#001 Beyond Belief

What it really means to "believe" in the gospel

What does it mean to you to be a believer in the one true God, the God of Israel?

Perhaps the first thing you think of is that you know there is a Creator who loves you and cares for you. Or perhaps it is that through faith you have been adopted into His family, and your identity is found in Him, as a child of the living God. Perhaps it is that through His son our Messiah you have the promise of eternal life in His kingdom, and need not fear death, nor the judgement to come.

All these things are true for anyone who has turned to God and put their trust in His son for their salvation. By His grace we are able to receive this salvation when we enter into covenant with Him through faith. But what does it mean to be “in covenant” with God, and how does it affect what it means to be a true believer?

Put simply, this covenant is an agreement between us and God, in which we agree to walk in His righteous behavior and carry out His will, and He will put His blessing upon us, forgive us of all the times we have sinned and broken His laws, and grant us everlasting life in His kingdom. We become His people, and He becomes our God.

The call to repentance is a call for us to turn away from our former ways which were contrary to the Father’s, and turn to following His ways instead — and so we enter into a lifelong commitment to serving Him with our lives, and doing the things that please Him rather than ourselves.

This dedication to walking with God in covenant, having confidence in His promises for us as His people, is the essence of our faith and what it means to be a believer: beyond just believing in His existence —or even that what He says is true— we have chosen to heed His words of life, accept His offer of salvation, and come into covenant with Him so that we will receive it.

Committing to follow the ways of the Creator does not mean we will do so perfectly, but it does mean that when we stumble, we are determined to repent of (or turn from) our transgression, getting back up again and growing stronger, and we can trust that we will be forgiven when we hold fast to our faith, knowing that our God is gracious and long-suffering towards us.

We won’t know everything on day one, and we will be learning and refining our understanding as long as we live; learning how to walk, learning all that is revealed to us in the scriptures, and learning how we can serve our God wherever we may be.

It won’t always be easy, but we can know for certain that our present trials will be nothing compared to the glory that awaits us when we are raised to life and enter into the kingdom prepared for us.

We must go beyond mere acceptance, and take hold of God’s covenant, as lifelong disciples of Messiah and servants of the Most High God. This is the faith that He desires.

May we all hold fast to our Creator’s covenant, and in this show our love and devotion to Him, knowing that He first loved us.

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This was written with the intent of being a foundation for future articles, which will expound upon these concepts in greater detail and with supporting scriptures.

What did you think? Leave a comment and let me know!

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“Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS,” and, “EVERYONE WHO NAMES THE NAME OF THE LORD is to DEPART FROM WICKEDNESS.’” (2 Timothy 2:19, LSB)

Featured Song

I love finding small music artists with great messages.
“Stand Firm” by The Lanterns Music is a wonderful reminder to stand firm on God’s promises and trust in Him as we seek Him with all of our heart. Also available on streaming services.

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