Unless You Believe

Introduction

I know the time is short on Sunday morning, but I just and I like to get right into the sermon, but there are a few things I just feel compelled to say before I begin. Daniel and Julianne have moved back. Elijah and Jacob. They’ve grown by one since they were here. But it just seems right seeing you all here again, but Elijah’s sick, isn’t he? He was sick yesterday, and so Daniel is at home with Elijah. But it’s good to have them in our midst. And Charles, I’m assuming you got your mother moved yesterday. All right. Oh, there she is. And good to have you living in our neck of the woods as well. And little Mason’s here for the first time today. And we have to make note of that, and Erica, and I bet Bryce really proud, isn’t he?

I know Blake is, it goes without saying, but I know Bryce must be of his little brother as well. And I have to mention it’s good to see those we haven’t seen in a little while, the henzes and Cherie, and quasi member Jordan, whom we’ve not seen in some time. And I appreciate Scott singing songs about faith, because that’s what our lesson is about this morning. In fact, it’s about the Gospel of John and what we learned from that gospel. I thought since I was teaching that in the next quarter, you’re going to get a little introduction today in both lessons to the Gospel of John, so you’ll be eager and ready for our study when it begins next quarter. And so faith is the victory.

But what exactly is that faith? We’ll be looking at that momentarily. And I could not help but think as we sang number 449, a song we don’t sing very often. Now I believe in Jesus. That was written and composed by R. J. Stevens. And we sung that at his funeral service in Pasadena. I love that song. And also they watched him there, written by Glenda Shales. It’s a wonderful song. And the servant song is written by a good friend of mine, Tim Jennings, who preaches in the Dallas Metroplex area. And man, we need to get him for a meeting, fellas. Let’s get that on the list. Tim’s a wonderful preacher, has a lot of good things to say. My introductory comments are now concluded. All right.

Let’s get right to the heart of it this morning. Pay careful attention. John 8 and verse 24. Really, the crux of what the whole gospel of John is about. When Jesus is quoted and he says, unless you believe that I am He, the He is supplied. Actually, he’s saying, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. And I’ll tell you, that’s what this assembly really is all about today. If you reduce it down to its most simple level, it is, unless you believe, you will die in your sins. That doesn’t sound too good. Dying in your sins. This believing, whatever is important. And that’s really what I want you to come to understand better by our study of the Gospel of John this morning.

What is Jesus saying? What does the Gospel of John reveal in the words of Jesus about what this means? Because that’s really the rub. Most people religiously would say faith is involved in salvation to some extent. The real rub is how you’re going to define the word believe. What does believe involve? We’ve got to believe, or we’re going to die in our sins. But what does that mean? I went to a debate several years ago, which was really the fuel for teaching this kind of lesson, where the fellow championed this kind of verse, but then what he did was he injected his own definition for what it means to believe.

And what his definition did was brought him in conflict with many other passages of Scripture, and what I’m going to demonstrate is though he would deny this, even in the book of John. What he says is belief that saves is actually a contradiction of other passages, brings him into conflict with other passages. And thus his view must be erroneous. But he would look at this verse and others like it, like John 6. John 6 and verse 47, where Jesus said, you talk about a verse that he ignores in its context, John 6, 47, truly I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. Okay, if you believe in him, you shall not die in your sins. He who believes in him, John 6 and verse 47, has eternal life.

1. Is Any Kind of Believing Good Enough?

So at the end of this, when I get done, that’s where I want you to be. I want you to believe so that you don’t die in your sins, and I want you to believe so that you can have eternal life. But you need to understand what that term means. Believing. Should have put this in quotations, probably. Because if you properly define believing, yes, it is the only requirement. But some people, any kind of belief is good enough. So I meant to put this in quotes, and I didn’t. Believing. Good enough. And what they mean by that is when you come to accept that Jesus is the Savior, that he died on the cross for your sins, at the moment you accept that truth, they teach that you are saved without any further response, and that you are saved forever.

That’s the what saved always saved position. And those two things go together in their mind. At the point of initial belief, I believe Jesus came and that he died for my sin. Saved and saved forever. And as they make that argument, again, believing is in quotations here. See the quotations? They’re there. They should be there. There are 99 references to belief in the book of John. Obviously, that’s what the author is getting at. And as we’ll see in our study, he said, I write these things that you might believe. And that believing you may have life in your name. And so the argument is then drawn from that. Believing is the essential thing, and there are zero references to the word repentance in the book of John.

