I Believe
On Wednesday morning, I was talking to some people on my coffee break, and one gentleman turned to me and said �you�re a Christian, do you believe that all religions are going to be in heaven?� Of course, my answer was �no� he started into this long explanation how a strong enough faith in the god of your choice would be enough for salvation.
I explained as carefully as possible that there was only one way and that was through Christ.
He goes on to tell me how many of so called lost books of the bible have been found, and how many good people there were in the world and then he turns to me in a loud and confrontational voice �Kelly are you telling me that only Christians are going to be with God in the end. No Jews, no Muslims, no Buddhists, I never thought of you as a bigot.�
I waited for his breathing to return to normal and stated as quietly as I could that unless they receive Christ that yes they are going to hell. That Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life.
There is no other way.
By now the veins are standing out in his neck he screamed at me �if that is how it is then God is as evil as the devil himself�, and then punctuated his statement with a few expletives.
I explained that Jesus stands at the door ready for every one who will call Him Lord. The choices are follow Christ or remain dead in sin. With your heart closed to a relationship with God in your earthly life, and eternity in His presence. On the other hand, there is the final judgment. An eternity of separation from God, and as badly as I hated to tell him; hell was real and awaited those who refused God�s merciful and undeserved Grace
Still he kept twisting and turning scripture trying in vain convince me that I was wrong until he was wild eyed with frustration. He was so angry that he was ranting and raving by this point. He loudly began quoting several popular books as to the validity of God, the divinity of Christ and his relationship with Mary Magdalene and again as if; shear volume could make him right. He started naming the so-called lost book of the bible, and continued in this manner choosing only the most superficial passages from the Bible.
He was turning the scriptures inside out to make his point, disregarding completely the actual word of God for the tainted popularized politically correct version. The whole �the bible needs to be rewritten to be a better cultural fit. Creating a godless, sinless faith. A version that the world wants it to be discounting the hard teaching the ones that require Faith to even begin to understand and a heart to follow God.
His anger grew and grew, verbally assaulting my faith like in Saul/Paul he was kicking against the pricks. Doing his best to make me doubt, both my understanding of the Word, hoping to trap me in a mistake or contradiction, but try as he might The Word of God stayed with me, and I would not be swayed. He eventually stormed away irate muttering obscenities as he went.
By the time I got back to my office, I was heartbroken to see him so far from the truth of Christ. I could still see him climbing into his truck to head off to perform his very dangerous job�
Knowing that he was completely without Christ actually it was worse than that he had allowed a false teaching to pull him into the seductive arms of Satan.
I believe that this gentleman was being pulled between the truth of Christ and The half-truths of the Prince of Lies.
I felt completely powerless to help him, and all I could do was follow Jesus� example and turn it over to God by prayer, because some things can only be resolved through prayer.
Christ was returning from His transfiguration a crowd had assembled around his disciples, The disciples were unable to help a father and his child, from
Mark 9:16-29 16: And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
17: And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18: And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19: He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20: And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21: And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22: And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23: Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24: And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 25: When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26: And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27: But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 28: And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29: And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
It was not that the disciples did not pray or fast Jesus was trying make them understand that following through with the new covenant would require daily dedication. That it was a faith that had to be lived, every moment of every day. To keep His principles and to live a life befitting a Child of God, He demonstrated repeatedly that the disciples must keep their minds and hearts constantly turned toward God.
That by demonstrating with their lives their belief in Jesus as Christ, this was not an idle set of rituals, but a new and remarkable way of life, a life of faith.
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty�
We start our creed with these words; the first two are where it all begins that one statement �I believe�. That statement of faith in the Almighty.
Believing on Christ is more than just saying the words it is so much more than a little fish on the tailgate of your truck. It is more than belonging to a popular church or being there every Sunday because that is what you have always done. It is giving up the temporal man and stepping off the edge into faith.
When you believe with all your heart, mind, and soul, a change takes place, and that simple phrase. �I believe� takes on a very different meaning. It is no longer a vague, abstract idea. It has taken on a life of its own. Now it is part of who you are and directs you in ways beyond your understanding.
By crossing that barrier from an intellectual understanding to a spiritual heartfelt knowledge. The result is reaching a stronger faith a revelation of thought, which can only be accomplished by patterning our life after that of our Savior.
