Belief AND Repentance vs. Asking Jesus Into Your Heart

I figure I might as well write another blog while the ideas are flowing, so here we go! What I want to write about next is related to my last blog, "How does one love God?" The idea of obedience to the Lord led me to start thinking about salvation, and just how is it that one is truly saved. (This blog will also tie into that ever famous Sabbath blog I keep talking about. This is the build up! :P) Sadly, the American church doesn't have a good grasp of this in many instances, and a lot of the time it doesn't produce a Christian when all is said and done. So, let me ask you a question:

"Have you asked Jesus into your heart?"

If you said yes, great! You're saved!

No, wait a minute. That's actually not true. While it's definitely not a bad thing to want Jesus/the Holy Spirit to live inside you (it's the only shot we've got!), simply asking Jesus in or saying the "sinner's prayer" won't do you much good. I'm sure many of you that will read this are already aware of this, but I feel the need to get this out there for those who don't. It's also a very talked about subject, Paul Washer loves preaching on it. I just wanted to put it into my own words, and show the people in my life what I think about it.

Let's begin by establishing how one is saved.

John 3:16-18
[16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
[18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

That's the essence of the Gospel right there. The Bible is filled with salvation verses, but these may encapsulate it best. We're sinners, damned to hell, all have transgressed from the law, and the wages of sin is death. God sent His only begotten Son to live a perfect life on earth, fulfill the law, and die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Anyone who believes in Him is saved (by grace and faith alone). However, what does the word believe imply?

James 2:19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Hmmm, very interesting, huh? Are you confused? The devils obviously aren't saved, but they believe in God? The only answer for this is to look into what the word "believe" means for a Christian. So let me break out my trusty (albeit a bit dusty) Strong's Concordance. The word "believeth" from John 3 is the word "pisteuo" in Greek. Sorry, don't know how to add the accents above the words! I'm going to type out what my book says:

To have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing) i.e. credit; by implication to entrust (espec. one's spiritual well-being to Christ); - believe, commit unto, commit to (one's) trust, be committed unto, be put in trust with, be commit to one's trust, believer.

So right away we learn that "believe" goes way deeper than just thinking Jesus is God. It's trusting Him and committing to Him. The Concordance further explains it:

Pisteuo means not just to believe, but also to be persuaded of; and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, and signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, not mere credence, hence it is translated "commit unto", "commit to one's trust", "be committed unto", etc.

Hey, pretty cool stuff! Now that we see that belief isn't just a mere thought, let's take the next step here. I'm gonna write out a few verses here for you to read:

Matthew 3:1-2
[1] In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
[2] And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mark 1:14-15
[14] Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
[15] And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Mark 6:12, talking of the mission of the twelve disciples:
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

Luke 13:3
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 3:19-20
[19] Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
[20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

Acts 17:29-31
[29] Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
[30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
[31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Rev 2:5
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Matthew 9:13
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Ok, I'm afraid if I post any more verses here I'm going to lose you! There are more in the Bible, and the Old Testament is full of warnings from God for His people to repent or die. The idea we should take away from these verses is that belief alone doesn't do much good if one is not living in continual repentance. What is repentance? It means "a change of mind," a turning from sin. To realize that what we do against God's Word is wrong, and that we must do our best to live and conform to Him in obedience, through grace. Repentance is a continual process, we're ingrained with sin and it's always being thrown at us through our own thoughts, other people, television, movies, music, advertisements, the devil, and the list goes on. We must continually "mortify the deeds of the flesh" (Romans 8:13) and put on the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) throughout our lives. It's a fight! It's not a prayer we say once and forget about! Thank the Lord Jesus for giving us the power to live a life of belief and repentance!

2 Cor. 12:9
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God also understands what we are going through.

Hebrews 4:14-16
[14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
[15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

1 John 2:1-2
[1] My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
[2] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Isn't this great? The Lord understands, and is willing to forgive us as many times as we ask for it! (Mat. 18:15-22) The key point to take away here is that if we are willing to repent and obey the Lord sincerely, God is more than willing to extend His mighty hand and guide us.

Now there is a flipside to this. Here's where it gets scary. Some people may take advantage of God's grace and just think they can sin with reckless abandon and just ask God to forgive them afterwards. Anyone who thinks this is true is sorely mistaken. My last blog on loving God parallels this idea to an extent. I urge you that if this pertains to you, listen closely:

Romans 6:1-2
[1] What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
[2] God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

1 John 2:4
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Matthew 7:21-23
[21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Hebrews 10:26-27
[26] For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
[27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Very, very scary warnings. Iniquity means "lawlessness," total disregard for God's law. It's an extreme, but there are plenty of people out there that live in ignorance to God and His will. People that don't truly love God and His Word (the Biblical way), people that don't walk the walk. I'm being careful here, because I don't want to portray lordship salvation or legalism and salvation by works. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. With that being said, it's one thing to claim a belief in Jesus, but if you don't live like you believe in Him, He will spit you out of His mouth!

Revelation 3:15-16
[15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
[16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

What I want you to come away with from this blog is the fact that simply "believing" Jesus doesn't do you any good, and that believing in Him goes above and beyond just knowing that He exists. We must believe in Christ AND repent. Salvation is something that is evidenced by our works, the good fruit we produce, and the sanctified life Jesus continually produces in us. I can't wait to expound on that in another blog! Man I'm getting ahead of myself with these, it's too much fun! I want to also stress that I'm not being legalistic - I don't believe that following the law will save anyone. The Christian life is a walk, a relationship, a continuous battle we're in until our death. It's amazing, full of ups and downs, but God is good and everything works out for the better for those who believe in Him!