What You Believe

There are those who would like to so simplify things that to simply claim "I believe in Jesus" should be sufficient to classify that person as a Christian, all other considerations aside. Oh, sure, I'm oversimplifying things, but that's the basic idea. Subscribe to the "basics" of Christianity and you get a free pass to heaven.

Now, on the surface this might seem right, but be careful. Take, for instance, 1 John 4:15 -- "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and He in God." "Well, there it is," someone might suggest. "All I have to do is just write up a 3x5 card with the sentence, 'Jesus is the Son of God' and walk down the street asking people to read it out loud. They'll be saved because that's what the Bible says and I believe the Bible." That, of course, is ludicrous and no one would buy that ... or would they? I've never heard that suggested, but I've heard something similar. A pastor I know had the entire church stand up and repeat the Sinner's Prayer out loud. No call. No explanation. Just "Stand up and repeat after me." Later I asked why and he told me, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord ... you will be saved." I told him he missed a phrase and he said, "Oh, I'm standing on the promises of God. That 'believe' part will certainly come later now that they've all confessed with their mouths." Sigh.

I think it becomes clear that "I believe in Jesus" is not sufficient to place one in the definite category of "Christian". Here, let's try a fun example. I tell my neighbor, "You know, you need Jesus." "Oh," he smiles broadly, "I know. I believe in Jesus." "You do? How wonderful! Tell me more." "I believe in Jesus and trust him for my salvation based on his sacrifice at the cross." So, what more could I ask? Well, I could ask about this "Jesus", because, as it turns out, this neighbor's Jesus is his Mexican gardener who died last week trying to rescue a kid from being run over in a busy intersection. He died ... in the crosswalk. Now, we have all the components, and yet no one would (likely) suggest that this is a faith that saves.

Faith -- faith in general -- has several components. It's not merely belief. It includes "placing your weight on", a "counting on", a reliance upon. It isn't merely mental assent as so many think. It's actually placing your confidence in something. Al Gore, as a silly example, may have a belief that there is a global warming crisis, but he doesn't have faith in that because his actions don't reflect it. He uses energy, flies in private jets, drives SUVs, does nothing at all consistent with the problem he purports to believe. Or, in James's words, "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18).

We all (mostly all) know that about faith. What then tends to get lost in this discussion is the prior component of faith. For faith to be genuine, viable, saving, there is another lower level that needs to be there. Saving faith must be placed in something that is true. My (imaginary) neighbor that has faith in Jesus (the gardener) may be placing his reliance on Jesus, but that Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible and is not, therefore, a genuine savior. So my neighbor has faith, again in James's words, that is dead. Note, however, that no amount of arguing is going to shake this guy's faith. "Wait, do you not believe the Bible?" he will argue. "It says, 'For by grace are you saved through faith.' I have faith. I have faith in Jesus. Why are you trying to force your odd, heretical beliefs off on me?" And it would appear that you are stuck.

This is all a little bit of fun. I really don't know anyone who is trusting his Mexican gardener for salvation. Of course, that pastor I mentioned was real, and that was a matter of concern, but he's still "out there", not the norm. Unfortunately, even though most of this can be humorous, there are serious consequences behind it. In real life people can easily get confused about who Jesus is and then end up trusting in something they think is real only to be in spiritual jeopardy. The case of the Mormons springs to mind who count on a "Jesus" who is not the Jesus of the Bible but has origins in those texts. They say they're trusting in Jesus for their salvation and it sounds like they are, but it's not the real Jesus they're trusting in and they're in real trouble.

Well, obviously faith is important. Where you put your faith is equally important. In that sense, Truth is vitally important. Sometimes the simplicity of the Gospel can create its own problems, but I suppose there is another real reason for that. "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor 4:4). I would say that vigilance and prayer are in order here.