Believe In Me

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me. -John 14:1

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. -John 14:11

While you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of light. -John 12:36

[Jesus] said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." -John 20:27

Demand numero cinco, Jesus says "Believe in Me." Unfortunately this simple command has been turned into a complicated debate. What was once an easily understood word in Orthodoxy has be made to mean more than its original intention, and less.

Piper begins with the reason of why we must believe in Jesus, and why He commands that we do so. "The reason Jesus demands that we believe in Him is that all human beings are in a desperate situation, and only Jesus can rescue us" (Piper, pg. 48). Belief in Jesus is that only thing which reconciles us to God the Father (Romans 5:1), since none are righteous (Romans 3:10), and Jesus was perfectly righteous and without sin, we must believe in His work on the cross in order to be imputed with His righteousness which He freely gives (2 Cor 5:21). That is the reason in a nutshell.

What is it that only Jesus can rescue us from? Piper gives the passage John 3:16-18, 36 and asks that you give notice to the words "perish," "condemned," and "wrath of God."

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God...Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

The "desperate situation" we are in, is brought upon us by our sin which is why repentance is key (see Demand 2, "Repent").

"God Sent Jesus to Die in Our Place"
This is the subheading for the next part. I touched on this briefly, but Pastor Piper goes into a little more detail on the subject.

"The amazing truth is that God has sent His Son Jesus into the world not to add to this condemnation, but to rescue us from it...the way Jesus rescues us is by taking the condemnation on himself, dying in our place, and then demanding not heroic acts of penance but that we trust in Him" (Piper, pg. 49).

Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). Jesus intentionally laid down His life for His elect (sheep), to rescue us from our depravity was the purpose all along. Consider Isaiah 53 in relation to Christ's fulfillment of this prophecy:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

(Preferably read the entire chapter, and keep in mind the Prophecy was given 700 before Jesus came to fulfill it)

It is simply a matter of belief in what Christ has done in your place, resting on those promises of redemption and reconciliation, and one will be saved. There is nothing you can add, because you can never do what Jesus did, attempting by your own good works is a waste of time and a minimizing of the work of Jesus on your behalf.

"What does believing in Jesus Mean?"
If believing in Jesus is the only way to inherit eternal life and be at peace with God, then obviously it would be important to understand what it means to "believe" in Jesus.

Firstly, it is true that it is the belief of historical facts, that He was a real person, who really did live a perfect life, and died on the cross, and rose again on the third day. He says to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe" (John 20:27). But this is a limited answer, and it is one that is popular among the "free grace movements" which make belief nothing more than intellectual consent with no trust in the person and Lordship of Jesus Christ (therefore cheapening His work), so then Piper makes a qualifying statement:

"Believing in Jesus means more than knowing true things about Jesus. It means trusting Him as a living person for who He really is. This is why Jesus spoke of simply believing in Him. "Believe in God; believe also in Me" (John 14:1; cf. Matt. 18:6). Believing in Jesus is more than believing about Jesus. We trust Him" (Piper, pg. 50).

"Being Satisfied With All That God Is For Us In Jesus"
Piper takes these verses:
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37).

"Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14).

And he states,

"In another place Jesus connected this drinking with believing in Him and coming to Him: 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst' (John 6:35). In other words, believing in Jesus and drinking the water that wells up to eternal life are the same (Piper, pg.51)."

Piper makes a good observation in saying that merely believing that water will quench your thirst is not enough, you must trust that it is able to do so in the first place. So not only drinking that life-giving water but trusting that Jesus is able to give you that life-giving water.

"Believing in Jesus includes drinking Jesus as the soul-thirst-quenching water of life. That is, it means savoring and being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus" (Piper, pg. 51).

We must realize that Jesus did not only come to rescue us from the condemnation we deserve, but to satisfy our souls with this life-giving water and eternal life.

"This is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3).

Citation:
Piper, John. "What Jesus Demands from the World" Crossway Books Copyright © 2006. DG. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.com.
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