When Believing Isn’t Enough

Introduction

Two of a time change, and we’re still here. If you will open in your New Testament with me to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. If there’s one thing that’s universally disliked, it is, as we spoke about last week, losing out on sleep. But if there’s one Bible passage that is liked, loved, adored, and known at the expense literally of all other, it’s found in John chapter 3. In John chapter 3 and verse 16, Jesus says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Of course, the text continues, verse 17, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light, and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. This is certainly a powerful text. But if you considered only John chapter 3 and verse 16, you’ll reach a similar conclusion that a preacher friend of mine ran across as he was studying with various people. One time he came across one woman who he wanted to study the Bible with, and she said, Oh, I have all I need. And he said, Well, what is that? She said, John 3 16 is the only Bible verse I need. I don’t need anything else, because you see in verse 16, you have God who loved the world, you have Jesus, who was given for my benefit, and of course the last part, as long as you believe in him, you shall not perish but have everlasting or eternal life.

How do you how do we as Christians understand a passage that is pretty clear in verse 18 whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already? How do we reconcile that with scriptures that talk about the idea of believing and yet having to do other things? Whether it be repentance or confession or baptism, or living a faithful life to Jesus. Living a faithful life to God. There are many ways and many ideas tried and given. And this morning I want us to study not only John chapter 3 a little bit in context, and that’s certainly important. You look at the beginning of John chapter 3, who is Jesus speaking to? What were some of the keys, such as in verse 5, or even as you continue on past verse 16, the idea that those who walk in the light do what the Father has commanded.

1. Believers Who Did Nothing

And we could look at passages like Hebrews chapter 11 and study the idea particularly of faith and see how all the men and women in the Old Testament who were heroes of faith did what God required. They acted from faith. Abel offered, Noah built. Abraham went out. But consider with me this morning the idea of belief and what it means to truly believe in the sense of what is pleasing to God. I think the Bible’s a lot more clear on the idea of belief than we sometimes give it credit for, and we see a few different groups of people. First, this morning, let’s look at a group of people who the Bible even describes as having belief and yet did nothing, and no one would argue these people are in a saved condition.

If you look with me just a few chapters over in John chapter 12, and I know that’s not a good math word, a few means three, but just nine chapters, several pages over in John chapter 12. You see, even some of the Pharisees, the very people who rejected Jesus, who we’re going to see in just a moment, wouldn’t obey God’s commandments that they had as part of the old law, are described biblically by the inspired word of God as believing. Look carefully with me at John chapter 12 and verse 42. In John chapter 12 and verse 42. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him. Of course, speaking about Jesus. But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue, for they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Now immediately we’re presented with a dilemma. In John chapter 3, we were told, as long as you believe, you will not be condemned. And you look carefully at John chapter 12 and verse 42. But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess Jesus. And yet the phrase right before that, the very beginning, is that these authorities believed in Jesus. Of course, there are many ways that people get around the different ideas of the Bible text that is clear. For example, you talk to somebody about doing what God says. I’ve met people who have gone up to others who are clearly rejecting God, are open about rejecting God, and they’ll walk up to them and say, You can’t do anything about it. You are saved anyway, because at one time in your life you believed in Jesus, you’re stuck, you couldn’t get away from God if you even tried.

This presents a dilemma for us as we look at verse 42 carefully. These are authorities, these are people who believed in Jesus. That’s going well. But what is the very next description? They did not confess him. Why? Because of fear of the Pharisees. They didn’t want to be put out of the synagogue. Verse 43, even more telling. Not only were they acting out of fear, what did they not want to give up? They love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. Would any fair-minded studier of the Bible look at this passage and say, according to verse 42 and 43, that these people are pleasing to God, that they are doing what God has commanded? Of course the answer is no.

