Christ walked and the way that He lived. Luke 6 and verse 46.

Luke 6 and verse 46. Again, what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?

The Father provided the sacrifice, but we have to accept it. And we have to believe on what it is that God is doing and what He is doing through His Son. Luke 6 and verse 46.

Again, the claim to believe in Jesus Christ is not enough. We must believe in Him, but that belief must be coupled with obedience as well. Well, now you're talking legalism, right? We'll get to that. But again, the words that we believe must be coupled with obedience and action as well. We must be doing the things that He taught us to do. We must be living our lives, how He taught us to live, if our claim to actually know Him is to be true, and we're to have a deep and abiding relationship with He and His Father.

We must be doing the things that He said before us. So, Christ says, why do you call me Lord, Lord? It's an expression of submission to Him. It's an expression of acknowledging who He is, and I submit my life in obedience to you. The term Lord in the Greek, as it applies to Jesus Christ, means Master. So, Christ is actually saying, you know, here, if we put it in the modern-day English, why do you say to me, Master, Master, but you don't do the things that I tell you? You claim me to be your Master, and you're my servant. Why don't you follow through? And if you look at a number of Peter's writings, Paul's writings, the Apostles, they started so many of the New Testament books by saying, for example, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ.

Or, in the King James, Paul, a slave. So, this is a Master-servant relationship. And Christ says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, but not do these things? According to the Word Help Studies, the word kyrios in the Greek, K-U-R-I-O-S, the word that is translated Lord, it is a person exercising absolute ownership rights. A Lord is a person, again, who is exercising absolute ownership rights. So, Christ said that His disciples weren't to lord it over them as the Gentiles did.

Meaning, you're not to be overbearing and oppressive. But in a right and proper way, Christ is Lord. It's the title that has been given to Him in the Scripture. As, again, that Greek New Testament word kyrios. So, for someone to call Jesus Christ Lord, Lord, as a term of submission, is saying that you own me, that you are my Master, and I submit myself completely to you as your servant. But yet, if there's a disconnect between what you claim and what you do, Christ says, why would you even do that?

Verse 47 says, Whoever comes to me, and hears my sayings, and notice, does them, I will show you whom he is like. He says, He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose and the stream beat vehemently against the house, it could not shake it because it was founded on the rock. I wish they had thought of that when they built my house a hundred years ago.

Pre-mud slide. We've moved on. We're now on the concrete, anyway. Verse 49, He says, But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built his house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently. And immediately a fell in the ruin of that house was great. And so when we read the words of Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture, because He didn't simply come and die, He came and lived and taught and had a ministry and taught us the will of the Father, expressed the words that God had given Him to teach, and He set the standard.

When we read His words then and believe them, then action will follow, otherwise it's not truly belief. You may claim something, but if the actions don't back it up, it's not truly a true belief as we have recorded for us in Scripture. Where God says, you know, believe on my Son for salvation. Because belief in Jesus Christ leads us to doing the things that He said to do and establishing ourselves on the firm foundation on the rock, which is Him.

You know, He said, on this rock I will build my church, and the church is founded on the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, and if we claim to be the church of God and the body of Jesus Christ, then we will be doing the things that He said. So what are some of the things that Jesus taught for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life? Because there are conditions to eternal life, not that you can earn it by works, but it is conditional.

What are some of the things that He said we must do in order to receive eternal life and actually believe in Him? Well, again, He said, do the will of the Father. He said, don't be lawless in that sense. Let's go to Matthew 19 and verse 16. See what else we discover.

Matthew 19 and verse 16.

This ties in to what we read earlier about the law. Matthew 19 and verse 16, it says, Now, behold, one came and said to him, Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And so He said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God. But if you want to enter into life, notice He says, keep the commandments.

