Believing isn't Enough

If you've been around children any amount of time, you know just how gullible and naïve they are. Kids will readily believe anything, simply because you tell them it's true. Eyes bulge in awe as they say, "Really?" wanting to know more. Prime examples are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. This child-like wonder fades the older we get, and we no longer take things at face value. We lose our innocence, and we start to question what we are told.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:3 that we need to become child-like in our faith in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. We need to believe in the Lord without all the complications life throws at us, which is hard to do. We go through hurt and rejection. We lose those we love; we experience life. We realize that head-knowledge is not heart-knowledge. It becomes less easy to just believe in the Lord's goodness. Through the rollercoaster of life, this verse reminds us to believe and be saved. Just believe.

In Acts 16, it seems it is just that simple--believe. The jailers asked Paul and Silas what they must do to be saved, and in verse 31, Paul responds, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." This verse makes it seem like the simple act of believing is all we need to do.

But it isn't quite so simple. It's not enough to simply believe. There are people who call themselves "Believers" instead of Christians. I get what they are trying to say--that they believe in Jesus; they believe in the gospel. They believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who died for our sins. What I take issue with is that Satan was a "believer" too. He believed in Who Jesus was. He talked with Jesus in the desert. He knew (not merely believed) that Jesus is the King, the Holy One. Satan knows that Jesus tore the veil and conquered sin and grave.

So again, it is not enough to just believe. Going back to Matthew 18:3, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The key word there is "change," which in some versions, it is translated as "converted." Although in Acts 16, it doesn't specifically say the jailers were "converted" or "changed," their subsequent actions following their decision to believe make it clear there was a change of heart--they practically helped Paul and Silas get out of jail.

Romans 10:9 gives it to us a little more clearly: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." This scripture is the crux of salvation, which is that in addition to believing, we must also declare that Jesus is Lord. This is where Satan's belief veers away from ours. He refuses to declare that Jesus is Lord, and he refuses to submit himself to the Lord. These are two things we must do in order to "convert" or "change." We have to declare that Jesus is Lord. We have to allow Him to rule and reign over our lives. When we do that, we will turn away from our sinful lives, and we will be able to fully believe in Jesus and all of the promises God has given us in His Word. Do more than believe.