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Declaring good news of real change out of, through and into the Spirit of Jesus Christ Rom. 12:2, Rom. 11:36
Faith
(part 9)
To Believe or Not To Believe
Of course, we are to believe. That seems obvious, but it is sometimes not as easy as we like to think. The condition of our hearts, our own imaginations, and our religious traditions will all prove to be hindrances to our ability to believe. Yet believing is such a vital part of the deliverance and salvation of our souls. It is, I contend, the only real thing that we as God’s elect actually do. To quote a dear friend of mine, “You got to believe it. It don’t work, if you don’t believe it Larry.” And she is right, “you got to believe it.” There are literally hundreds of verses in the New Testament alone that deal with belief and believing. Most of our promises come tied with the condition of believing, especially the promise of life of the ages. This alone should motivate us to investigate this totally phenomenal aspect of our reality in Christ; but it is surprising how little we really know. Believing is usually just taken for granted. As I stated at the top, of course we are to believe. That seems obvious; however, that which seems so apparent, many times isn’t. Often, we are the ones to whom the verse in Isaiah 53 was written, “Who hath believed our report (?), and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:38, Isaiah 53:1 KJV) “This is the work of God, that ye believe (on?) him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29).
On Into
John 12:44, “I am come a light INTO the world that whosoever believeth ON me should not abide in darkness. It should not surprise us to learn that these two words, in this passage, “into and on,” are actually the same word in the Greek texts. That particular Greek word is eis, (Strong’s # 1519, pronounced as ice), and it is this same word, which is consistently translated as INTO in the Emphatic Diaglott. So then this passage reads like this, “I am come a light INTO the world that whosoever believeth INTO me should not abide in darkness.” What a world of difference between these two English words. Just try telling your kids that they are allowed to play on the pool, but are not allowed to get into the pool. Just saying, “Go play on the pool,” seems sort of ridiculous, doesn’t it; (?) so too, is it sort of silly to believe on Jesus Christ and His resurrection, but not believe into Him. Do we remember the men casting out demons in Paul’s time? They believed on Jesus! They said, “in the name of Jesus, about whom Paul preaches, come out of him!” What happened? The demons arose and said, “Jesus we know, and Paul we know; but who are you?” They believed ON Jesus; but they were not believing INTO Him. Those demons then rose up, and tore those men a new one. (Please, if this offends, forgive my colloquialism.) The scripture, in James 2:19, tells us that devils also believe and tremble. Those foolish men were believing on Jesus, but Paul was believing into Him. Believing into Him makes all the difference. Paul was believing into Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and thus was known. “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in (eis-into) God, believe also in (eis-into) me (John 14:1). “This is the work of God, that you believe into (eis) Him whom He hath sent. (John 6:29)” Believing ON the historical Jesus, and even ON His resurrection, does not replace believing INTO Him, through His Spirit.
Ah, the light of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in our hearts and minds quickening us to the truth, in an unveiling of Himself within us. Now we see why Paul wrote that if any man (person) be IN Christ he is a new creation. Are we believing into Christ Jesus, or are we just believing on Him. Again, “There now therefore remains no condemnation to them which are IN Christ Jesus…” The entire book of Ephesians was written to “the faithful IN Christ Jesus.” And, Philippians was written to “all the saints IN Christ Jesus.” Was Paul just using words at random here, or was he expressing a central truth about our life and communion with our redeemer, Jesus Christ?
As a Little Child
Kids know! You cannot tell a kid to go play on the pool and expect him or her to not get into the pool. I don’t know about you, but all those images of adults, dry as a bone, on the top of the water, drink nearby, with a novel in hand, showing off the latest Hollywood pool fashions, just seem silly to me. A pool is for getting into, and getting wet. The cement structure is not the pool. The water contained in that structure is the pool. Immersion into the pool is where the fun begins. What is instinctive to a child, adults turn into a fashion statement. They miss the entire point, and miss all the fun, for fear of getting wet. Worried more about how they look, they stubbornly refuse to take part in the joy and total surrender found through immersion into the water of the pool.
It is the same way with our relationship in Jesus Christ. We are to immerse ourselves into His Life. Go on, jump right in. Forget for a moment about trying to look cool; and let the water really make you cool. Let the water of life wash you head to toe. We are baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3-4) that we might be raised in the likeness of His resurrection. If you do not understand this, then pull your big toe out of the water, and jump in. There is so much more in Him, but until we are immersed completely into His life, we will not begin to see. Our heavenly Father has brought us to the pool filled from the river of life that flows from His throne in the heavens. Can we, like children, (Luke 18:16-17), forget, for once, how we look and just receive the Kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17)? The pool is open; come on in, the water is great!
If You Are Able
Mark 9:23 from Young’s Literal Translation says, “And Jesus said to him, ‘If thou art able to believe (!); all things are possible to the one that is believing;’” What an interesting statement, IF you are ABLE to believe. Ask yourself; “Why wouldn’t someone be able to believe?” There are at least three reasons that hinder, or block completely, our ability to believe as we should. Those reasons are 1. the condition of our heart, 2. vain imaginations of our carnal understanding and 3. the tradition of men. It is not surprising to note that these relate with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life that the apostle John warned us about (1 John 2:16); the things of the world, we are told, to love not. “…If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).” So let’s look a little closer to prove ourselves as diligent workmen in rightly dividing the living word (logos) truth (2 Tim. 2:15).
It is extremely important for us to keep in mind that we receive of God. Pride ,fear, or any condition of the heart which is not good soil, can lead to an improper knowledge or a vain imagination, which can then in-turn lead to a tradition of men which makes of no effect the living word (logos) truth of God. Jesus preached against the Pharisees for these exact reasons. So we receive and believe as little children, (knowing that if we think we know anything, we know nothing yet as we ought to know it 1 Cor. 8:2), for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven, that we might come to know Him in the same manner as we are known of Him (1 Cor. 13:12). YES LORD, I WANT TO KNOW YOU!
