| “What
It Means To Believe in Jesus” Continued
KNOWLEDGE
1.
[Under this first category of Knowledge are three
points] Number 1 is this. I must believe in Jesus Christ as
Deity, that he’s God. If you do not believe
that, here’s what happens. Now watch this. If Jesus Christ
is not God [God the Son, the Logos, the Word (John 1:1-11)],
he is not sitting upon the throne with the heavenly Father-you
know what he was [following this line of reasoning]? He was
no more than a man who is [or was] here on the same level
of all the rest of us men, who have our naturalness and who
have our sinfulness and who walk at times in the flesh. That
is, if he is not deity, then, what could he do for me?-if
he were just a man? So I must believe that Jesus Christ is
God. Somebody says, ‘Well, I don’t think it’s
necessary to believe that Jesus Christ is God in order to
go to heaven.’ Well let me ask you a question then, ‘Who
is he?’ If he’s not God, who is he? Is he a prophet?
Then he was a sinner, because everybody else has sinned. Was
he just a great teacher and preacher and a healer? Was he
a false prophet? You see if Jesus Christ was not absolutely
who he says he was, then he was a liar. He said “If you’ve
seen me, you’ve seen the Father. I and the Father are
one.” And one of the things that caused so much turmoil
around him was the fact that he claimed not only to be the
Son of God, but he claimed to be God, deity-and who’s
resurrection was absolute, listen, absolute proof of that.
Now, so therefore I must believe something. First I must believe
he’s Divinity, he’s God, God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit.
2. Second thing I must believe is this. That I am
a sinner, and my sinfulness has separated me from God, and
my only hope of salvation is, must come through God-that is,
I must believe and recognize that I am a sinner.
I must believe that Jesus Christ is deity, that he’s
God [#1], and that my sinfulness has separated me from God
[#2]. The Bible says, our sins have separated us from God.
I must believe that.
3. The third thing [under the heading of knowledge]
I must believe this. I must believe that Jesus Christ died
on the cross for my sin, and that when he died, he paid for
my sin[s] in his death. But you say ‘How much
of this was I supposed to know when I was saved?’ I’m
coming to that. Just hold that thought. First of all I must
believe, I must believe without a shadow of a doubt, Jesus
Christ is God. Secondly, I must believe that my sinfulness
has separated me from him, and that I need to be saved by
something he’s gonna do for me, I can’t do it for
myself. #3, I must believe that Jesus Christ went to the cross
and died for my sins.
4. The fourth thing I must believe is that Jesus Christ
not only died for my sins, but he was resurrected from the
grave. Because, you see, if Jesus only died, he can’t
do anything for me today. Listen, he died for my sin. And
he’s resurrected and his resurrection validates every
single thing he claimed to be and everything he did. Now turn
if you will to Romans chapter 10, and I want you to notice
this verse. Romans 10, verse 9,--Some will say, ‘Well,
you know, now wait a minute, I believe in the resurrection,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and I believe
in the resurrection. The Bible says is if you believe in the
resurrection, you’re saved.’ This verse I’m
gonna give you is a typical verse that people will take out
of the context of which is was written and say ‘Well,
the Bible says, you believe in the resurrection, you’re
saved.’ Let’s see if this is what this verse says.
Look here in verse 9 now, Romans chapter 10. He says, “that
if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall
be saved.” Verse 10, “For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness: and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.” Verse 11-13, “For the Scripture
says, Whoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. But there
is not distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord
is Lord of all, abounding for riches for all who call upon
him, for whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will
be saved.” And then he says, verse 14, “How shall
they call upon him in whom they have not believed. How shall
they believe in him whom they have not heard. How shall they
hear without a preacher”-which says you’ve
got to have knowledge-you’ve got to know something.
What must I know? That Jesus is God. [For a more complete
description of who Jesus of Nazareth is, log onto the introduction
to the section on the book of Romans (http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/romans/introduction.htm
). For a complete look at Jesus and who he was on earth
as God in the flesh, log onto the section on the Gospel of
Mark (http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/lamb/1.htm
), and also on the prophecies of Jesus Christ’s first
coming (http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/prophecies/1stcoming.htm
), and the section “Jesus our Passover Lamb” (http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/lamb/lastsix.htm
).] What must I know?-that my sins have separated me from
God. What must I know?-that Jesus Christ died on the cross
for my sins and that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the
grave. Just saying he rose from the grave gets me saved?-no.
Read the first part of that verse “If you confess with
your mouth Jesus is Lord.” Here’s what that means.
I believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is, that I am
accepting him and acknowledging him, and committing myself
to his lordship in my life, and believing that certainly he
was resurrected from the grave. You can’t take one phrase
out of some passage and say, ‘Well I believe that, therefore
I’m saved’-no you’re not. Therefore when we
talk about what we believe we must first of all, have knowledge.
So what is the first word, the first word is what?-knowledge.
I must believe something, that he [Jesus Christ] is deity,
my sins have separated me from him, he died on the cross for
me [to pay for those sins], and that he rose from the grave.
Listen, he can’t be the Lord of my life if he’s
a dead man. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus
is Lord”-and how did he become Lord? He died on the cross
for my sins, was resurrected and is seated at the Father’s
right hand-to do what?-to be Lord and Master of our life.
So the first thing necessary for true New Testament
belief is KNOWLEDGE. Second word is CONVICTION.
II.
CONVICTION
The second word is conviction.
I want you to notice something here now. That means to simply
be truly convinced of something. To be convicted of something
is to be fully convinced of it’s truthfulness. So therefore,
when we talk about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, what
I believe I am fully convinced and persuaded that what the
Bible says about him is true. I am fully convinced and persuaded
that he is who he says he is. I am convinced and fully persuaded
that he will do what he says, convicted. That is, if there’s
no conviction, for example, about my sin, that I’m separated
from God, fully convinced and persuaded what he says about
the consequences of my sin, that I’ll die without Christ
and be eternally separated from him-because you see, without
any conviction, I’m not gonna move, I’m not gonna
budge. It’s not enough to have knowledge, factual knowledge
about Jesus Christ, who he was and who he is and what he says
he’ll do. It’s not even enough to be full persuaded,
full convinced that these things are true, though it is very
important. Because in terms of conviction you recall that
Jesus said in John, when he’s talking about the Holy
Spirit coming, he said that the Holy Spirit will come, and
he will come to do what?-to convict the world of sin, of our
sinfulness, to convict the world of the righteousness of Christ-which
means that he was so right, so holy that he was able to die
for our sins-and to convict the world of judgment to come.
What does that mean? It means that when the Holy Spirit comes
to your life and my life and begins to work in us, what’s
he gonna do? One of the first things he’s gonna do is
convict us, convince us, fully persuade us that we
are sinful, that we need God. He’s gonna fully
persuade us the death of Jesus Christ was adequate to pay
for our sin-fully persuade us that there is a judgment to
come, and the only thing that will get me ready for that judgment
is to have a right relationship with God. Therefore, first
of all, there must be knowledge. What’s the second word?-conviction.
So give me the first two words. The first word is what?-KNOWLEDGE.
The second word is what?-CONVICTION.
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