Now, we already saw this morning, didn’t we, in Isaiah 58. Remember that at the end of Isaiah 58? I said I wasn’t going to reference it, but I decided to go ahead and do it. That to reap the rewards in Zion, you have to fear the Lord and turn from transgression. That’s interesting, isn’t it? Alright, but zero references to repentance, they will say also that there are zero references to Christian baptism. Now, baptism is not called that anywhere in the New Testament. Christian baptism, that’s referring to the practices of many religions today that are, quote, Christian, and some teach the necessity of baptism, some don’t, okay. But Christian baptism says there’s zero reference. 99 references to belief. Again, believing, the only requirement. Zero references to repentance, zero references to Christian baptism.

However, I would teach that repentance is implied in the Gospel of John. It’s implied in John chapter 3. When the one who believes practices the truth and comes to the light. The one who practices the truth, more on that in a moment, and comes to the light, is an individual who has turned from transgression, whose deeds were darkness, and now they are light. It’s implied, even though the word repentance is not specifically used. In John chapter 6, if believing, parentheses, quotes, if believing is all there is, why did the vast multitudes depart from Jesus as a result of his teaching? And did not follow him anymore. Why would they do that? They obviously understood that Jesus was raising the bar in terms of a right response to please God and be his disciple.

In fact, he would say, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in yourselves. John 6 53. And so whatever we’re going to say about believing, it’s going to have to include whatever he meant by, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. And that’s going to involve repentance, folks. By implication. They’ve got to do more than work for the food which is perishing, he says in John chapter 6, but for the food that endures to eternal life. That’s going to involve some repentance. And zero references to, quote, Christian baptism. Remember the whole discussion with Nicodemus earlier in chapter 3? Oh, yeah, I saw that. I like that. The light went on. Oh, yeah. This is the discussion with Nicodemus when he said, unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you shall not see the kingdom of God.

See, the real problem with defining the belief the way you want to, and saying, well, but there’s no references to baptism. More on that in a moment. We still have the statement in John 3, where Jesus says to Nicodemus, unless you’re born of water, you cannot enter in the kingdom of heaven. And furthermore, in John chapter 1, there’s a reference to the baptism of John. Jesus was baptized by John. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. What kind of baptism was John baptizing with a baptism of interesting? Repentance. Now that’s not mentioned in John 1, but that’s mentioned in Matthew and Mark and Luke. A baptism of repentance. Okay, so that’s my initial thoughts regarding this believing. My question is what constitutes believing?

2. Believers Who Were Yet Unbelievers

What constitutes believing in the book of John? Is salvation received by a person at the point of initial belief or initial faith? The question is, what kind of faith is necessary? And let me just demonstrate this by the number of individuals in the book of John who believed, there it is in quotes. I got it right on that slide. The number of folks who believed and yet were unbelievers. They believed in God. They weren’t atheists. They believed in the law of Moses. And yet, what does Jesus say about them? In John 5 and verse 18. Here are some people who were believers who were yet unbelievers by the correct definition. For this cause, therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Okay, now, Jesus said, unless you believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins.

John 8 24. These people are going to die in their sins because they don’t believe that he is who he says he is. And they want to kill him because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, which he was not doing, he was breaking their interpretation of the Sabbath. He was making, he was calling God his own father. You’ll see that over and over again in our study of John. Me and my father are one. The Father loves me, I love the Father. I do the things that are pleasing to my Father. He’s making himself out equal to the Father. That’s because he’s Emmanuel. The word was with God, and the Word was God. And that word became flesh. John chapter 1. Making himself equal with God.

And then in chapter in verse 38 and following, he says, What of them? Oh, they still believe in God. They believe in the law of Moses, but he says, You do not have his word abiding in you. For you do not believe him whom he sent. Hey, could you really say you believe the book of Isaiah if you reject Jesus? -They said they believed in the law of Moses, but they ain’t believing what Isaiah said about Jesus. My word doesn’t abide in you. He says, You search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life. But it is they that testify of me. They bear witness of me. And you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life. And he says, one of the problem is that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.

And verse 44, you do not seek the glory from God, but the glory that comes from one another. Then we read later. And I like this one. Because it talks about many of the chief priests and rulers of the Jews. They believed. How could you not believe? And one of the one of the witnesses Jesus calls in John chapter 5 is the works that he’s doing. You see the miracles Jesus is performing. This wasn’t ordinary. This wasn’t everyday stuff. You had to believe that. Many of the chief priests and rulers believed one of them was named Nicodemus. Many of the chief rulers and priests believe, but what? Are you looking there?

