PUTTING BELIEF, FAITH AND TRUST TOGETHER

Van

PUTTING BELIEF, FAITH AND TRUST TOGETHER

Have you heard you must trust Jesus for salvation? Have you heard you must have faith in Jesus for salvation? Have you heard you must believe in Jesus for salvation? Is there any difference in the concepts being presented, or does belief equal trust, trust equal faith and faith equal belief?

Trust means you believe something is true. When you put your trust in Jesus, you believe He is true. Which means, of course, that He is God and Savior. The difference between trust and belief is reliance. We believe all manner of things, but we rely on only a few things beyond our own judgment. When scripture says that if we believe in Jesus or if believe in the name of Jesus, we will be saved, I think the idea being communicated is trust.

What does it take to go from trusting our own judgment to relying on Jesus Christ? You guessed it! Faith. It takes almost no faith to trust in your own judgment, especially if your memory is still good and your mental functions seem similar to everybody else. But to take a risk and turn off the wide road because Jesus says you should requires faith. It is easy to believe in Jesus. Demons do! It is easy to want to trust Jesus. Almost everyone who goes to a Billy Graham Crusade wants to trust Jesus. It is impossible to cross that bridge, to make that turn without God’s gracious gift of the inspired powerful and convicting gospel of Jesus Christ. And it remains difficult to make that “leap of faith” into Christ. Can you do it? Reach out and take the hand of Jesus, because together you can do it! Faith comes from hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, which provides a basis for your faith. Jesus loves you, he died for you and now He is asking you “Do you love me?” “…will you “take up your cross and follow me?”

The gospel of Christ that enables the gift of grace includes:

God is holy and just, He is set apart from sin, He will punish sinners and the only way to avoid His justice and obtain mercy is to be forgiven of your sins because everybody is a sinner, everybody deviates from God’s perfection. If you choose not to surrender to Christ, to place your trust in Him alone, you will regret your decision.

The forgiveness is available to all, but you must accept it. It is impossible to earn forgiveness; it is a gift from God, but it was purchased at great price. Christ lived a sinless life, taught us what we need to know about salvation, and then died on a cross. He was buried and on the third day arose. He was seen by the Apostles, by brethren, more than 500 at one time, and by Paul.

You must trust in Jesus, and not in yourself, in order to gain God’s favor in this life and the next. Jesus must be your lord (boss) and your savior. When you turn from your sins and place your trust in Jesus for forgiveness of your sins your eternal life starts immediately (you are no longer dead in your sins and facing eternal punishment.) You become an adopted child of God; you put away your old self-centered, selfish self.

When God accepts your commitment to Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells you and helps you start learning and practicing to be like Christ. With the help of the Holy Spirit, and your willingness to follow His leading, you will continue to work at becoming more Christ like for the rest of your physical life. You will renew your mind, seeking to obtain the mind of Christ, by study of God’s Word, by drawing closer to God with prayers from your heart, and by establishing relationships with fellow believers who will encourage you, teach you and when you ask, hold you accountable. After learning to be more like Christ, with a servant’s heart you will do what you can to reach the lost, for God does not want anyone to perish.

There will be suffering, failure, error and persecution along the way, as you “carry your cross and follow Jesus,” but you will also count it all joy.

This is the good news! Christ died for you. Are you willing to die for Christ? In Him, faith, trust and belief fit together perfectly.

Do not be led astray by the clever stories of men. They are like wandering stars unsuitable for setting your course. Get to know Jesus. Learn to believe in Him. Put your trust in Him. In Him, belief, faith and trust fit perfectly together.

thunder · Lion King Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 1222

Preach it preacher ... you are coming down the road now.

Yes ... I believe that you are on to something van.

thunder
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Submit to God in Christ

Ron · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2004 11:37 pm Post subject:

Van,

That was excellent. Would you consider granting permission for me to reprint this on my website? I can put a link or credit you somehow.
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"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Matthew 11:15

Yours in Christ with much love,
Ron

http://www.arkwebshost.com/theology/ron

Van · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 6:40 am Post subject:

The pure gospel includes the difficulty of each day carrying our cross and humbly following our Lord as we pray lead us not into temptation and keep us from all forms of evil including another gospel.

Dust · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:02 am Post subject:

Van, you are a champion of truth!
8)
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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

shepreach · Cobra Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 493 Location: ga

van,
we may not agree on some things but on this we certainly do. keep up the good work.
sheila
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a servant in Christ

I'm wounded sore but not yet slain, I'll lie and bleed awhile then rise to fight again.
--?