Our faith is no longer a set of rules or something we think we should do, but something we must do. We leave religion behind becoming a Christian in spirit or as my wise friend always says, �Not confusing your religion with your Christianity�. That statement eluded me for a while, but as I considered that statement on its own merit, I understand that no practice makes me Christian.
It falls back to those two little words �I believe�. When we finally grasp this concept [that] is when we find [that] we no longer seek the easy to swallow sweet milk as if we were infants, but progress steadily in faith. We are ready to eat the strong meat. We will be ready to confront the uncomfortable truths in God�s word, or as Paul puts (scripture) in
Hebrews 5:13-14 13 For every one the useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongth to them that are full of age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Not everyone was ready to accept the responsibility of following Jesus. When they had Christ with them, many turned away after he had taught in a synagogue in Capernaum.
John 6:60-69
60: Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61: When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62: What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
64: But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65: And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66: From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67: Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68: Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69: And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
This was a pruning of the vine. A cutting back to the most vibrant limbs these twelve men who truly believed were better than 500 who only wanted to live the easy teaching those lacking the strength to live a life in pursuit of the way the truth and the life.
We too should pursue Christ with a single mined intention.
Even today, many Christians are satisfied to glide along the edge of faith, strangers to the work of Divine grace. Doing exactly as they have always done, perfectly content as marginal Christians who are not interested in understanding that God wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit. He requires us to continually strive to draw close to Him, and the only way to accomplish this is by living our lives stepping step for step in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
After this large number of followers fell away, it was time to really get started. From this time on Christ devoted most of His remaining time on earth to these few teachable disciples.
The world could be indifferent toward Him and still not defeat his strategy. Everyone on the fringe could leave. This exodus caused him no real concern, but he could not bear to have His close disciples miss his purpose. They had to understand His truth and be sanctified by it.
Therefore, He prayed not for the world, but for those He has chosen out of it everything depended on their faithfulness, if the world was to believe on Him through his word.
Jesus spent his earthly ministry teaching with a very direct and intentional method. Taking these twelve men and with intentionality prepared them for the time when He would no longer be with them. Jesus started simply with parables and gradually taught the disciples how they must pattern themselves after the example Jesus had shown them and apply His teachings to every aspect of their lives. Making them able to carry His work on the cross to the world. So that others may believe on Him.
When you cut right down to it, it was because they �believed�.
Again, we are back to that simple word �believe�
�I believe� help me with my unbelief was the cry of the father. Remember Christ told the disciples that only through prayer and fasting can things like this be done. He is not just talking about a moment, a day, or even a week. He is talking about a real commitment, a commitment that to truly live God�s will for us that Christians must intentionally believe and intentionally follow Christ. We must pursue a belief that transcends mere confidence a Faith that is more than a superficial life of salvation
We should not be satisfied with self-help lectures or a lesson that keeps us in a comfortable place. We should be ready to be challenged. Ready to be tested; no longer can someone else tell us how to understand our relationship with Christ. Know what you believe.
�Believe� again that one little word.
Somewhere out there� outside of these walls there is someone who thinks of you when they hear the word Christian.
And with that comes responsibility a responsibility to be and act as Children of the Most High God.
� Are you and I the best example we can be?
� Are our lives a reflection of Christ?
The word itself Christian or �Christ in us� should that not be what is projected to what is outside of us. It does not matter if we want to be an example or not we are.
Those outside this place, those who do not yet know Christ should be able to look to each of us for an example of who Christians are. I know I fall short of this standard, but that is no reason not to put forth my best effort because it is not only my words but also my actions that reveal where my heart really lies.
� Those two little words �I believe�.
� �I believe� in God the Father Almighty.
� �I believe� Christ died for the sins of the world.
� �I believe� He died for me.
� �I believe� His will, will be done
� �I believe� His word.
� I know He rose again from the dead.
Snatching me from the hands of Satan, and placing me on the path to righteousness, I have been justified and made whole. By His blood.
We have been made righteous; we have been made whole in our imperfection, and have been granted God�s underserved Grace. We must therefore be living examples a demonstration of God�s love for us.
We are told that those who have not seen and still believe will be truly blessed.