ldonjohn
"God said it, that settles it!"
Can't remember if I have already posted this or not so I'm posting now.
Just thought I would share something else that the Holy Spirit showed me about “believing” as I was reading the Gospel of John. John 3:16 is probably the most widely known bible verse, but just before v. 16 is another verse that, many years ago, reinforced my understanding of what believing is all about.
I call this “How simple it is to believe, from the Gospel of John.”
John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus was comparing His death on the cross to the serpent being lifted up on a pole in Numbers 21:7-10: “Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. (God sent serpents to bite and kill them because they complained that God sent Moses to bring them out of Egypt into the wilderness to die from starvation) And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The person who was bitten by the serpent knew he was going to die unless he obeyed God and looked at that serpent on the pole to be healed or to be saved from death. That “look” was a look of faith in desperation knowing that the only hope for being healed was by looking at the serpent. They were believing that God would heal them by doing what He told them to do.
Jesus was saying that He was going to be lifted up, nailed to the cross which was then lifted up, in the same way the serpent was lifted up, and the lost sinners’ “look in faith” to the cross is “believing, saving faith.” The “object” of your faith, not the amount of your faith, is what matters. One look, one glance in helpless desperation at the cross is your hand of faith that takes hold of the outreached hand of Jesus as He waits for you to come to him to receive His gift of forgiveness.
ldonjohn, (sometimes Don; sometimes John)
Just thought I would share something else that the Holy Spirit showed me about “believing” as I was reading the Gospel of John. John 3:16 is probably the most widely known bible verse, but just before v. 16 is another verse that, many years ago, reinforced my understanding of what believing is all about.
I call this “How simple it is to believe, from the Gospel of John.”
John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus was comparing His death on the cross to the serpent being lifted up on a pole in Numbers 21:7-10: “Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. (God sent serpents to bite and kill them because they complained that God sent Moses to bring them out of Egypt into the wilderness to die from starvation) And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The person who was bitten by the serpent knew he was going to die unless he obeyed God and looked at that serpent on the pole to be healed or to be saved from death. That “look” was a look of faith in desperation knowing that the only hope for being healed was by looking at the serpent. They were believing that God would heal them by doing what He told them to do.
Jesus was saying that He was going to be lifted up, nailed to the cross which was then lifted up, in the same way the serpent was lifted up, and the lost sinners’ “look in faith” to the cross is “believing, saving faith.” The “object” of your faith, not the amount of your faith, is what matters. One look, one glance in helpless desperation at the cross is your hand of faith that takes hold of the outreached hand of Jesus as He waits for you to come to him to receive His gift of forgiveness.
ldonjohn, (sometimes Don; sometimes John)
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ing: LORD, You have told us that the only unforgivable sin is unbelief! Let the people hear this with their ears and have their eyes opened now! In the name of Jesus, amen!
