In Ephesians 2:8-9, The apostle Paul wrote, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
We are saved through faith. That is a wonderful thing to know, and yet it remains that we must determine what Faith is, and further, what our faith will be in!
Fortunately for our soul’s sake, both questions are easy to answer. Faith is simply belief. If we believe something, we are said to have faith in it. So, the second question can be phrased in this way: "What is it that we believe in that brings us that salvation we seek?"
Paul weighed in on that question as well. He wrote in Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Previous to that, in Romans 1:16, he testified, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."
So, we must believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Or more accurately, we must believe in Jesus Himself, the one revealed in the gospel. Jesus said to the skeptical Jews in John 8:24, "…for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
The "He" to which Jesus refers is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. The Jews looked for a Savior who would, as Isaiah 53 notes, be "wounded for our transgressions" and "bruised for our iniquities." (verse 5). Jesus claimed to be that Messiah, the Son of David. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
Peter confessed his faith in Jesus. When Jesus asked him, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered in Matthew 16:16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." The Ethopian Eunuch made the same confession before his baptism in Acts 8:37, saying, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
Paul concisely described the saving gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1-4, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."
So, the gospel includes more than believing Jesus to have lived on earth. In order to truly believe in Christ, you must accept that he died a sacrificial death on our behalf, and that after three days in the grave, that He was resurrected from the dead. You must, in fact, believe Him to be the anointed of God. Peter, in declaring that Jesus had been raised from the dead by God His Father, told the Jews in Acts 2:36, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom your crucified, both Lord and Christ."
We are so thankful for the message of the cross. You will notice that each gospel sermon recorded in the book of Acts, leading to the conversion of men, dealt with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus our Lord.
Now, going back to Romans we noted that the gospel is God’s power to salvation. And, as those who have benefited from that message, we feel compelled to share it with others.
Paul wrote in Romans 10:14, "…how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?"
In these videos, we are attempting to affirm that Jesus Christ is the resurrected Son of God. We pray that you will watch them all, and carefully consider them. You may learn the gospel of Jesus Christ, and save your soul.