For fear of the Jews. If they confessed him, they would be cast out if they confessed. They believed it. They knew who he was. How could you deny what he was doing? But they would not confess him for fear of the Jews. And then it says this, like John 6 or John 5, where I just was. For they loved the approval of men more than the approval of God. They believed, but they loved the approval of men more than the approval of. Tell me what that implies. We talked about necessary inference lesson. Tell me what that implies. If you love the approval of men more than the approval of God, what do you not have? The approval of God. But you know what the fellow has to argue who says salvation is received at the moment of initial belief?

3. Look in the Context, John 3

You know what he has to say, don’t you? He has to say that those chief priests and rulers are saved. Big problem. That brings him into conflict with what John 12, 42 and 43 are saying. Were those men saved? It says they love the approval of men more than the approval of God. They don’t have the approval of God because they will not confess him, which helps us to define the nature of true believing. And so we come to this passage. This is the one that people champion along with John 8 24 and John 6 47. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. There you have it. Simple belief.

I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Saved. Well, you see, problem. You’ve not properly defined the word belief. And what the believing involves that constitutes salvation. Because you go on reading in John chapter 3, as I mentioned, that repentance is implied. Verse 19, and this is the judgment, that the light is coming to the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. And then in verse 21, he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. You see, even in the context of John 3.16, the one who believes practices the truth, comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested, having been wrought in God.

So when somebody brings up John 3.16 or 824 and says, salvation is that the simple point of belief. Look in the context, John 3. And also earlier he had just told Nicodemus in John 3, unless you’re born of the water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And so whatever you’re going to do about belief, it’s got to incorporate being born of the water and the spirit. It has to involve confession of Jesus. It has to involve the practice of truth and coming to the light. And notice what he said in John chapter 5. What constitutes believing? He said, You seek glory from one another rather than the glory that comes from God. That’s going to be involved in believing. And as we saw in John 3 and verse 21, coming to the light.

And acknowledging Jesus as Savior, King, and Lord. And it’s not enough to simply say, yeah, He’s Savior. He’s King, He’s Lord, because remember what Luke says. Why do you call me Lord, and do not do the things that I say? Or as he would say in Matthew in chapter 7, verses 21, not everyone who says unto me, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Believing involves more than just a simple acceptance of the truth that Jesus is Lord and Savior. And whatever we’re going to say about believe in the book of John, it’s got to be consistent with what the rest of the Bible says. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Gospel of John only in a few passages.

4. My Sheep Hear My Voice and Follow Me

No. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It all fits together and it all harmonizes. And you just look further in the Gospel of John. In John chapter 10, as we’ll examine that great context, Jesus is the good shepherd. What do the sheep do? The sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd. They won’t listen to one that they don’t recognize, Jesus says. But my sheep, they listen to me. And that’s an illustration everybody in first century Palestine would understand. There were shepherds and sheep below. They understood the whole relationship of the shepherd to the sheep. I’m the good shepherd. I’m the door into the fold, he says in John chapter 10. And my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.

You can’t say, I believe in Jesus, and then do your own thing. You can’t get that in the book of John. You don’t get that in John chapter 6 because of the hard things Jesus was saying. People withdrew and would not follow him anymore. They follow me. Obedience is implied in all of this. Remember what we quoted in John 6.53. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in yourselves. I mean, that’s more than just a surface association with Jesus. I know him. Yeah, Jesus of Nazareth, Savior. No, it’s more than that. You’ve got to be consumed with me, Jesus says. You have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. In that same context, he says, the flesh profits nothing.

My words are spirit and they are life. Remember? Now listen to this. Unless you believe, you die in your sins. Believe in me, you have eternal life. John 6.47. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus says, My words are spirit and their life. So whatever it means to believe must incorporate Jesus’ words and embracing his words. And in John 12 and verse 48. He that rejects me and receives not my sayings has one that judges him, the word that I have spoken. The same shall judge him in the last day. So, whatever believing involves a following of his words and an obedience to his words, because we’re going to be judged by those words.

And what does he tell his disciples? And I love this when this works out like this. When the verses are like this, 14, 15, 14.

