Faith
Scripture Reading: John 2:23-25
Some have accurately described the book of John as “The Gospel of Belief.” The word believe is woven throughout the chapters of John. The Apostle wrote, “that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name.” So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the word “believe” is scattered everywhere throughout its lines.
John wants us to understand what he means by belief, so he uses other words as well and he uses examples of people who did and did not believe to illustrate belief’s meaning. One of the interesting ways John pictures belief is at the end of John chapter two. It says in verse 23 that, “many believed in [Jesus] name when they saw the signs that he was doing.” He follows that with this comment: “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.”
The word “believe” in verse 23 is the same word used for “entrust” in verse 24. To believe is to entrust yourself to someone. It is more than simply believing facts about someone. It is trust in them as worthy of your confidence. It is a giving over of yourself to another person. It is helpful to note that the reason Jesus did not believe or entrust himself to some people was he knew what was in them. In other words, he knew their character and nature were not such that they were trustworthy.
So, we can conclude that belief – the way John means it – comes out of a confidence that the person you are believing in/entrusting yourself to has the character and nature that makes them worth your faith in them. Believing in Jesus, then, means that you have concluded that he is trustworthy, that he won’t let you down because he has a flaw in his character that will prove your confidence in him unwarranted.
Saving belief comes out of abiding confidence in the worthiness of Jesus. It is trusting him in a way that you entrust yourself, your saving, your eternal destiny into his hands. It is believing that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again; but it is believing in such a way that you are committing yourself to him, relying on him, having confidence in him that he can and will save you.
Amen