Condition of the Heart
It is bible study time. I will give you a few references to look up on your own; and then use a couple of these, sometimes in translations other than the King James Version, to show you what I am writing about. With that in mind, I now refer you to…Mark 5:22-42; Mark 16:11-14; Luke 1:11-12, 20; Luke 24:13-25; John 5:38-39; John 11:38; John 12:16-45(40-43); Acts 17:5; Acts 19:9; and 2Thes. 2:2-12. I would direct you to notice the five conditions, like fingers on a hand, which squeeze belief out of the heart. The opposable thumb would have to be fear. Fear is a factor in every condition of the heart which is in opposition to believing. The other, “fingers” in no certain order would be doubt, pride, envy and greed. As you read and ponder on these, take a moment to feel the motivations which are prompting the unbelief in each story. Then, if you recognize that thing in yourself, cry out as did the man whose son was being tormented by a dumb spirit (Mark 9:17-24). “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.’” This man cried out with tears, because he knew that Jesus’ scolding of the faithless generation (vs. 19) was meant for him as much as anyone. He knew that he did not believe as he ought; yet being moved with love for his child, he was willing to admit that he was imperfect in his ability to believe. He also knew that he wanted to believe. So in tears, he cried out, ‘Lord, help my unbelief.’ Are we humble enough to admit our weakness, our inability, and be willing to cry out to God as did the father of this boy?
Let’s look at the reference in John 12. Here we see that, Jesus is multi-tasking. On the one hand, He is speaking to His disciples and those believing, encouraging and equipping them for the days soon to come. On the other hand, He is speaking to the Pharisees, and those not believing, as light, in contrast to their darkened traditions. Notice the fear, pride and envy set forth in the statement in verse 19, “Then the Pharisees (chief priests, scribes, and the elders of the people—Matt. 26:13, Mark 11:18, and Luke 19:47) said among themselves, you see how futile your efforts are and how you accomplish nothing. “See! The whole world is running after Him!” (The Amplified Bible)
On a quick side-note, it is interesting to note that John, with his unique perspective of the events of his day, gathers into one group, which he calls “Pharisees”, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of the people. That is to say that, the religious leaders, the lawyers and recorders of the law, and the civic elders, all members of the ruling Sanhedrin Council, were considered by John to have that Pharisaical spirit. That there was dissension amongst them in the way that they should approach “the quote-unquote problem of” Jesus of Nazareth is apparent in the way John 12:19 is written.
Fear of losing position or control was squeezing the Life of the Light in Jesus right out of these men. Jesus had warned several of them that to follow Him, they must lay aside everything. The rich young ruler was a man very much like Job, in the uprightness of his ways; yet when it came to his money, he was grieved to hear that he needed to lay that aside as well. In these examples, you can see the greed, the pride, the envy and even doubt, all along with the fear of the consequence of following Jesus Christ. They had seen the miracles. They were told that if they don’t yet believe Him for who He is, then believe the works (John 10:37-38), that they would know and believe that the Father was in Him, and He in the Father. What did He say? “While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light (John 12:36--KJV).” Notice what Jesus did next. “Jesus said these things, and then HE WENT AWAY AND HID HIMSELF FROM THEM [was lost to their view]. 37. Even though He had done so many miracles before them (right before their eyes), yet they still did not trust in Him and failed to believe in Him—38. So that what Isaiah the prophet said was fulfilled: Lord, who has believed our report and our message? And to whom has the arm (the power) of the Lord been shown (unveiled and revealed)? [Isa. 53:1.]
Does any of this sound familiar? How many miracles has the Lord done in your life? Are we believing into Him as He told us (John 12:46, 14:12)? Or, are we like those pitiable rulers that were believing into Him, but because “they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God” (John 12:43—Emphatic Diaglott) would not confess Him because they feared they would be put out of the synagogue (John 12:42)? Take heart, and take stock; reckon and inventory the things that the Lord has done in your life. Use these things as reminders and believe into the fullness of who He is within you. Taste and see the Lord!
Parable of the Sower
It is no great stretch to understand that the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 is talking about the living word (logos) truth as it is sown into the HEARTS OF MEN. The soil is metaphorically speaking of our fallen earthen nature. We are told that the way side is those who hear without understanding. We are also told that stony ground is those who hear and receive but have no depth of root and wilt under the pressure of testing or persecution. Further more, we are told that the cares of the world represent the thorns and thistles of Adam’s curse; seed sown in this earth is received, but quickly choked out and becomes unfruitful. It is only seed sown in the good soil which produces fruit. We must hear. We must understand. God will test His word. Psalm 12:6 says, “The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times (KJV).” We are that furnace of earth, AS WE WERE FASHIONED FROM THE DUST OF THE EARTH. We cannot just hope that we never run into testing or persecution. Our heavenly Father will bring us to them, or bring them to us, in order to purify the word that He has placed within us. Purified seven times, or until we can enter into HIS rest (believe AND abide) IN that word (Heb. 4:3). We must see and understand that our baptism into His death was the end of the curse of Adam. And that His resurrection is our resurrection into the liberty of the children of God. No longer slaves, sold under sin, we have the liberty to be the children of righteousness, through faith IN Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! I tell you, dear brother and sister, this is good news!
Joy and peace to all who read in Christ Jesus…Larry
References: The Companion Bible with the King James Version, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, The Emphatic Diaglott, Young’s Literal Translation, and The Amplified Bible.
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