“And they said, Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy
house.” Acts 16:31
What is so difficult about
that verse to understand? It’s a very simple verse. Concerning salvation, it is
short and to the point, but many have totally misconstrued what it says,
especially by complicating the one word, “believe.”
Apart from those who
understand this word, one person may think we believe on Jesus and then go our
merry way. It doesn’t matter how we live our life as long as we acknowledge we
believe in Jesus. It’s all about, “Do I believe in Jesus? Yeah, I do, so leave
me alone!”
Another set of ears may hear
this word “believe” and say “We believe, but if we ever stop believing, we’re
lost again. Our works must be maintained. It’s all about our hanging on.”
Believe it or not, some
think, based on how this verse is laid out in the KJV, that if the head of the
household believes, then everyone in the household is saved; i.e. “and thy
house.” What the verse is actually saying though is that if we believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ we will be saved, and the same applies to any and everyone
else. In other words, if they also believe on the Lord Jesus Christ they will
be saved.
Finally, some dwell on
whether we say, “We believe on Jesus
or we believe in Jesus.” This reminds
me of Matthew 23:24, “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a
camel.” Consider the following verses.
“To declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.” (Emphasis mine)
Romans 3:16
“Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we
have believed in Jesus Christ, that
we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law:
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Emphasis mine)
Galatians 2:16
“Because that by reason of
him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.” (Emphasis mine) John 12:11
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved, and thy house.” (Emphasis mine) Acts 16:31
Using the King James
translation (KJV) in this instance: Romans 3:26 “ek” is translated “in.” Galatians
2:16 “eis” is translated “in.” John 12:11 “eis” is translated “on.” Acts 16:31
“epi” is translated “on.”
So isn’t it really all about,
“What does it mean to believe?”
Someone may have James 2:19 on the mind, “Thou believest that there is one God;
thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” We aren’t talking about
“who” believes, but “what” does the word “believe” mean for us to be saved?
The Greek word for “believe”
is pisteuo. According to Strongs (G4100) it means: (I) to think to be true, to
be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in; (A) of the thing believed, to
credit, have confidence; (B) in a moral or religious reference, used in the NT
of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and
higher prerogative and law of soul, to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid
either in obtaining or in doing something (saving faith), mere acknowledgment
or some fact or event (intellectual faith): (II) to entrust a thing to one,
i.e. his fidelity; (A) to be intrusted with a thing. It is translated as
“believe” 239 times.
A golden rule of interrupting
Scripture goes as follows: “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common
sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary,
ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context,
studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths
indicate clearly otherwise.”
I feel this is a sound
guideline to follow, but is it possible that some will read, “When the plain
sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense,” and at this point
they stop reading? Of course it is, and obviously this happens far too often.
If that happens, we start forming our own opinions on what makes sense to us
individually, instead of “What is the Scripture saying?” We must be very
careful about trying to inject our own opinion instead of letting the Bible
speak for itself.
CONSIDERATION #1
With our introductory verse (Acts 16:31) in mind, does
simply saying, “I believe in Jesus” save us? Not according to the following verses (keeping
in mind that this is but a small sampling):
“Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
“Jesus said unto him, If thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” Matthew 19:21
“My sheep hear my voice, and
I know them, and they follow me:” John 10:27
“If any man serve me, let him
follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me,
him will my Father honour.” John 12:26
“Yea, a man may say, Thou
hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will
shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18
So obviously there must be
something more than just “I believe.” Let us flip the coin over and look at the
other side.
CONSIDERATION #2
Again with our introductory verse (Acts 16:31) in
mind, are we saved by at least contributing something to our being born
again? Not according to the following
verses (continuing to recall that these are but a few):
“And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:14-15, 18
“Then said Jesus unto them
again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the
door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out,
and find pasture.” John 10:7, 9
“Much more then, being now
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Romans 5:9
“For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians
2:8-10
“That we should be to the
praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which
is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:12-13
Summation:
The first consideration above
depicts a confession with the mouth but a heart that is unchanged. The second consideration
above depicts an attitude of having to help God out which is a direct insult to
the entire Godhead; i.e. the Father’s plan was faulty and needs our help, the
Son was not a sufficient sacrifice for our sins, and our works can be
substituted for the work of the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean to believe?
The Scriptures never contradict each other. We may think they do, but they do
not … ever.
To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to commit to Him.
My wife and I believed, 23
years ago, in each other to the point of committing ourselves to each other in
marriage. We showed our faith in each other by uniting in marriage. Our
marriage to each other is outward proof of our faith in each other.
When I drive my car across the
local Interstate overpass, I believe it will hold me and all the other traffic
without falling through. I commit myself to it. By driving across the overpass
I outwardly demonstrate my faith in it that it will hold me up.
