Wednesday: Reappearing Themes—Belief and Unbelief
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 16th of October 2024
Read John 3:16-21, John 9:35-41, and John 12:36-46. How do these texts repeat the theme of belief/unbelief found in the prologue?
In John’s Gospel, humanity seems to be divided into two overarching groups: those who believe in Jesus and accept Him as the Messiah and those who, having the opportunity to believe, choose not to.
Eleven of the disciples are in the first group, as are others such as Nicodemus (who comes to faith slowly), the woman at the well, and the man born blind. In the second group are Pharisees and high priests, people at the miracle of feeding the 5,000, and even one of the disciples, Judas.
People in the hand of God
It is interesting that the noun pistis (Greek for faith/belief) never appears in the Gospel of John. However, the verb pisteuō (believe) appears 98 times, compared to 241 times total in the entire New Testament! This verb is, indeed, a very big theme in John. This use of the verb instead of the noun may point to a very active sense of becoming a Christian. Being a believer in Jesus is something that we do, and this is expressed in how we live and not just in a set of beliefs. As we know, the devil believes in Jesus, as well (see James 2:19).
In John, the major difference between the two groups is the way that they relate to Jesus. Believers, or those who come to believe, have an openness toward Him, even when He confronts or rebukes them. They come to Jesus and do not run away. He is the Light that shines on them. And by faith, by believing, they become the children of God.
Unbelievers, on the other hand, typically come to Jesus to fight with Him. They are characterized by those who love darkness rather than light. They find His sayings hard to accept or they see Him breaking old traditions and not fulfilling their expectations. They stand in judgment on Him rather than letting His light measure and judge them. This attitude, of course, had been seen again and again in the religious leaders, who ideally, as the spiritual guides of the nation, should have been the first ones to have accepted Jesus.
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In what ways do you live out your faith in Jesus, as opposed to merely holding an intellectual assent to Him as the Messiah? Why it is important to know the difference? (See Matthew 7:21-23.) |
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Believing in Christ our Lord as the source of our everything give us the strength for our daily activities.
This is the most significant comment in today’s lesson:
One of the hardest lessons about Christian belief that I have had to learn is that it’s not what you believe that is important. It is the relationship that you have with Jesus that is at the root of our salvation. As a Seventh-Day Adventist, I have a set of beliefs (statements of doctrine) that I have a very possessive attitude towards. It has taken me a long time to learn that arguing the case for those beliefs is less effective than living the loving relationship that Jesus shares with us.
It is easy for me to make nice sounding statements about our beliefs that bolster our confidence in them, but what sounds good to us is nonsense to those who have a secular mind. It is also easy to condemn those beliefs (statements of doctrine) that are different to ours.
There are believers and unbelievers, but we do not make the dividing line. The moment we do, we set ourselves up as judges, and that is not in our job description. Some people made this judgement about Jesus:
Jesus response was: But wisdom is justified of her children.
Our belief in Jesus must extend to the publicans and sinners in 2024.
I know a lot about computers; I have testamurs to prove it; but all that knowledge is to no avail if I do not have the time or patience to help someone else with their computer problems. Likewise, all our beliefs in sound doctrine are of little consequence if we forget to share the love of Jesus with others. It’s the relationship that is important, not just the knowledge!
If we do not act like Jesus, we do not believe him.
This is so true Maurice! I really appreciate your statement! It is beautifully stated!
Even the devil believes concerning the Divinity of Christ but satan acts opposite of those beliefs and get others to comingle with his actions!
Jesus has forgiven me much, therefore I am able to live my faith in Him by forgiving others even when I don't want to.
In what ways do you live out your faith in Jesus?
When I left home, I close and locked the door... steps my feet for works all through the day. My thoughts filled, that my life brings shine to others. On how Jesus teach us to be humble, teachable, reachable by people in needs. I asks the presence of the Holy Spirit dwells upon me as I do communications with other people. I keep praying ( secretly/in my thoughts) that may others see Jesus in me. With this approach, I feel temptations goes away, because of my faith to Jesus. As I returned home at night, I thanks the Lord for another productive day He gave me. May you, my brothers in Christ be blessed by the faith, and obedient to His commandments. ❤️ 🙏.
Thank you so much Eduardo for sharing your experience! It helps me to form and shape my life accordingly
to Gods will moreover each and every day! Although Life has its obstacles and rough roads to travel, Lord help me to walk as you walk, talk as you talk and shine so that others can see you from within!
As modern man we love second hand religion! We want neither godlessness or godliness ,what most of us are looking for is a way of forgetting God which would pass as a way of remembering Him , some of us Seventh-day Adventist do not know how to live and are afraid to die!! "And they
(some of us Seventh-day Adventists) unto Moses ,speak their with us, and we would hear: but let not God speak with us,lest we die .Exodus 20:19.The greatest argument in favour of the gospel is a life style and that style is Christ life , the most important days in our lives should be out six day of toil and labor where the ruff areas in our lives are recreated by the Holy spirit to bring us into Christ likenesses, so that our Sabbath worship will be like the song says " iam pressing on the upward way new highs am gaining every day" God did something new every day at creation let us let Him do something new for us every day for us His new creation in Christ.
