“And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee…”  (Matthew 8)

 

Reader, Was the centurion, from above, saved?  The centurion came to Christ and sought His mercy by asking Him to heal his servant from the palsy. Christ was willing to go to the servant, but the centurion asked Him not to come to his home, but simply speak the healing and the healing would be done.  Our Lord “marveled” at the centurion’s faith in His healing power. Christ said He had not found such faith in all of Israel.

But, but, but….Did you automatically think the centurion was now saved?  Read the passage again. The centurion believed in Christ’s ability to heal with a word, but there is nothing in that passage that should suggest the centurion was saved.  His servant was healed but there is nothing that shows that the centurion trusted Christ with his soul…the subject of His passion had not been brought up yet by Christ. So how could the centurion believe in Christ’s salvation?  He couldn’t.  Reader, Reader, Reader,  Do you see my point?

The centurian had faith in Christ’s ability to heal,  there are supposedly millions that have faith in Benny Hinn’s healing power, does that mean that these self-focused and self-centered, Biblically ignoranr persons entrust their souls to Benny Hinn?  OF COURSE NOT!!!  and please know I am not comparing The Lord Jesus and His healings with Hinn’s circus.  God Forbid, I wd die before I wd put Hinn anywhere close to the Lord Jesus.

My point in this article is to show that not every person that crossed paths with Christ was automatically saved because the Lord had mercy upon a physical malady. Remember the ten (10) lepers that were healed by Christ?  How many thanked Him for His healing mercy? …….tick ..tock…Reader…tick…tock….How many returned to thank Christ for His mercy?……..tick …..tock……..ONE (1), the answer is one (1).  One (1) out of the ten (10) thought to thank his Healer.  But again, we have no ground to assume that even the one (1) was saved eternally.

In John chapter six (6) we read that many of Christ’s “disciples” turned away from Him and returned no more. Christ started teaching deeper truths, such as the eating of His Flesh and the drinking of His Blood. Many of His disciples that “believed in Him” left to return no more.  So I doubt many of those “disciples” were saved eternally.

So, what is belief?  what is it to believe?  How does one (1) believe in another?  With the demonically-oppressed politicians in D.C. many in this country are being forced to either believe a woman that charges a man with a rape or a not-exactly-a rape in a place she doesn’t remember and at a time she is not sure of.  [SideNote: If you are familiar with body language or have a trained eye to read other persons, you would see a whole lot of deceptive preening on the part of the woman.  O’ and I read that the woman’s parents work for the CIA. And you thought professional wrestling was fake?]

Or we can believe the man that is having his entire life up-ended. This man has calendars that documents his every day life.  So who do you believe?  Is this kind of believing the same as believing in/on Christ? I’m starting (not really starting; I’ve had this position forever) to think there is more to believing in/on Christ than just believing in Christ as a conception or an idea or an escape route.

The first truth one needs to understand is Christ is not to be “believed” in as an escape from Hell. Another truth is:  God loved you before you loved Him.  If He did not choose to love you, you would not be loved by God.  In fact, if He chose not to love a person, that person is hated…yes. hated.

Christ shows us that He is absolutely free and just to heal a certain man who is among a great multitude of [other] impotent folk. (John chapter five). Christ heals the lame man and leaves every other suffering person in their state of infirmity.  Reader, Understand this…Christ could have healed all that were present that day but He chose not to. He chose to heal a certain man, but again, we have no ground to assume this man was saved through Christ’s Passion.

Belief and faith or the ability to repent and believe is all a work of God on our behalf.  Know this, understand this. “With man it is impossible to be saved but with God all things are possible,”  So said our Lord Jesus. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians that it was given them to believe.  Paul also says that the ability to repent is granted to a person by God.  Paul is clear in Ephesians 2 that the faith we exercise is a faith that was gifted to us from God. Know this reader, you never had any faith of your own to “place in Christ.”  Paul says all are dead in trespasses and sins, therefore, no one can exercise any kind of spiritual life or faith in Christ.  Isn’t that simple?

It is all of God that you were granted repentence and then it was given to you to believe with the very faith God has gifted you with, when you were regenerated to life, to spiritual life that the Spirit bestows upon you and maintains as God wills. AND!!! according to Galatians 4:6, the reason the Spirit of God bestowed spiritual life within our souls or regenerated us is because we were ALREADY God’s children….yes, Christ-ian, you were a child of God BEFORE the Spirit granted you repentance and poured the faith of Christ into your soul, giving new life to your spirit.

Reader, God put the faith of Christ into you, just as the Spirit put God’s Seed into Mary. God planted the faith of Christ into your resurrected spirit, so that you could then believe, love, and obey Christ. To believe in/on Christ is to trust Him, Love Him, and Obey Him because you love Him and trust Him. Paul says we should work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling.  That is trusting, loving and obeying.

We are exhorted to obey the Gospel. How does one (1) obey the Gospel?  It is to live the Gospel because you love Christ and want to be like Him. Paul said if a person does not love Christ, let him be damned.  Reader, this is how one believes in Christ, one loves Him…really loves Him…He is a living Person in Heaven and is worthy of our love and if we love Him, we will do as He says.

To believe in Christ is to believe in Him every day and to die unto self every day. To believe in Christ is to belong to Him. To believe in Christ is to walk with the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ Who inhabits our mind, our feelings, and our instincts. As the twelve (12) walked with Christ, so should we walk with His Spirit. Christ is a very real Presence through the Holy Spirit’s Sovereign and abiding Presence with in us. We must fellowship with the Holy Spirit of Christ if we are believing in Christ. Fellowshiping with the Spirit of Christ is believing in Christ. If you are walking in the Spirit, you are believing in Christ.

Try this……Beliving in Christ. Do you see? the e was dropped and the word believe became Beliving….so there it is…to believe in Christ is to beliving in Christ.

Godspeed.