Based on John 8:21-30 (New King James Version)
“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.’ So the Jews said, ‘Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?’ And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Who are You?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.’ They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.’ As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.”
There are many people that think that just believing in the Lord is enough, that this is all that is necessary. But the issue is that simple belief is not what transforms a life, nor does that produce the eternal fruit of which Jesus spoke of. Just believing is not what fills the life of a person, nor does that change things, nor does that get you forgiveness from God, and even far less, it does not produce eternal life. For it is written: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” James 2:18-19. So then, we see that not only do demons believe, but they go even further than those that profess to be in the Lord; they believe and tremble before the presence of the Most High. And I think we all know that demons, as the fallen angels they are, have no possibility of being saved or redeemed. So, what is truly necessary then?
The first issue is that a person needs to clearly understand, without any kind of question, what their true position is. Our reality was (and for some, maybe still is) that we were completely separated from God, lost in our sins. For it is written: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. There is such a thing as human destiny, when a person does not get to the Lord the way they should; that their undoubtable end is hell, and that there is nothing they can do on their own to change that destination. The sin we were born with (“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5) and practiced (whether it was a lot or a little) out of our own free will was what laid down that path to eternal destruction. If a person does not understand clearly that truth, there can be no salvation, because repentance and conversion to Christ is what blots out our sins (for starters), for it is written: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19.
The other issue is that there needs to be more than just a belief, a person needs to be completely convinced of who Jesus is; that He is God (as the Son of God the Father He is), Lord, Savior; that He is everything. And when that is understood, then there must be belief and confession, acknowledging Him as the Lord of our lives. For it is written: “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:8-10. The Lord must become the Lord and Master of our lives. After all, how can we ever come to belong to Him if we don’t surrender our lives to Him?
And as a result of that repentance, conversion, and surrender to the Lord, what is also essential must emerge; doing the will of the Father. The Father’s will does not consist in being religious, when the things of God are observed as a practice; following a to-do list. There are many people that do the right things for the wrong reasons. There are many people that impose this personalized list of dos and don’ts upon other people, teaching as essential those things that are not of priority to God, and putting those things that are important to God as optional; or barely even mentioning them because they are quite far away from God’s will. The Lord Himself taught this: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23. Good works are necessary, but when they are done for the right reasons, with this as their complete focus: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5. Love for God must be what produces the desire to do what is right in our lives, and only that. The work by itself does not define us as being genuine.
Now then, since we have been trying to explain how to come to have that personal relationship with the Lord (that goes beyond belief), what do you finally get to through all of this? When a person really surrenders their life to God, fully and completely, the miracle that happens (because it’s the greatest miracle that a human being can ever experience, even greater than healings, and moving mountains, and parting the seas) is that the presence of God (the Father and the Son) comes to live inside of us. This is what transforms a person. This is what produces the salvation miracle, restoration, and the regeneration of the soul. The Most High and Sovereign King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the God that makes the impossible possible comes to live in our hearts, in the center of our being. For: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’” John 14:23. This is what changes everything!
So, have you been able to not just believe, but also, surrender completely to Jesus so that God can change and fill your life? Lord bless! John