So, in other words, eternal life is not going to be granted to those who do not keep the commandments of God. Now, again, some might say you're talking legalism, right? You're talking salvation by works. I'm not. And we're going to cover that a little bit more here in a moment. But the fact is, though, Jesus Christ proclaimed that if you want to enter life, you need to be keeping the commandments of God. Eternal life is a gift from God that cannot be earned, but God gives that gift to who?

To those who are obedient. To those who live according to the standard in which He laid, and respond to the words of Jesus Christ and the will of the Father. So salvation is conditional, although we cannot earn salvation by our works. Verse 18, carrying on, it says, He said to Him, which ones? You know, which commandments do I have to keep? And Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. He's talking about the package. You need to keep the package of the commandments if you're going to inherit eternal life. And the young man said to Him, verse 20, All these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? And Jesus said to Him, If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come and follow Me. But the young man heard that saying, He went away sorrowful, for He had great possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, Assuredly I say to you, that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And Christ said, It is hard. He didn't say it's impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. He says, It's hard. There's nothing inherently wrong with having wealth or riches, but the point is, what is your focus? What are your priorities? Is it putting God first or not? Because putting God first, and you know, Abraham was wealthy, and God blessed him, and he put God first. So, you know, the priority, though, becomes, are we allowing God to bless us and doing our part, or have we dedicated our whole life to chasing after something? But again, it's not impossible. It could be difficult, but about this young man, Christ evidently saw something in him that was a hindrance to His following Him fully. It was a hindrance to His commitment. As we walk through baptism counseling with people, a big focus of baptism counseling is, there can be nothing in this life that comes before God the Father or being a disciple of Jesus Christ. You know, Christ says, if you're not willing to forsake all and follow Me, you can't be My disciple. But He also says, those who lose their life for My sake will find it. But it's a total commitment.

And so I would just say the point is, if there's anything in our life that is standing in the way of total commitment to being a disciple of Jesus Christ, to living as God has given us and fulfilling the will of the Father, then we need to reevaluate our lives and consider what it is we need to put in order, in order to follow God. This young individual obviously thought the price was too high.

Verse 24 says, and again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And when the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, who then can be saved?

You know, if a wealthy man who has been successful in this life, and has basically anything that he would desire in this life, because he has worked hard, he has accomplished, you know, we're not talking about a cheat and a liar, all right? You can talk about a legitimate person who earned wealth through hard work, and he can't be saved, then who can?

That's kind of the point of the question here. The disciples are like, who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said to them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

So again, mankind cannot be saved by earning salvation, by doing just the right works or doing a number of works. He says, with man such a thing as salvation is impossible. Apart from God, salvation is impossible. You cannot earn these things. But he says, with God all things are possible. It is God who grants salvation as a gift. And the point is, we must submit to him that that's going to be a part of our end, salvation in the kingdom of God. So I'm not looking to necessarily dive too deeply into the topic of grace today, but we can hardly speak of salvation. Apart from grace, the two go hand in hand. Everything we receive from God in this physical life, birth, life, and ultimately eternal life, everything we receive from God is an act of his grace and his mercy towards us. Simply that we draw breath is by the grace of God. Sometimes people like to draw comparisons and say, well, it's law or grace, or you don't have to keep that old law because you are under grace. And I would ask us to consider that the law of God is his grace towards us. It's his mercy. To say, thou shalt not commit adultery is grace, the grace of God in your marriage, if you live it and you do it. It will be a blessing. So it's not one or it's law and grace. We acknowledge God and respond in obedience to him. But again, grace is a gift that we can't possibly earn. So no amount of perfect lawkeeping will earn you salvation. But God gives salvation and he gives grace to those who obey him. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4.

Again, let's consider grace because God in his mercy and in his grace sent his son.

Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4 says, but God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. It is only by grace that we've been saved. It is a gift of God that is so large you and I could not earn it by the greatest stretches of mankind. It is a gift. But who God would give that gift to does have conditions set by God. Verse 6, and he's raised us up together and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. It's a relationship by which God and Christ work perfectly together to accomplish this process of bringing many sons to glory. Sons in the family of God, and they're working together in this process of grace and salvation. Verse 8, for by grace you have been saved. Notice through faith, through belief, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So again, we're saved by grace. Plain and simple, salvation comes to us in no other way apart from the grace of God. And grace is something that we cannot earn by our works. Again, our works will never be good enough to earn salvation, all of sin, all falling short of the glory of God. And so he sent his son. That's the point. It's the purpose. God extended the hand of blessing by sending his son to die so that we could come under this blessing, that through him we might be saved. So again, it takes us back full circle to John chapter 3 and verse 16. That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. What could we possibly do that was so good that God said, you know, that's a good person. I'm gonna send my...they've earned my son's death.

You know, that's not the case. But God's love for us and his mercy is by which he extended his son to come and die. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Again, we come back to belief. What is it? It's required in order to receive eternal life. So that salvation of God and that mercy that he has extended to us does have conditions attached to it. Although we can't earn it, there are conditions.

It's like if I said to, you know, a child, send me a self-addressed stamped envelope and I will send you a gift of $100. Well, you know, there is a condition by which they will receive that gift.

They have to send the envelope, right? They have to do something. That gift is a gift. They didn't earn it. It is a gift. But if they just never send the self-addressed stamped envelope, the gift isn't going to come. And like man or God is pouring out a gift on mankind who are his children, the gift of salvation, there is a condition. You have to believe in his son and respond in order to receive that gift. Again, a gift you did not or could not possibly earn, but one that has conditions. So conditions unto salvation are such as we've already begun to look at.

Believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, as your Lord, your Master, your High Priest, your soon-coming King, in order to receive the gift of eternal life. Additionally, a condition for receiving the gift of salvation, that grace, is keep the commandments of God, if you want to receive that gift. Another condition that we've seen already is do the will of the Father, if you wish to receive the gift of eternal life. Again, brethren, eternal life is free, but obedience is a requirement.

And those two terms might almost seem to be contradictory again, at first glance, but Jesus Christ clearly taught there are things that we must do if we truly believe. If we're truly acknowledging him as our Master, and we want to inherit eternal life. What else does the Bible tell us is required for eternal life? Mark 16 and 15. Mark 16 and 15. This is following the crucifixion, the resurrection, and now Jesus is giving some final marching orders to his disciples before he sends back to the right hand of the Father. Mark 16 and 15.

He said to them, go into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. Now, what was the gospel? The gospel was the good news of the coming kingdom of God, but included in that as well was, you can be a part of it, you can obtain it, but you have to acknowledge the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and enter into that relationship with God. So, the gospel goes out. He says, preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes, and is baptized, will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs shall follow those who believe. By my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, and they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them.

They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Verse 19, so then after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and they preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. And so here we see, again back in verse 16, he who believes and is baptized will be saved.

We see that a result of belief, again an action that will take place, and that is baptism. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. Baptism is a requirement unto salvation. In the Church of God, we baptize. We don't baptize children, we baptize adults. It is an adult decision with understanding, understanding of God and the relationship he offers, understanding of the covenant that we are entering into with him, understanding of the significance of the sacrifice of Christ.

But it involves acknowledging our sins before God, repenting, and in faith, exercising faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So baptism is an immersion, complete immersion. We don't dip, we don't sprinkle, we immerse. And it's symbolic of a death, putting to death the old man. But you don't leave the person under there, you bring them back up. And it is symbolic as well to resurrection, to newness of life. Just as the grave did not contain Jesus Christ beyond three days and three nights, we rise up to resurrection to live in newness of life as a new creation in him.

But again, this is part of what it means to believe and to respond. And God has ordained that salvation is not available to us without first going through the process of baptism, the acceptance of his Son as our Savior.

And that, again, is what in part it means to believe in Jesus Christ. Acts 2, verse 36.