It is important to know the difference because it's the key that will allow others to know who the true and living God is. It will tell others about Jesus just by the way we live. It will turn the hearts of men and women to a saving relationship with God and will allow Jesus to say "well done good and faithful servant."
There is a huge difference between having faith in Jesus or having the faith of Jesus. Galatians 2:16; Rev. 14:12 From my perspective one is a passive, mental assent of His existence, while the other is an active, living connection with the Father, which produces works out of a loving appreciation of His Goodness.
James 2:19 says that even the demons believe in God and tremble. A mere mental assent is not sufficient for Salvation. The demons believe but refuse to submit their lives to Jesus. They refuse to change their ways. A genuine faith must and will permeate every aspect of our lives. It must change our speech, entertainment, our attitudes, our entire demeanor, the way we think about everything, yes even the mundane things in life such as our politics and voting.
Everything is to become "colorized" through our faith. When our faith percolates out of these "jars of clay" and is seen and felt by the world around us, then we can know that we have the "real deal".
Genuine faith leads to the obedience of the commandments of God out of a relationship with God. Good works don't qualify us for salvation, they testify that we are qualified for salvation. Not because of the works, but because of our relationship with God through a faith which works. The works are just the "fruit", and not the "root" of salvation.
We are declared righteous by faith, but that faith is not a dead mental assent type of faith, rather it is a living, breathing, relationship based faith, as opposed to a rules based faith. A faith based on a love relationship with Jesus and our God is the kind of faith that the world is longing for and needs to see. We wear His Name, it's not a game. In a world full of brokenness we are called to be the light. Does the world see Jesus in me?
Lord help me to be what you want me to be. Help me to love you as you love me, and help me to love the people of the world and to see them through your eyes of love. Amen!
Thank you. This is my prayer every morning.
Tim, I agree that there is a huge difference between intellectual assent and true faith in/of Jesus.
But I do not understand what you mean by:
In the Greek, no preposition is used. It is just the Greek word
Jesus had genuine faith, which is an acting/active faith, as John emphasizes in his gospel. We need to have the same kind of faith, because that is saving faith. But to make a distinction between "of" and "in" is subject to personal interpretation and has tended to give rise to unprofitable disputation in the past.
An active faith is both the faith of Jesus (as He had in the Father) and a faith in Jesus and what He did and is doing for us.
Again, I agree with everything in your comment, except the first sentence, and I trust you will revisit that. 😊
Hi Inge,
I must respectfully disagree. Indeed, there is a huge difference between having faith in Jesus and having the faith of Jesus. In fact, it is the difference between being saved and lost. Here's why.
Faith in Jesus is something we do... and nothing we do can save us. In contrast, the faith of Jesus is something He did and then gave to us as a gift which we receive by faith.
Galatians 2:16 KJV
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Habakkuk 2:4 (Greek Version)
I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away. But the righteous person will live by my faith.
The faith of Jesus was total dependence on the Father for living a perfectly obedient life (even unto death). This is the Faith of Jesus that saves us. It becomes ours as a gift via our faith in Jesus.
The Third Angel's Message: General Conference Bulletins 1895: The Science of Faith and Salvation Explained Simply
Alonzo T. Jones 1895
To be without Christ is to be without God; and there the man can do nothing; he is utterly helpless of himself and in himself. That is where the man is who is without God. Jesus Christ says: "Of mine own self I can do nothing." Then that shows that the Lord Jesus put Himself in this world, in the flesh, in His human nature, precisely where the man is in this world who is without God. He put himself precisely where lost man is. He left out His divine self, and became we. And there, helpless as we are without God, He ran the risk of getting back to where God is and bringing us with Him. It was a fearful risk; but, glory to God, He won, the thing was accomplished, and in Him we are saved. When He stood where we are, He said, "I will put my trust in Him;" and that trust was never disappointed. In response to that trust, that Father dwelt in Him and with Him, and kept Him from sinning. Who was he? - We. And thus the Lord Jesus has brought to every man in this world divine faith. That is the faith of the Lord Jesus. - That is saving faith. Faith is not something that comes from ourselves, with which we believe upon Him, but it is that something with which He believed, - the faith which He exercised, which He brings to us, and which becomes ours, and works in us, - the gift of God. That is what the word means,"Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." They keep the faith of Jesus, because it is that divine faith which Jesus exercised Himself.
I hope Inge doesn't mind me respsonding here as well. I agree with what you are saying but would add a couple of observations. There are no explicit prepositions in the Greek language and the relationship between "faith" and "Jesus" is implied using the genitive case for "Jesus". English Translators have used a variety of prepositions to express the relationship. "In" and "of" are the two most common ones but there are others as well.
Having said that, I don't think those translators who have used the word, "in" are implying that it is something we must do in order to be saved. It is possible that they are expressing the idea that the faith in Jesus is something that Jesus gives to us.
