Do We believe?
John 3:16-3:18
North Georgia sits in the area of what we call the Bible belt. Far too many talk the religious talk but, the real question is, “Are we walking the walk?”
That’s what Jesus is calling us to. He tells these people that only those who do the will of God are those that will enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Now let me clarify something. When we hear that doing the will of God is necessary for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, we sometimes think incorrectly about what it means to do the will of God.
We come up with a list of things that we are supposed to do in order to be in the will of God. But when we understand God’s will as something that He is calling us to do, our focus is on the wrong thing.
I want to challenge us to shift our understanding of God’s will from something that God is calling us to do, to someone that God is calling us be.
Romans 8:29 says that those that are, “called according to God’s purpose . . . are predestined to be conformed into the image of His Son.”
The will of God is that we are conformed into the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and then the life of Christ in us will naturally do the things of God.
So, “Here’s the $64,000 question.”
“Do we have relationship with Jesus?”
I’m not asking if you believe in Him.
I’m not asking if you have ever said the “sinners prayer.”
I’m not asking if you are a faithful church attendee.
I’m not asking if you profess to have a relationship with Him.
I am asking if you do have a relationship with Him.
If you recall, I opened this message and said that I was going to talk about the word ‘belief.’ And furthermore I said that I was going to talk about two different types of belief.
One of my professors said that belief without knowledge of the truth is an empty belief. Jesus is not calling for an empty belief.
The Greek word for “believe” in John 3:16 means, “to fully commit oneself to.” Jesus is looking for people that will fully commit themselves to Him. But here’s the dilemma: None of us have the capacity to do this.
We’ll conclude tomorrow.