These are believers in the Bible sense of the word, at least as described here in verse 42. And yet no one would say that you can be saved while denying Jesus to gain glory from man instead of seeking to please God. Another group of people that pretty much nobody says is saved, but is interesting. It’s found in Mark chapter 5. If you’ll turn with me to Mark chapter 5, you’ll see that even demons believe. In Mark chapter 5, if you note a quick story of Jesus here in Mark chapter 5, beginning in verse 3. An unclean, a man with an unclean spirit had just approached Jesus, and in verse 3, he lived among the tombs. No one could bind him anymore, not even with the chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces.

No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him, and crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me. And verse 8, for he was saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And Jesus asked him, What is your name? He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many. And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, Send us to the pigs, let us enter them.

So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned into the sea. This is an interesting story about demonic spirits, you might say, and possession and all those wonderful things that grab our imagination. But suffice to say, as Jesus is approaching this man, what did the demons within him understand? Certainly that Jesus was the most high God, and that he had the power to cast them out. You see in verse 7 this confession of sorts, what have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to be studying the Bible with someone and for them to never accept the idea of Jesus or God’s existence?

And then to understand that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God. This demon understood something that is critically important. That Jesus has power. Jesus is to be respected. Of course, this is after Jesus had said, Come out, you unclean spirit. But they recognized Jesus could send them where he wished. And of course, Jesus was successful in that, as he is the Son of God. He is the Son of the Most High God. And when you turn to James chapter 2, and you see this great idea that we’re not only saved just by faith, but by faith with works. Or as the text clearly says, we’re not saved by faith alone. When we’re thinking thinking of James, though, we’re shifting ideas into the idea of that Christians should be working, should be doing something with their belief.

2. Believers Who Do the Wrong Thing

But it said in James chapter 2, even the demons believed and trembled. The demons got somewhere that a lot of us may not even ever get to or be able to get to in a study with somebody else. There are believers in the scriptures who did nothing, and nobody argues that the demons were saved. And yet they believed and understood the power of Jesus. Consider a second group of people with me this morning, believers who do the wrong thing. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21. I’m often asked if this passage means what it says. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21, it’s hard to take the Bible to mean anything except what it says at face value. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21, Jesus gives the terrible, haunting words.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Note the caveat at the end of verse 21. But he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Now, if you note how that starts in verse 21, he says, Not everyone, so we understand that part, but not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, who recognizes, who calls out, who calls me Lord properly, who understands who Jesus is, who understands who God is. Not everyone who just makes that claim will be saved. Verse 22, on that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Here’s another wonderful work. Cast out demons in your name. Do many mighty works in your name.

And then I will declare to you, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. This is a terrifying passage because it shows us that doing things that we believe are good, and that in and of themselves, if we were to classify what it means to prophesy, to cast out demons, to do mighty works in the name of the Lord, we say these are wonderful, powerful, important things. But what disqualified these people from being pleasing to Jesus? You see at the end of verse 21 and the end of verse 23. At the end of verse 21, they would not do the will of the Father. At the end of verse 23, Jesus says, You workers of what? Lawlessness. If we look at 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4, we understand the definition of sin as John writes it, is sin is lawlessness.

Religious people, people who claim to know Jesus, who do or claim to do great, wonderful, powerful things, if we, if they do not succumb to the will of Jesus, submit to their Lord. Then what does that mean? It’s not about what I think or how you feel. It’s about what Jesus has clearly said. And Jesus clearly said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Consider a second group of people. Let’s go back to those Pharisees in Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, these were clearly religious people, and of course, in Matthew chapter 15, the law of the land for the Israelites was the law of Moses.

And when you read beginning in the first two verses of Matthew chapter 15, you have the Pharisees and the scribes, people who were known for knowing the law. We understand the idea of the scribes knowing the law, but even the Pharisees are described by Jesus in Matthew 23 as knowing the law. They would preach. They just didn’t practice what they preached. They were hypocritical, but they knew the law. In verse 2, they talk to Jesus and attack him over the action of his disciples. You see this in Matthew 15 and verse 2? Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat. Of course, they could not have put this ball on the T any easier for Jesus here, because he calls out one, their hypocrisy in breaking what was the clear law of God when they wouldn’t honor their father and mother, verse 3, he answered, Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

