by jimwalton » Sun Jun 30, 2019 1:28 am
On two occasions Jesus was specifically asked almost this exact same question: "What must I do to be saved?" We are usually told that the only thing required is "to believe in Jesus"—that Jesus's blood saves us. Nothing more. Jesus himself had a very different answer to the question of salvation.
On these two occasions where Jesus was asked about the criteria for admission to eternity, he offered a fourfold answer:
1. Love God with all that you are
2. Love your "neighbor"—your fellow human beings.
3. Do God’s will by being like Jesus.
4. Be willing to "pay the price" it will cost you to follow Jesus.
Jesus never taught easy-believism. Yes, people are to believe, but he called people to abandon their own agenda and trust him radically. Radical trust calls for both belief and action.
What does it mean to "trust"? To trust God is to rest in the reality that God is sovereign, we have confidence in His wisdom (and how He is at work in our lives; Jer. 17.7), working out salvation history to His ends. It is a confidence in the person, wisdom, and work of God.
It’s belief, it’s knowledge, and it’s the love relationship itself. When we trust God, we are acknowledging before Him that we don’t know what the next minute will bring. Our ways, our thoughts, our intuitions, and preferences, have to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12.2). We have enough knowledge about His character and His ways that we can trust in him rather than ourselves. We know who we are in Him and where we stand. And we know that He always treats his children with love.
So, how do you develop faith in Jesus? First, believe in Jesus: that’s the first step. He's real. He's God. Believe it. Second, invite Jesus into your heart as your personal savior. Much like I invited my wife into my heart when I pledged to love her for all eternity. Then, empowered by God’s grace, embark on the journey of discipleship in which you seek to love God with every fiber of your being, to love your neighbor as yourself, to live out God’s moral will, and to follow Jesus where he leads you, whatever the cost.
On two occasions Jesus was specifically asked almost this exact same question: "What must I do to be saved?" We are usually told that the only thing required is "to believe in Jesus"—that Jesus's blood saves us. Nothing more. Jesus himself had a very different answer to the question of salvation.
On these two occasions where Jesus was asked about the criteria for admission to eternity, he offered a fourfold answer:
[list]1. Love God with all that you are
2. Love your "neighbor"—your fellow human beings.
3. Do God’s will by being like Jesus.
4. Be willing to "pay the price" it will cost you to follow Jesus.[/list]
Jesus never taught easy-believism. Yes, people are to believe, but he called people to abandon their own agenda and trust him radically. Radical trust calls for both belief and action.
What does it mean to "trust"? To trust God is to rest in the reality that God is sovereign, we have confidence in His wisdom (and how He is at work in our lives; Jer. 17.7), working out salvation history to His ends. It is a confidence in the person, wisdom, and work of God.
It’s belief, it’s knowledge, and it’s the love relationship itself. When we trust God, we are acknowledging before Him that we don’t know what the next minute will bring. Our ways, our thoughts, our intuitions, and preferences, have to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12.2). We have enough knowledge about His character and His ways that we can trust in him rather than ourselves. We know who we are in Him and where we stand. And we know that He always treats his children with love.
So, how do you develop faith in Jesus? First, believe in Jesus: that’s the first step. He's real. He's God. Believe it. Second, invite Jesus into your heart as your personal savior. Much like I invited my wife into my heart when I pledged to love her for all eternity. Then, empowered by God’s grace, embark on the journey of discipleship in which you seek to love God with every fiber of your being, to love your neighbor as yourself, to live out God’s moral will, and to follow Jesus where he leads you, whatever the cost.