Articles
What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus (6)
What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus (6)
Mike Willis
One learns what it means to believe in Jesus from what Jesus said. We cannot learn what it means to believe in Jesus from one’s subjective feelings, as if Jesus were talking to a person through one’s emotional feelings. One learns what it means to believe Jesus by listening to and obeying what Jesus said in the Bible. Read what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matt. 7:21-23).
Jesus sent out the Twelve Apostles on the Great Commission instructing them to make disciples of Christ. We can learn what is required to believe in Jesus from His instructions to these men. Here are the instructions He gave the Twelve, compiled from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke):
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matt. 28:18-20).
“And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned’” (Mark 16:15-16).
“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things’” (Luke 24:45-48).
Here is a summary of what one must do to believe in Jesus: (1) Hear the saving gospel of Jesus (no one can become a Christian as a baby when he cannot understand who Jesus is); (2) He must believe that gospel’s message (including that Jesus died on Calvary to save mankind from his sins); (3) Repent of his sins (meaning, he must feel remorse for having committed them and resolve to cease the practice of his sins); (4) Be baptized. The Greek word translated “baptize” means “to immerse.”
When Philip taught the gospel to the Ethiopian nobleman as they traveled in his chariot, that man said, “‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him” (Acts 8:36-38). The only way that a person can know that another is ready to be baptized is to ask him the same question Philip asked the Ethiopian, if he believes in Jesus. When one confesses his faith in Jesus, one can know that he is ready to be baptized, to become a disciple of Jesus.
Have you become a believer in Jesus? If you would like to become a disciple of Christ, we will be happy to assist you in obeying the gospel.