For God commanded to honor your father and mother, and whoever reviles father and mother must surely die. But secondly, he calls out that you are missing the boat entirely. In verse 3, it wasn’t just that they weren’t keeping the command, it was even worse because what happened? They broke the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition. Of course, to be fair to the Pharisees and scribes in verse 2, they’re very open about this. Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? So when you see what Jesus says in verse 7, we understand he has probable reason for saying this. In verse 7, you hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he says, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men? What was the problem? It wasn’t that they didn’t know the law, it’s that they were equating their law with God. And in so doing what happened in vain, they are described as worshiping Jesus. They honored him with their lips. Yes, you might say, these are the people who say, Lord, Lord. But their heart was far from Jesus. How did Jesus know that? Because they wouldn’t keep the commandments of God. How could he say that their worship was in vain? Because they were equating their will with God’s. They weren’t centered upon Jesus first, submitting to the master first. They were serving self. They were believers in the law. But they didn’t do what it said.

Of course, we see a few more people in this category. Saul is a particularly good example. In Acts chapter 22, if you’ll turn there with me. In Acts chapter 22, and then it’s interesting to see in Romans 10, as Paul now converted to Jesus Christ, then writes to his fellow Israelites in Romans chapter 10. But first, in Acts chapter 22, as he is giving an account of his life and his conversion, you might say. In Acts chapter 22, in verse 2, he’s speaking to them in their Hebrew language. He says in verse 3, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Sicilya, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamal, according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers. Notice verse 3, very important here.

Being zealous for God as all of you are this day. Now, let’s be fair for a moment. Saul is on, Paul is on trial here, and he is very artfully and being very careful to craft a good defense and to get everybody all mixed up and to make them kind of frustrated with each other. Let’s acknowledge that point. But he does very clearly say something that is true at the end of verse 3. They were very zealous for God. They didn’t always show that in the right way, but they could be described as being zealous for God. Verse 4, being part of that movement, Saul says, I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness.

From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. Saul was caught up in this zealous movement of Jews who were trying to stamp out what the New Testament often calls the way in the book of Acts. They were stamping out, Saul was stamping out Christianity. Or at least he was trying to. And how far did that go in verse 4? He was persecuting this way to the death. Second phrase in verse 4, what? Binding and delivering these Christians over to Jewish authorities. Paul was all in and serving God zealously. The problem was he wasn’t serving God the way God demanded. He didn’t accept and understood what it meant to submit to Jesus, to believe in Jesus as the Son of the Most High God.

Look at me in Romans chapter 10 and you see a little bit more clearly put. In Romans chapter 10, as Saul has become Paul, and we’ll see the rest of his conversion story this morning in just a few moments. As Saul is now committed to Jesus, he is an apostle, the Apostle Paul, as we more familiarly know him. In Romans chapter 10 and verse 1, he says, brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them, his Jewish brethren is that they may be saved. Verse 2 note this word again, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

For Christ, verse 4 is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Did you see that word zealous again applying to the Jews? Paul once again decades later not trying to get out of trouble. In fact you might say this might cause some issues he’s saying they were zealous. Verse 2, but not according to knowledge. What was their problem? Romans chapter 9 gives that answer in verse 32. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works, they have stumbled over the stumbling stone. The Jews rejected Jesus. And their zeal for God couldn’t overpower the rejection of Jesus. Because as John 3 16 says, God so loved the world that he did what?

That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus has to be believed in, and that doesn’t just mean believing that we have somebody who is there to save us, it means believing in somebody that we need to obey. Now, as we consider then what that means for Saul’s life, we saw how he changed, but we see in Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12 beginning this idea that you can be with God. You can believe and you can do the right things. You can submit to him, but that you also can leave. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12, take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, for we have come to share in Christ, important word here, if, in verse 14, if indeed we hold firm our confidence to the end.