I agree that we don't earn salvation, but I am very loath to say that those who use the expression, "Faith in Jesus" are lost, while those who say "Faith of Jesus" are saved. We are not saved by correct grammar.
Maurice said it, so I don't need to repeat it. (Thanks, Maurice!)
I agree with you that there is a big difference between seeing faith as a "work" that will save us versus the perfect trust in the Father that Christ demonstrated. But the English prepositions will neither save nor damn us.
While we are saved by grace alone, we do have a part to play: We must choose to trust Christ with our salvation. We must daily surrender our lives to Him, allowing Him to transform us into His image. It doesn't happen automatically. In fact, I believe that the daily surrender of self is the greatest battle any of God's created beings will ever have to fight.
Thank you Inge and Maurice for addressing my post. My argument wasn't on the grammatics used but on where saving faith comes from, from Whom it originated and how it becomes ours. This saving faith isn't manufactured by us irrespective of what preposition we choose to use.
As Paul, Habakkuk and Alonzo Jones all note, the faith that saves us is Christ's faith and it becomes ours only as a gift from God.
Inge: I always cringe when I hear the words "our part." At least to me, it suggests some type of work that we still have to do to be saved beyond what Jesus already accomplished. I then remind myself that God clearly instructed us already what "our part" is (John 6:29 NLT; Romans 10:10 NLT).
Hi Sieg,
I believe your cringe response is not warranted. 😉
I don't think you believe we are saved by magic or against our will, do you? (If that were the case, heaven would hardly be desirable, and there would be people fighting to get out!)
John 6:29 NLT suggests that we must choose to believe.
Rom 10:10 NLT suggests that we must choose to believe in our hearts and choose to openly declare that we are saved in Jesus.
I am going to have to chime in. I hope I am in harmony.
I know what Tim is talking about when he states there is a difference between faith in and faith of Jesus. It is similar to believer and believe. Right Tim!! 2 Timothy 2:18.
Then I thought about it and read another text. And found there is no distinction. Romans 3:22.
John, actually the distinction that I was making was mental assent (belief) in the existence of Jesus or in His ability to deliver me, or answer my prayer, versus the Faith that Jesus lived by. It depends on how you use the phrase. Thanks for chiming in though.
I believe you are right. I am reminded of Andre Crouch's song.
I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there've been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.
Chorus:
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust IN JESUS,
I've learned to trust IN GOD.
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.
I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own
Chorus
I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.
Belief is a wonderful things to have as a noun or do as a verb, but belief does not recreate you. Only the Holy Spirit can recreate us. That’s what Jesus said to Nichodemus. Continuous submission must occupy a more prominent place in our lives. No one can sin when they are in a submissive position to the Holy Spirit. That’s how Jesus lived His perfect live. Creeds, doctrines, and good works are good (very good), but they cannot change us from within. A person who never heard the good news from a missionary can choose to submit to the Holy Spirit. Praise God, we don’t have to hear the good news before the Holy Spirit visits us! I was indoctrinated to believe that I owed a debt of gratitude to Europeans because they enslaved my people and gave them the gospel story. What a paradox!
John 1:12-13 NKJV – ”But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
As I see it, God gave His Son for man to be able to 'see' the Father by/in/through Him - John 16:22-28. God the Father - the Giver of Light - answered His Son's request to give His Light to those who believe Him. He knew that without it, man could not see the Father nor the Son. This ‘Light’ is the Holy Spirit provided to those who want to become children of God onto Eternal Life. – John 3:16; 1 John 2:25; John 11:25.
I understand that, giving man this right to the Holy Spirit, fulfills God's promise that man can have eternal life. Eph.1:13-14 - ”And in Him, having heard and believed the Word of truth – the gospel of your salvation – you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His Glory!
To believe x to live! To experience something starts with accepting it. Jesus longs for a real relationship with us, more than merely recognizing Who He is. The miracle happens when we stop believing and start living Christ!
The ways that I live out my faith in Jesus is reading His word almost everyday. Having my daily scripture readings and devotions. Building my faith strong in Him. Knowing His promises that He has not only for me but others who believe in Him. Also by letting His light shine on me. As a baby Christian and soon to be baptized as an Adventist I will admit I am shy I try to live my life as Christ by being friendly to others, doing what I can in my community to spread His word and His love to others. I also speak about Him often to my family members so they may know the truth about Christ and His endeavoring love.
Meagan, continue to submit to the Holy Spirit. As He changes you from within, Jesus will be lifted up and He will draw those in your circle to Himself. Blessings upon you!!
Thank you for sharing, Meaghan! I am so glad to hear that you will be baptized soon. ❤
May you continue to experience His blessings as you grow in Jesus. As much as Jesus smiles on you as a new baby, His enemy, Satan, will do everything in his power to get you to take your eyes off Him. Just remember that as long as you look to Jesus, you can walk on water!
Thank you❤️ and amen. I pray everyday that Jesus gives me strength on this journey