If I plant a garden, I do so
because I believe vegetables will grow up from the ground. I believe in it
strongly enough that I commit myself to that belief by preparing the ground and
planting the seed, just as Noah believed God and built the Ark, prior to the
flood. My faith is proven by my actions.
When the traffic light turns
green on my side, I put my faith in the light by driving forward. By doing so, my
faith in the security of the light is revealed.
In any of these four
examples, if my faith is just “words,” there will be no further action on my
part that proves my faith is genuine.
Jesus has said that if we
believe on Him He will save us and keep us. Can we believe it? If we really
believe it, we will commit to it.
Do understand, we cannot do
anything to earn our salvation. It is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). If it
weren’t for Him providing us enough faith to believe, none of us would ever
believe on Jesus. We would all be lost. But in His graciousness, He provides
the faith for us to use or not use. When we exercise that faith, we believe.
When we really believe in
something or someone we will commit to that person or thing whether it is our
spouse, our job, our hobby, etc.
Believing on Jesus is more
than acknowledgment. If we really believe, we will commit. Once we have shown
Him true belief, He does the rest as shown here:
“…Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts 16:31
We truly believe. He saves.
“In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”
Ephesians 1:13
We heard and trusted. Jesus
saved. The Holy Spirit sealed.
“Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ:” Philippians 1:6
From the point of our salvation,
the Holy Spirit will continue His work in us until the day we with are with
Jesus in Glory.
“And grieve not the holy
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians
4:30
When we sin, we grieve the
Holy Spirit because we are now a child of God. We have been bought with a price
and belong to Him. We have the seal of God upon us and will always be His, but
He will now discipline us when we disobey to restore our fellowship … not
“salvation,” but “fellowship.”
“So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I
sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
Once we have proclaimed true
faith in Jesus, we have the promise that we are His, and we are His forever.
I have emphatically
proclaimed over the past many years that salvation is by God’s grace alone
apart from any works on our behalf. Nothing could be clearer on this subject
than Ephesians 2:8-9. Let me see if I can explain it even more clearly.
Romans 3:11 says in part,
“…there is none that seeketh after God.” Now why is that? Because prior to
being born again (being saved) we are spiritually dead. The dead cannot react
to anything. However, God the Holy Spirit places a spark of faith in us to be
used when God the Father calls us to come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ.
When He calls us we may then, through no credit of our own, ask Jesus to save
us.
It has nothing to do with how
good or bad we are or anything else. It’s about, “Do I believe He can and will
save me, and do I want Him to save me?”
Jesus often used the term,
“Follow me.” If we truly believe, we will follow Him. We may run. We may walk.
We may limp. We may crawl, etc. but we will follow Him. Again, our works are
not the issue at this point. The issue is “Do I believe in Him enough that I
will put my trust in Him?” If I do, I will grow in Him because HE works in me.
The entire book of James is
about this very subject; i.e. believing faith. There is true faith (belief) and
there is a faith (belief) that is not true. James was saying, “Just saying it
doesn’t make it so, but I’ll prove to you I have true faith by my works.
By God’s grace our true faith
results in salvation. Our works prove our faith was true faith. One more time: true
faith results in salvation by God’s grace. Works show what took place, but can
never save us.
If we have been truly saved,
we are His forever. Works cannot save us, and sin cannot “lose” us. Faith, by
His grace, results in salvation, but it cannot keep us. Only God’s grace keeps
us. Therefore, by God’s grace:
· TRUE FAITH will result in salvation for the
non-Christian, but does not keep the new Christian.
· WORKS cannot save the non-Christian, and cannot keep
the Christian.
· SIN cannot separate the Christian, but can harm the
relationship of the Christian.
· GRACE saves, keeps the Christian, and helps him/her to
grow.
In reality, if we look in the
background, it is God who saves us and keeps us when we come to Him through
Jesus His Son, who is the second person of the Godhead.
God the Father calls us. God
the Son (Jesus) saves us. God the Holy Spirit keeps us.
Someone emailed me recently
to imply that James 5:19-20 clearly indicates that God the Holy Spirit cannot
keep us. I’ve read those verses many times, and still cannot come to that
conclusion. These two verses are speaking of someone who is not saved and needs
to come to Christ for salvation. They have nothing to do with a child of God
losing their salvation.
“…Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” True belief will result in our
salvation.
When Jesus was physically on
earth, most of the people left Him because He asked too much. “Follow me.” That
is true belief or faith. If we are willing, He will make it possible. However,
we cannot follow Him, no matter how much we try, if it is through our own
strength (works), but if we will but trust Him by faith by the faith He
supplies, He will take our hand and guide us as our Good Shepherd. We will
stumble and fall many times, but He will always pick us up and guide us onward.
As a Christian, we strive for
good works out of appreciation and the growing love within us.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