Acts 2, verse 36. The Day of Pentecost. Peter has just now preached this dynamic sermon. People's attention is drawn in on the disciples. They've received God's Holy Spirit. They've spoken in tongues. People have heard them in their own language. So many powerful signs that God was doing to acknowledge to people that his Spirit was there. In verse 36, at the tail end of Peter's sermon, he says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. He says, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? You know, it's just like it came down on them like a ton of bricks. We killed them. We're responsible. And yet that translates into the life in each and every one of us. Even if Paul Moody was the only person on the face of the earth, I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the sacrifice would be required. So for all of us, we come to the point of, men and brethren, what shall we do? You know, O wretched man that I am, and this condition, but God wants this relationship. What do we do?

Verse 38, Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. It was a response that was generated.

Understanding became known that salvation was accessible through Jesus Christ and that sacrifice. But acknowledging and believing in who it was that God had sent, and believing in the legitimacy of the sacrifice, then led to this action and this response of baptism.

Baptism is actually our response to God.

Christ said, No one can come to me except the Father who sent me draws him. So the Father toggles our little mind and brings us to Jesus Christ if we will indeed respond. And then you cannot come to the Father except through Christ. And we know the door is opened through the veil. As we come under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we now have direct access to the throne of glory and to the very presence of the Father. So it's a process by which they are working together, and you can't have one without the other. You can't say, Well, I choose the Father. I'll make an end run around Jesus Christ. I do choose the Father. How do we get to Him? It is through Jesus Christ and the Son whom He sent for this very purpose. So baptism is actually our response to God the Father who sent His Son. And it's our response as well to Jesus Christ who died on our behalf. We value that sacrifice, and we repent, and we come under it. Baptism is our acceptance, again, of the sacrifice on our behalf, and it's an expression of belief. Baptism is an expression of faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. So, again, it's this process that God has lined out. Baptism is also the act that binds us into covenant relationship with God, whereby, He says, now we have a covenant. A covenant is an agreement, and both parties agree to terms of the covenant. We agree, Father, we will do Your will. We will live by Your Word. We will seek You. We will acknowledge the sacrifice of Your Son. And God says, in return, You are my Son, and I will grant You eternal life.

It is a covenant relationship. God is faithful. Let us be sure that we are as well, brethren.

As I mentioned earlier, the Bible calls Jesus the author of eternal salvation. And I want to turn there because there's another important principle in that verse. Hebrews 5, verse 8 and 9.

Hebrews 5, verse 8 and 9. Again, I haven't looked up the Greek word for author, but I'll just say, as it's translated in the English, in my mind, when I see Christ as the author of salvation, I consider it as, He wrote the book on salvation. Came in the flesh, lived this life, obedient to His Father's will, died, resurrected, now sits in glory at the right hand of the Father. He wrote the book on it, and He's the author now of our eternal salvation. Hebrews 5, verse 8 and 9 says, Well, that's an interesting term. To all who obey Him. And sometimes, I've read through scriptures in the Gospels, and sometimes those scriptures, people attempt to shoot them down by saying, Well, okay, that was before the sacrifice of Christ. That's before the law was nailed to the cross and done away with, as is sometimes expressed. You know, it's, you just sit back and let the grace fall on you. I don't see that in the scripture either. The point is, there is a response to belief. There's a response to the salvation that God has offered, and it is obedience.

Again, verse 9 of Hebrews, chapter 5, If you're going to believe in Jesus Christ, that belief means you will be doing something. You'll be obedient. You won't just be saying, Lord, Lord, and not doing the things which He said, you will be doing the things which He said. You'll be living your life in the manner in which He demonstrated. We don't have time to go there, but you can jot this scripture down as well. Acts, chapter 5, verse 32. There it tells us that God gives His Holy Spirit to who? Acts 5, 32. God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him.

If you're disobedient, if you don't respond in the way that God has called us to respond, again, it's a covenant relationship. If you don't hold up your end of the covenant, you're not actually entering into the covenant with God.

