"The Term 'Believe'"

Most people do not realize the purpose of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I hear often people say they are the same events told in a little different way. These writers are not just merely repeating something.

Matthew is written to the Jewish Christian to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and quotes extensively from the OT Scriptures.

Mark is written to the Jewish Christian showing Jesus was the Son of God by stressing His miracles.

Luke is written to the Gentile Christian showing Jesus the Savior of all mankind.

John is written to the church to increase their faith in Jesus.

As a result of the above, John tries to help those in Christ to develop their faith and uses the term believe many times. This is where many get tripped up. Matthew uses the verb believe 10 times. Mark uses the verb believe 10 times. Luke uses the verb believe 9 times. John uses the verb believe 99 times.

In John 20:31, John reminds the church that they may "believe" (trust in Jesus) and that "believing" brings life. That is a present tense, active participle which means it is not a one time act to be saved (as many claim) but a continuing and increasing faith.

Too many are claiming that just "believing" in the Lord Jesus will save someone without understanding the nature of believing. To believe has three elements to it. (1) A conviction that starts in the heart which brings about confidence. (2) A trust and complete reliance upon. (3) Obedience by a willingness to follow and respond to His word. These three elements are seen in Heb. 11. It takes all three elements to produce a faith that brings one into life. Many people profess to believe in the Lord but it never takes them into His life. Let me illustrate. We believe in Abraham Lincoln and the facts about his life. He lived but we don't take a confidence and conviction about him or a trust and reliance on him to obey him.

Jesus said in John 5:24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." One has to hear His word and believe, make a response to what you hear and continue. That's what brings one into life.

When Jesus sent those apostles into all the world to preach the gospel, those who believe are to make a response in that belief. They were called to be baptized (Mark 16:15-16). They are the saved. They come into the life of God. How? By believing! The faith in the individual was placed in the words of Jesus and they trustingly responded. Those apostles preached that first time after the ascension of Jesus and they called to the multitude that Jesus was the Messiah, showing by signs and wonders He was who He claimed He was. Some were moved in the heart to draw a conviction of faith (Acts 2:37). Peter calls on them for their faith to respond to which 3000 did (Acts 2:38). God's word tells us that they received the word (Acts 2:41) and were baptized (faith responding). They willingly (believed) obeyed. There were no arguments about what baptism meant and the apostle Peter didn't try to convince them otherwise. It was faith being built and they believed in Jesus by responding to the word!