#1302 1025 09P

         Choosing to believe in the atonement sacrifice of Christ, will lead to spiritual growth and eternal life.  Everyone has a free-will choice, and everyone will make a choice to go in one of two directions.  If we choose to believe Jesus in faith, God will give us His Holy Spirit who inspires faith to believe. 

   Believing Jesus is a salvation issue—John 3:18 ”He who trusts [believes] in Him does not come up for judgement [is not condemned].  He who does not trust [not believe] has already received sentence [is condemned already], because he has not his trust resting on the name of God’s only [begotten] Son.”  Jesus said John 6:47 “he who believes has everlasting life.”

   Eternal life is by grace through faith in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice; therefore our choice to believe in faith will decide our own destiny.  There is a specific reason why we must believe, and there is a specific One in whom to believe—regardless of how seriously our faith may be tested John 14:6.

   Our choice to believe in the Son of God enables the Holy Spirit of God to enlighten us to the Truth.  2 Corinthians 4:3 ”If [the meaning of] our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost [on the way to perdition]: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them.”

    It will always be our choice to believe the Truth from the Word and be saved, or to accept the lie from the devil and be lost.  John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe [disobeys] the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." 

          The world today is in its last chapter—a time when people reject God’s Truth.  2 Peter 3:3-4 “Remember that, in the last days, men will come who make a mock at everything—governed only by their own passions, and, asking, ‘What has become of His promised Return?  For from the time our forefathers fell asleep all things continue as they have been ever since the creation of the world.’"  Jesus stands at the door and awaits His Father’s command Revelation 3:20.

          The Bible is true whether anyone chooses to believe it or not.  Unbelievers, however 2 Peter 3:5-7 “willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.  But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

          Believing in the resurrection power of Christ, and knowing how that belief applies to the Christian’s life of trusting faith, is crucial, because God has predicted a day of serious judgment.  Habakkuk 2:3 ”Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”  We have to be trusting in faith on the Son of God for all things, because John 3:18 ”He who trusts in Him does not come up for judgement.  He who does not trust has already received sentence, because he has not his trust resting on the name of God’s only Son.”

          We believe Jesus in faith, and we trust on the power of God to heal us, protect us, avenge our wrongs, guide our decisions, and deliver us from sinful habits.  Unbelievers do not trust God for anything.  We must first make the choice to believe in faith that God will deliver us from sin, self, and Satan.  Romans 5:1-2 ”Standing then acquitted as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also, as the result of faith, we have obtained an introduction into that state of favour with God in which we stand.”

          We persevere through trials and keep trusting God in faith for the victory, because God’s requirement is John 6:29 "To believe in the one he has sent."  If we will trust in faith on the resurrection power of Jesus’ Name, God promises to heal, protect, supply, enlighten, and forgive us. 

Believing faith is enabled by the Holy Spirit.  John 14:17 ”That Spirit the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him.  You know Him, because He remains by your side and is in you.”  A choice has to be made to believe in faith on the sacrifice of Christ—it is the only way to be acquitted.

          Some think that there is no after-life—no heaven or no hell—life just ceases.  But the Author of life Acts 3:15 said that the soul of everyone continues forever and ever in one of two places—eternal torment in hell, or eternal pleasure in heaven.  Everyone must choose to believe in the shed blood of Christ because it is the only way to escape—Revelation 21:8 “the Lake which burns with fire and sulfur."

          The fate of those who refuse to believe in the atonement of Christ, in this life, is too dreadful to even contemplate.  Revelation 14:11-12 “The smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.  There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.  This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.”

          The spiritual condition of the world deteriorates rapidly—we no longer have all the time in the world to get right with God—we must be right by repenting and believing Jesus in faith.  2 Corinthians 6:2 "Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”  We make the choice to believe Jesus because it is the only way for a guilty sinner to be right with a holy God.

1 John 5:1 ”Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God; and every one who loves the Father loves also Him who is the Father’s [begotten] Child.  The fact that we love God Himself, and obey His commands, is a proof that we love God’s children.  Love for God means obedience to His commands.”

          Everyone is sentenced to the flames because of the sin-nature, until they choose to believe that Jesus gave His life to forgive their sins—and they then put His words into practice.  1 John 5:3-5  ”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 [only NIV] he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

          If we choose to believe in the resurrection power of the cross, and choose to trust on the divine power of God for things in this life, we will successfully resist Satan’s temptations.  When we decide to believe, the Holy Spirit inspires faith in us.  Revelation 3:5 “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments; and I will certainly not blot out his name from the Book of Life, but will acknowledge him in the presence of My Father and His angels.”   He will know us because we believe Him Luke 13:27.

          Our name has to be in the book because Revelation 20:15 “Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire,” where 14:11 “the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.”  No one can get out of this world spiritually alive, unless God commutes their sentence—and that happens only by believing in faith on the atonement of His Son.

We have to overcome Satan’s temptations, because he will destroy our soul if we do not resist and are not aware of what is happening.  We need to be alert because false teaching is everywhere and Satan can deceive very subtly.  Matthew 24:24 ”False prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even [God’s own people]—if that were possible.”

          There many signs—strange weather patterns, horrible crimes, serious quakes, global terrorism, information explosion, accumulating wealth, economic collapse, and Israel surrounded by enemies.  God’s Book has the only solution—but we have to read it, believe it, and put its teaching into practice Luke 8:21.

          Making the choice to believe Jesus in faith, and to trust in His resurrection power—for physical healing, daily supplies, spiritual light, divine protection, and forgiveness of sins—without any false places of trust, is a major issue.  “He who believes has everlasting life” John 6:47.  Time is running out, so the opportunity to believe Jesus is now!  God is patient because 2 Peter 3:9 He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  He has already given His Son, so now it is our choice to believe Him and be forgiven—or refuse to believe and be condemned.

          Everyone will make a choice—one of two—turn back to God in believing faith for the saving of their soul, or turn away in willful rebellion for the destruction of their soul.  Choosing to believe Jesus and choosing to live by His teaching is a must issue—because John 12:48 ”He who sets me at naught and does not receive my teachings is not left without a judge: the Message which I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

          The most valuable knowledge we could ever have, is to understand what the atonement work of Christ accomplished for us, and what His resurrection power means to us.  If we do not believe that God—through faith in His Son, can heal, deliver, protect, and save us, then our profession of faith is in vain—we would still be in sin.  A verbal faith in Christ must be accompanied by acting faith on His resurrection power for it to be valid James 2:22.

†††