If you ever had a house mortgage, it's a covenant. That's a lot of the old-timey writing. It's a covenant. You agree to pay such and such by such and such a date, and the bank agrees that you'll have ownership of the house eventually. Well, you don't get the renega on your end and expect the other end to be fulfilled. Salvation is a gift we cannot earn, but it comes by entering into a covenant with God by which we agree to certain things. Obedience, brethren, is not legalism. Obedience is not legalism. If you have children and you tell them to do their homework, and it's a school night, you need to be in bed at 9 o'clock. If they've done so, are they being legalistic or obedient?

My daughter laughing. They're being obedient, right? That's the blessing that God would pour on us, if indeed our response to it. If the blessing comes to him is obedience. It's not legalism. What is obedience? This is my definition. Obedience is responding in love to a God who loves us and has offered us so much.

Again, obedience is responding in love to a God who loves us and has offered us so much. Obedience is an acknowledgment of the supremacy of God. It's an acknowledgment of the authority he has over our life. He created us for a purpose. He's the potter, we're the clay. And, frankly, if we don't let him mold us, he can just smash us back down into a little lump of clay again and start over. And that could certainly be a painful process. But we must allow God to work in our lives and we acknowledge his supremacy over us as we come into this covenant and we obey him. The Apostle John confirms for us that there is no contradiction between faith and obedience. In fact, they work in agreement. Faith and obedience. Let's notice 1 John 5 and verse 3.

1 John 5, beginning in verse 3. Again, there's no conflict between faith or belief and obedience. 1 John 5 and verse 3. John says, For this is the love of God. If you want to know what the love of God looks like as we would express it in return, this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. Well, again, isn't that Old Covenant? Isn't that nailed to the cross? No, it is what we do out of love in response to God. This is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Again, it's through, number one, obedience. Right? Verse 3. It's the love of God that we keep his commandments. But it's through obedience that we demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ.

You know, when I ran my landscape business, if I just woke up every morning and said, I believe today is going to be a good day and I'm going to make some money. And I didn't even get out of bed, but I just believe not much is going to happen. Belief in true faith motivates us to action, to grow. I believe that if I take on the character of God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, I will be in the kingdom of God. So you don't just lay in bed in the morning and say, I believe, I believe. You get up and you study the Word of God and you pray. And you will grow in that character. And you become more like our Father in our heaven and our elder brother. And God grants us what it is that he promises. The book of James also points out the relationship between faith and obedience. Let's go to James chapter 2.

Excuse me, James chapter 2, verse 14. Because you see, faith is going to be evidenced by what you do. It's going to be evidence in action. It's going to be demonstrated. James chapter 2 and verse 14. What does it profit, my brother? And if someone says, he has faith, but does not have works. Can faith save him? Again, can just believing save him without doing anything? Verse 15, 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? You know, somebody knocks on your door, a family member, and they're starving and they're cold, and you say, have a nice day, be warmed and filled, and you shut the door. What have you done? What have you done for them? You know, I believe. Well, I believe, but you also give them. I think in my life and the life of Darla and I and our family, so many times where God has intervened on our behalf and it's come through somebody. It's a blessing that showed up at our door through somebody, and we are thankful to that person, but what do we often say with things like that happen? That's a blessing from God.

A blessing from God. Somebody may have physically laid it at your doorstep, but that was a blessing from God. Verse 17, thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

It says it's dead. It's not living faith. Living faith is combined with action. Faith, as James is describing, is demonstrative, as in, I believe, therefore I do. It's not just a good feeling in your heart. It is a response by faith. By grace, again, by grace you have been saved through faith. It's not by grace you are saved, do nothing. We are exercising our part. Verse 18, but someone will say to you, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

He says, you believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, oh, foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Again, faith is pointless unless it's actually backed up by your response, where your belief is evident. I believe that Saturday is the Sabbath. So what does that do? That gets me up in the morning. I shave, I put on a suit, and I go assemble with God's people.