Verse 12 is important, first of all. You can fall away from the living God. I talk about this in studies all the time. I can’t fall from up here if I’m not first up here. If you can fall away from the living God, you must be then with the living God. There is no idea that you can just go backwards and say retroactively, well, you never really did believe. No, you never really did understand. You can be with God. That’s a powerful blessing. If you do believe, you can accept him. That’s an important blessing. But we see in the scriptures time and again, people who did understand. You think about Demas in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. You look at the end of some of Paul’s letters, like in Colossians, and you see this man named Demas who was a servant who worked with Paul, and yet in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 10, Demas had deserted him because he was in love with this present world.

3. A Belief That Pleases God

In terms of belief, we saw believers who understood who Jesus was, who did nothing about it. Now we see a group of people who believed in Jesus, but at least at some point in their life did the wrong thing. We can be zealous all we want, we can be submissive to God for a time, but if we don’t hold firm our original confidence to the end, first of all, our belief isn’t strong enough. And secondly, we’re not pleasing to God because he expects to be in control. He is our creator. He deserves and demands our respect, our attention, and our life. The Bible talks about believers who did the wrong thing as well. Of course, there are believers. There are those who have a belief that pleases God.

And we see in Acts chapter 2 one of those groups. If you want to be hit between the eyes, if you want to have your toe stomped on, imagine being there in Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, after Jesus is being spoken about by Peter, as Peter is painting the idea that you missed Jesus. God sent him. You should have known him. In verse 36, let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ. This Jesus whom you crucified. You want to talk about one of those moments that just absolutely stomps on your toes, hits you between the eyes, or as verse 37 describes the crowd as being cut to the heart.

Imagine that you didn’t just reject Jesus. You didn’t just proverbally stumble over the stumbling stone. You crucified the Christ. And you didn’t just crucify the Christ, you crucified Jesus, whom God sent, who you had prophecies of, who you should have known and looked for and submitted to, and yes, believed in. And so in verse 37, it’s no surprise when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself, and with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation.

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Would it be fair to say that this group of people believed in Jesus at this point? Of course. That’s the action you see in verse 37. And it all goes back to this idea that Peter has punctuated his sermon. He says, You knew who Jesus was, and you crucified him. And they realize we have to do something about this. They believed that Jesus was who God claimed he was from the very beginning. That Jesus was the one sent by God to die on the cross for our sins. And what did they do about it? They submitted to him. They repented. They were baptized, and of course, as we read verse 42 on down, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayers.

What did this belief do? It radically changed their lives.

Remember, we started in John chapter 12 and verse 42? Many of the authorities believed in Jesus, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it. They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. That’s not what these 3,000 at Pentecost did. They understood who Jesus was. They understood their God’s plan. And they said, we have to partake in that mercy, that forgiveness, and that life. And it changed their life every step of the way after. That’s belief that pleases God. We see another type of belief that pleases God in Genesis chapter 22 with Abraham. If you’ll just turn to Hebrews chapter 11, we’ll read about it in the New Testament. But in Genesis chapter 22, as you’re turning to Hebrews 11, that’s confusing.

I know I’m going to keep saying it. As you’re turning to Hebrews chapter 11, talking about Genesis chapter 22, where Abraham is going to sacrifice Isaac. We have to stop and think, of course, and never grow tired of reading these great Bible stories of faith and understanding our God in them. God demanded that Abraham not only sacrifice Isaac his son, but that Abraham sacrifice Isaac, the promised long awaited son and heir, through whom, as Abraham believed and finally understood, would come Israel, that great nation that God promised them in Genesis chapter 12, who would go out and inherit that land that was promised him in Genesis chapter 12. And whether Abraham fully understood this or not, the seed through whom Jesus would come, through whom all families of the earth would be blessed.

That Isaac. God told Abraham to sacrifice. This is a critical chapter. And as we look in Hebrews chapter 11, you know, how did Abraham do this? Why did Abraham do this? He did it by faith. How did he live? How did he understand? In verse 13, these all died. Speaking of some of the biblical heroes, like Abel, like Noah, like Abraham, died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. What did they do? Their belief in God, their trust in him, changed their lives. Verse 14, for people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country. That is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. You want to see belief that pleases God, here it is. God is not ashamed to be called their God. Why? They believed in him and they did whatever it took. They understood that this life was temporary, that it was worth changing everything. It wasn’t like the belief of people who did nothing. They were caught up in this life. They were caught up in this earthly country. It wasn’t like the believers who zealously did the wrong thing. Abraham, Noah, Abel, they did what God required and demanded. Now look at verse 17. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.

