Salvation is as easy as believing and proclaiming. John 3:16, perhaps the most widely known and oft repeated description of what is required for salvation, says, "whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Mark 16:16 says it similarly: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Also Romans 10:9: "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." In fact there are many verses in the New Testament about believing and receiving salvation. That's what it takes: belief. In order to be saved, in order to avoid condemnation, we have to believe in Jesus and his sacrifice.
Here's something interesting about belief: even the demons believe. Check out what James says:
"You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe, and shudder!" (James 2:19, ESV)
I was surprised to learn, as I did a few years ago, that so much of the Christian life exists beyond salvation. Last night the Lord told me this: I am beyond belief. The deepest place is in my heart, and the way to get there is to hunger and thirst. He is beyond belief, which I thought was a funny turn of phrase, because He truly is beyond belief, in both ways that phrase can imply.
Four years ago I fell for Him. I guess that a hunger and a thirst for Him had been building in me, but I couldn't have identified it as that. When He did show up and meet me and I let myself be broken, it changed my life. That's right, changed my life, which had already been made new. While I was saved by grace through faith at a young age - I think 5 years-old maybe - I moved beyond belief in 2008 at the age of 28. I moved into His heart and everything is different.
In Matthew Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied." Indeed, this is what I think God was telling me last night. He said the way into His heart is to hunger and thirst. And here is the satisfaction: Him. You see, God is righteous; He is the only righteous one, and so to hunger and thirst for righteousness is to hunger and thirst for His very heart. That's why Jesus said we are blessed if we do hunger and thirst, because we will get the very thing we were created for, and that is the heart of God. His companionship, His love, His covering and friendship and grace overwhelming. These are the things we get in His heart.
God's power is beyond belief, and the place where He wants to take us is beyond just salvation. Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12) Jesus in this chapter talks about how the Father is greater than him, and I wonder if what he meant in verse 12 is that the "greater works" we will do will be done after we get into the Father's heart. He seems to say, Believe in me and you can do what I do; get into the Father's heart, which is where I'm going, and you'll do even greater things. I think that there is truth in this, because Jesus didn't want us to stop at salvation, he wanted us to do greater works. He wanted and wants us to go beyond belief.
No comments:
Post a Comment