Episode 10: What does it mean to Believe in Jesus?

We have been considering some elements of “salvation.” Integral to this subject is the issue of what it means to “believe” or to have faith. What is saving faith? How do we know that we believe? “So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”” (Acts 16:31, NKJV) “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.” (John 3:16, NKJV)

• What Biblical faith (or believing) is not:
o An intellectual belief in certain facts
o Something that requires no commitment or action
o A kind of positive confession (mind over matter)
o Receiving is not believing (John 1:12)

• What Biblical faith is:
o Believing in a person (The person of Jesus Christ)
o A commitment of will to the Lordship of Christ
o Based on the Word of God (communication from God)
o A continual belief (not just a one-time act)
o Believing brings us into an experience of the grace of God
o Begins in heart, confession with mouth, completed in actions (Rom. 10:8-10)

To believe God is to commit (trust) your whole person into His hands, knowing that He is God and He is faithful in all things. “. . . . I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12, NKJV)

Additional resources at  http://www.ntchurchsource.com/
Theme song “Will Your Anchor Hold” sung by J. Ashley Milne
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