If you love me, he tells his disciples. Keep my commandments. Believing involves more than just saying Jesus is the king. If you love me, keep my commandments. You’re my friends. You’re my friends if you do what I command you. So if we don’t obey, if we don’t follow him, Jesus says, You’re not my friend. More than just a passive, simple faith, is it not? Anything short of that is unbelief. So now we’re defining what believing is in the book of John. There is no passage, not in the gospel of John or anywhere else in the New Testament, where mere mental acknowledgement that Jesus is the Savior, that is enough. There is no passage that teaches salvation as a God does everything, man does nothing proposition.

Titus 3 was not in my sermon, but I’m going to add it now since Dean brought it up at the Lord’s Supper table. How did he do that? By the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. More than just simple belief or mere mental ascent. By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, by the way, that implies repentance as well. And implies baptism in water for the remission of sins. The belief of John’s gospel is a belief that acts. That’s what we’ve demonstrated. You follow Jesus, you listen to Jesus, his words matter, you’re consumed by him. It is the action that is being promoted. The act of believing is essential. And so then the question is raised, then why? Why does John simply emphasize belief over and over again?

5. Why Does John Emphasize Belief?

Why doesn’t he talk more about repentance? And why doesn’t he talk about baptism? Well, remember where Jesus is in this whole thing. When these words are being recorded in the Gospel of John. It would be nonsense. For Jesus to spell out the meaning of his death and specific requirements during his ministry since he had not yet died.

Because baptism is in the likeness of what? His death, burial, and resurrection. Which he has not done yet. Romans chapter 6, 3 through 5. In likeness, being buried with him in his death, rising to walk in the life. How are you going to talk about that during your ministry while you’re still alive and you haven’t died? That would be nonsense. I’ll tell you what Jesus is doing. He is preparing the people for action. Like John’s baptism of repentance was doing. He’s preparing the people for action. You can’t go to the Gospel of John and suggest that it is a complete explanation of salvation by grace through faith. Jesus had not yet died. He’s simply preparing the people. So he said, Yeah, but John is, and this is the argument this fellow made years ago.

John is the only gospel, it’s the only book of the New Testament that’s the evangelistic gospel. It’s intended for evangelism. Well, it is. These things were written that you might believe, and that in believing you might have life in his name. But it’s not the only book of the New Testament that addresses what one must do to be saved. And by that are you saying that we’re going to set aside then what the scriptures say in other places about what constitutes salvation. Remember, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. Matthew 4 and verse 4, Jesus said during his ministry, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And this too from the Gospel of John.

John 14, 26, Jesus promises the disciples in that same context where he says, if you love me, you’ll keep my commandments. He said, I’m going to send you the Holy Spirit, and he’s going to teach you all things. And he’s going to bring to remembrance the things that I have spoken to you. And he will disclose the Father’s will to you. That was in his final session with the disciples before he goes out in the garden, and then he’s betrayed. He’s telling them the Spirit is going to come and he will guide you into all truth. So you tell me what follows the Gospel of John is no longer relevant. Jesus says in the Gospel of John it’s going to be relevant. He will guide you into all truth.

6. At What Point Does Belief Save?

And so again, we’ve got to take all that God has said, but even the Gospel of John suggests that believing involves repentance, that believing involves obedience, it involves being born of water and of the Spirit, or we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And this is the work of God, he says. That we believe in him whom he has sent. Yes, belief is what saves, but we must properly define what believing involves. The question is raised, then at what point does belief save? When has belief responded sufficiently unto salvation? Not by faith alone. See, James has to fit with the Gospel of John. James has to fit with the words of Paul. You can’t set them in contrast with one another and say, well, I believe this, not what James said.

Some have tried to do that. But there’s a way to reconcile what James says and with what the Gospel of John says. And James says that faith without works, that’s faith there is the faith with quotation marks in James 2. Faith without works or action is dead. It’s useless. John’s gospel is not teaching a faith without works. We’ve already emphasized the action which he requires. And then look at this, the Hebrew writer. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. Unless you believe, you’re going to die in your sins. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. For the one who comes to God believes that he is, and that he is a rewarder of whom? Those who diligently seek him. John teaches that. The Gospel of John teaches that.

The one who comes to God, he comes to the light. He practices the truth. The one who comes to God believes that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And that’s why when we come to the book of Acts, and I’ll never forget in this debate, his opponent kept coming back to Acts 2.38, and rightfully so. Because at that first sermon on the day of Pentecost, when the people were pierced to their hearts, they said, Men and brethren, what shall we do? And the words were repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus on the basis of all that he is. Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. You see, this faith that saves, the faith that Jesus is talking about in John chapter 8, is a faith that acts, and when one repents and is baptized, at that point, sins are forgiven.

