Believe About or Believe In?

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him (God) that begat loveth Him (Jesus) also that is begotten of Him.”  “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”.  “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent”.  I John 5:1; Romans 10:9; John 6:29

There is a big difference in believing ABOUT something or someone and believing IN something or someone.  The main difference is in how one lives his or her life in reference to that particular belief.  If I say that I believe about something, it likely won’t affect how I live, but if I say that I believe in something, my life will reflect what I believe, or at least it should.

How many folks are there in the world who say that they believe in God, but have no relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ?  I would venture to guess that there are many millions of people who believe that there is a Supreme Being who created the world and sits in heaven, watching over the world, but they don’t particularly let Him affect the way they live, unless, of course, they get into trouble or face some tragedy.  Think of all the folks who say they believe in God but don’t even give him one moment of thought until some catastrophe happens, and then they ask, “Where was God?  Why did He let this happen?”  In one’s personal life, God is wherever that person left Him, either at arm’s length, on the back burner, or as far as the east is from the west.  For the believer, God lives within that person, a constant companion by way of the Holy Spirit, and His ears are never more than a whisper away.

To be a child of God, one must believe that Jesus is God’s Son who came to earth, taught and did miracles, showed the world what God was like, then suffered and died to provide a way for sinful men and women to have a relationship with their Creator.  To be born again, one must believe that Jesus died for him or her personally.  In the Our Daily Bread devotional, it was written, “People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood”.  Folks must come to the place where they understand that their sins have separated them from holy God, and there is nothing that they can do on their own to be made right with Him.  The only way to become a child of God is to repent of sin and believe in Christ, being committed to Him for life and receiving the privilege of Christ living His life through the believer.

For the one who has experienced new life in Christ, the knowledge that men and women who live sinful lives are not acceptable to God is obvious to the believer.  He or she has come to understand that God is sovereign and righteous and cannot tolerate any form of sin.  The fact that God sent His only Son to suffer and die, shedding His blood on the cross in order to make the only way whereby men and women can be made righteous and acceptable to God should be all the proof that anyone needs to be convinced that his or her sin is a barrier to a relationship with his or her Creator.  Unfortunately, many people have either overlooked, ignored, or rejected God’s only way of salvation mostly due to pride.

In watching the coverage of the Israel/Hamas war, I must admit that I have been shocked at the large numbers of people, particularly college students, who are supporting such a cruel and ruthless enemy as Hamas.  Years ago, some Christians believed that folks were against Jews because some antisemites believed that the Jews alone were the cause of Jesus having to be crucified.  Believers understand it was our sins and the sins of the entire world which caused Jesus to suffer and die.  I don’t think that the death of Jesus as a reason for antisemitism applies any longer for the great majority of those protesting Israel now do not know Jesus nor God.  I think that many of them have just gotten caught up in a cause just to be part of the group and receive some attention.  Israel has been hated ever since their beginning.  Their enemies have persecuted, fought, and killed many over the last few thousand years.  What is happening now is a continuation of the envy and hatred of a people who were chosen by God to be His special nation.  This persecution will continue until Jesus returns to rid the world of evil and all who do evil and sets up His kingdom on earth where righteousness will reign forever.