I believe it's the Sabbath, but I don't just lay in bed and say, Oh, what a nice day, unless I'm infirmed. That belief leads to an action, and our faith actually brings us here together. Continuing on, verse 21, Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works, justified, made right in God's sight? Was he not justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works his faith was made perfect?

God had made many promises to Abraham, All nations, all people will be blessed through you, through his seed, but he also told him to do something. Get up out of your father's house, out of your father's country, go to a place where I will show you. And it was by faith that he moved, that he responded. It was by faith in God that he was willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

It wasn't just, I believe, it was, Father, I serve you. God, I serve you. By faith he responded. And his faith was made perfect or complete. Verse 23, in the scripture, was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. Again, believed. He up and left and moved and followed through what God had given him to do because he believed.

He had faith. That's truly what it means to believe. Verse 24, you see then that a man is justified, made right, by works, and not by faith only. Not that we earn God's grace by works, but we have right standing in God's sight. We are justified by works of obedience. And when you're right in his sight, he pours out his gift and his mercy and his grace upon you. 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.

So, brethren, God has called us to exercise living faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Not dead faith, not belief that just says, Lord, Lord, but doesn't do the things that he said. It is living faith, again, that is demonstrative by our response and our actions. And it is through that faith and that belief, then, that God's grace as well, then, is poured out on us. God has called us to exercise living faith to believe in him, his son Jesus Christ, for the purpose of eternal life. Our belief in him as our Savior must be more than just a comforting thought, must be more than simply intellectual in terms of the concept of it all.

Jesus Christ himself warns us that simply calling on his name or recognizing him as Lord is not enough. We must have a commitment to live as he lived, to walk as he walked, and to demonstrate the faith that we have by truly acting. Final scripture for today, 1 John 2, verse 3. Again, if we say we know him, if we say we believe in him unto eternal life, then it's going to be evidenced by our words, by our actions, by our heart.

I don't mean to minimize what some may call belief. That is a part of the process, but it goes on farther than simply an expression. It goes into our response. 1 John 2, verse 3. Now by this we know that we know him, Jesus Christ. By this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. So, brethren, do we claim to believe in Jesus Christ? Or do we actually exercise that living faith and we follow through with the expression of that belief? I hope that we do. I hope that we understand the depth of what it means to believe on him. Jesus clearly taught us that to demonstrate our faith is a process of submitting. It's a process of following through on what he has given us to do and what his Father has given us to do.

He taught us that in order to demonstrate our faith, we must comb into repentance and baptism. He taught us that in order to demonstrate our faith before God, showing that we believe it's being obedient to the will of our Father in heaven. Again, it's action. It's following through.

It's doing what it is God gave us to do. Jesus Christ clearly taught in order to demonstrate our faith we're to be obeying the commandments of God. And he taught in order to demonstrate our faith we're going to be living our lives according to the example that he set. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God's gift to us was the sacrifice so that we might be reconciled in covenant to him. Brother, what a wonderful blessing that is. God's promise that he will grant eternal life to those who believe in his Son is sure. But that statement comes with a full understanding of what it means to believe in him. Not just an expression or a feel-good feeling. It is a follow-through. Salvation is a gift from God.

It's grace. But it does have conditions. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, but it requires our active participation. If that were not true, why would the disciples, the apostles, Jesus Christ, and continuing down into the ministry today, why would we teach that there is even anything we need to do in this Christian life? Why not just say, sit back and allow the grace of God to fall on you if there are no conditions? The conditions are God has entered into a covenant with him. He has promised us a gift we cannot possibly earn, but we still need to do our part.

Let us believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the saving of the soul. And let that belief be evident in the way that we live our lives as we live according to the example that he set. And, brethren, in doing so, we will fulfill the will of our Father in heaven.