The washing of regeneration that Titus talks about in Titus 3. And then Saul of Tarsus, do you think he believed in God, Saul of Tarsus? Even when he was killing Christians, do you think he believed in God? Absolutely. He said, I thought I was supposed to be doing these things. Then he sees the light on the road to Damascus. You think he believes then? Lord, what shall I do? He says. And Jesus said, What from heaven? You don’t have to do anything, you’ve already done it. That’s not what he said. He said, Go into Damascus, and it will be told to you what you must do. And then he comes along, Ananias the prophet. And Ananias says, What? Why do you delay? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins.

Calling on the name of the Lord. There was a believer on the road to Damascus who was not yet saved until he was baptized. And his sins were washed away. And in that act he was calling upon the name of the Lord on the basis of all that he is. 1 Peter 3 21. Baptism doth also now save you. Not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. You have repentance implied in that. But the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism in likeness of Jesus, resurrection, we rise to walk in newness of life. Faith is in 1 Peter 3.21. Repentance is in 1 Peter 3.21, though they’re not mentioned by name.

But baptism is mentioned specifically as the act which places us in Christ and causes us to experience new birth and new life. But what about Acts chapter 16? Somebody thought, Oh, but there’s your contradictory passage there. Because the Philippian jailer, you know the whole incident with the earthquake and the doors were open. The jailer tried to kill himself. Paul said, Do yourself no harm. And then what’s the message from Paul? Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. There it is. That’s John 8.24. Unless you believe, you die in your sin. But again, what did he mean by belief? Interesting, as you go on reading in Acts 16. Paul comes, preaches to the jailer and his household. And it says, immediately he and his household were baptized.

Conclusion

And then this follows. Having believed in God. Immediately. In the middle of the night? Yeah, it’s that urgent. It’s that important. There’s no salvation without it. The Saul of Tarsus incident indicates that is so. Believing. If you believe in the Lord Jesus, you shall be saved. But what does that involve? Preaching of the word and being baptized. Immediately you were baptized, having believed in God. And I conclude with this in John 8, 31 and 32. Again, in the Gospel of John. You know, you can answer false arguments in their context many times. You can in the Gospel of John, too. The word belief is not mentioned in these verses, but what does it say? If you abide in my word, then you are disciples of mine.

And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. How’s that going to work with 1 Peter 3 21? The truth of 1 Peter 3 21 is that baptism has involved a salvation. Baptism doth also now save you. In fact, I’ll tell you, John 8 31 and 32, maybe the verses I quote more from the New Testament than any other verses. Even though the whole plan of salvation is not laid out step by step, it says, like man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It says, if you abide in the word, then you are disciples of mine. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And so you have to embrace all that God has said on the subject of salvation.

Now I’m saying once you’ve been baptized into Christ, you’re not done. You rise to walk in newness of life, and that newness of life must continue. That renewing of the spirit of our minds must be ongoing. We must continue to fight the battle against sin that has cost us so much in our past and wants to derail us in our present. We’re not done. We can’t rest on our laurels. We can’t say, yeah, that moment where I was baptized and I rose to walk in newness of life, that sealed it all completely. Stamped for heaven. Wouldn’t it be nice? Sometimes I wish I could do that. I’m going to stamp you all this morning. Stamp. You’re ready for heaven. But that would not be in our best interest.

You see, we were redeemed from sin because sin is not good for us. And we need to stay convinced of that truth. Sin is never for our betterment. It always worsens our condition. We have been redeemed from a futile way of life that we can be loyal servants and declare our allegiance to Jesus Christ. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. And while we can champion the necessity of baptism for the remission of sins, that it’s a part of God’s plan. That’s the moment when faith saves. We must do more. We must continue to walk in newness of life. Is your life characterized by trusting in Jesus? Have you forfeited your will for his? And when that’s challenged, when temptation is thrown in your path, when you have succumbed.

Will you recommit yourself to walking in his way? Recommit yourself to his allegiance and service. If we abide in his word, then we are truly his disciples. And that’s what we want for you. Have you believed to the saving of your soul? It is sweet to trust in Jesus, and we encourage your response. Let’s stand together.