And he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. He considered that God was able even to raise them from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. And you see in verse 20 and on down that Isaac would be got, would have begotten Esau and Jacob. You would see this lineage come from Abraham as God had always promised. Abraham had belief he had. Faith is the key word in Hebrews chapter 11, that God would not only be there for him, but that if it came to it and he couldn’t understand any other way, in verse 19, he could receive him back from the dead.

Abraham had true belief that pleases God. That’s why it could be said in verse 16 that God is not ashamed to be called his God. And of course, consider one more example of belief that pleases God. Go back to Saul in Acts chapter 22, and we’ll conclude the lesson this morning. In Acts chapter 22, you have this great example of Paul as he’s giving account of his conversion, and of course he talks about as he was on the way to Damascus, that Jesus is speaking to him and saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? This Saul who was living zealously, who was persecuting the people, as verse 4 said along the way, or who were members of the way, committing them even to death, allowing them to be imprisoned.

Jesus was right to say, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And from that time on, what happened? Saul was changed. He ran into Ananias in verse 12, who was described as a devout man according to all the law. And in verse 14, he said, The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the righteous one, and to hear a voice from his mouth, for you will be a witness for him to every one of what you have seen and heard. Verse 16, and now why do you wait? Here is Saul, the zealous Saul, the zealous now we know him as Apostle Paul. The one who heard, or you might say, saw Jesus on the way to Damascus. The one who knew the law, was devoutly trained in knowing the law of Moses.

And in verse 16, Ananias says, Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. If anybody ever believed in Jesus, if belief saved, it would have been Saul. Because Jesus spoke to him directly. On the way to Damascus, Jesus said in verse 7, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Jesus said to him in verse 8, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. In verse 10, he said, Rise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do. If anybody was saved through zealous works, through understanding God, and through speaking to Jesus and having a true understanding of the power of Jesus the Christ, it was Saul who on his way to Damascus was blinded by him.

Conclusion

And yet he had to go to Ananias. Ananias had to say to him, Why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. Belief that pleases God cannot be what’s described in John chapter 12 or Mark chapter 5 or James chapter 2. It’s certainly not of demons, and it’s certainly not of people who know what Jesus is, who know who God is and reject him in their life for any other reason at all. It can’t be believers that do the wrong thing. Saul wasn’t saved by that. And if zealous works could save you, Saul would have been at the top of the list. It can’t be just an understanding of who Jesus is or believing that he really has power, because Saul would have been at the top of that list.

Belief that pleases God is just like the faith of Abraham, the faith of Noah, the faith of Abel, the faith of Paul, the faith of the 3,000 at Pentecost. If we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, we will turn everything over to Him. We will be living for a heavenly country, a better one, knowing that Jesus will deliver. And understanding that belief unlocks the power of John 3 16 that we know God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we’re so thankful to you for sacrificing Jesus, sending Him into this life, to listen to His teachings, to learn from His example, to see His obedience to your will.

We pray that you forgive us of when we’ve fallen short, of when we, knowing that you’re there, still choose to selfishly indulge ourselves, living for the glory of man, living for the pleasures of this life. Help us to be like Abraham. Help us to be like Paul. Help us to give up all of this earthly world’s temptations and to follow you with every heart, heartbeat, with every moment of time that you’ve blessed us with. Thank you for revealing your word to us. Thank you for allowing us to call you Father. Help us to always be submissive to your will, to practice, hold and cherish the belief that pleases you. Help us to be lights in this world. Help us to teach your word. Help us to be submissive to you in all things and in all ways.

As we go to our Bible classes, help us to be focused on your word. Help us to apply it to our lives. And as we worship you again shortly thereafter, we pray that it’s pleasing in your sight. We pray all these things in Jesus the Christ’s name. Amen.