True Faith?

One of the obstacles in the church today, is that people profess to be Christians with their mouths but not with the lives. Many would argue that all you have to do is "believe" in Jesus and you will be saved. They often even use scripture to back up that claim. John 6:47 says "he who believes has everlasting life. However, when people use verses like that (meaning like that is the end of the story) they tend leave VITAL parts of the story.

Example. A transcript of announcers at Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers game in overtime.
....field goal try to win the game. There's the snap, it up and it's GOOD!!! BEARS WIN!!! BEARS WIN!!
If someone (especially a bear fan) was browsing through that transcript and read BEARS WIN they would often conclude that the Bears won. However, if they kept reading, and in fact read the whole transcript, they would realize that the Bears right tackle jumped offsides, they were backed up 5 yards, and missed the next field goal attempt.   Green Bay took over, drove it down the field, and won the game.

Some may be saying, "Come on Mike we have heard for years, all you have to do is believe in Jesus. We go to church, we have been baptized, etc. etc. How can you say that is not enough?"

Well, as always, we have to go to God's word. Read Acts 8: 9-24 the story of Simon the Sorcerer. We see that Simon was man that was highly regarded because of his magic arts. in Samaria, he attracted big crowds from all different segments of society from the smallest to the greatest. They even claimed that he was the power of God. Then Phillip came to Samaria preaching the word, healing the sick, and casting out demons. And the people heard Phillip and were being baptized, men and women alike.

Then we see that even Simon the Sorcerer BELIEVED and was BAPTIZED. He started following Phillip and was amazed at what Phillip was doing.

We then see that the apostles came to pray for and were laying hands on the people and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw this, he wanted this power that the apostles had. He offered to pay for this power.  We see Peter's response to him in verse 20 "May your silver PERISH WITH YOU, because you thought that you could obtain the gift of God with money. Peter goes on to say that your heart is not right before God.

Peter tells him to repent, and says that Simon is still stuck in bondage to sin. Instead of doing what Peter instructs him, Simon tells Peter to pray for him.   Simon was unwilling to to do what is necessary to be approved by God.

So we see that Simon BELIEVED was BAPTIZED and even followed Phillip for a while.   However, he did not want give up his previous life and truly follow Christ as Christ said in 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  Even though Simon believed, he did not want to give up his previous sinful life and because of this he will perish as Peter said.

Do not be deceived into thinking that you are saved only because you believe in Jesus. We not only have to accept Christ as our Savior but also accept Christ as Lord of our lives. He is what we live for.    Until next time.