In this article I want to explain what it means to “believe” in Jesus, the importance of repentance and using the parable of the sower, I want to contrast genuine salvation against the counterfeit experience so many have.
I’ll begin with Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Based on this scriptures and others similar to it many think that all one must do to receive salvation is recite the “sinners prayer” or something to that effect.
Maybe you’ve done this? Perhaps someone even gave you a little birth certificate to stick into your bible just to confirm you were “born-again” at that moment.
What did that experience produce in you? A strong Christian character able to endure temptation and live above sin? Or are you caught in a miserable cycle of sin, confess, sin, confess, sin, confess?
If the latter is your experience I urge you to read this entire article and honestly examine your heart in light of the scriptures I share.
Firstly, what does the word “Believe” mean?
Believe is pist-yoo-o in the Greek and has a couple of meanings. It can mean...
‘Mere acknowledgement of some fact or event: intellectual faith’
Does an intellectual belief in Jesus = salvation?
Does merely acknowledging that he died and rose again for us= salvation?
Let’s consider what James 2:19 says
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doesn’t well: the devils also believe and tremble.
James is saying that Devils believe in God yet they are obviously not saved, so too one can have an intellectual belief in Jesus yet live like a devil and in no way be saved.
I was that person.
I “believed” yet I hadn’t actually forsaken sin so as soon as temptation came along I fell for it.
This scenario is explained perfectly in the parable of the sower
Luke 8:5&6
A sower went out to sow his seed...and some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.
In verse 13 Jesus explains this parable...
they on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Then we have the same parable in the gospel of Matthew
Matthew 13: 3,5,6
...a sower went forth to sow;
Some (seeds) fell upon stoney places, where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
And here is Jesus’s explanation of the parable in verses 20&21
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he no root in himself, but dureth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by he is offended.
I, like the plant on the rock, was happy to hear the word, I received it with with joy, I sprung up.
So too, a person may enthusiastically “believe”,“confess” and even think they’ve “received” Jesus into their heart, however, when temptation, tribulation or persecution comes along their true spiritual state is revealed.
What is temptation?
Temptation is Pi-ras-mos in the Greek and means ‘a test to prove ones character’
In the parable of the sower, the sun represents temptation, tribulation and persecution and we see here that when the sun came out, the plant upon the “rock” or “stoney places” immediately “withered away”.
So what did the sun reveal about that plant?
The sun revealed the fact that the plant had no root with which to access water thus survive the scorching heat of the sun.
Why did the plant have no root?
The plant had no root because it was trying to grow upon a rock.
You see, when a seed germinates, the first thing it does is send down roots. However, for it to do so it requires “deepness of earth”. Rock cannot provide this “deepness of earth”.
What does the rock represent?
The rock in this parable represents a rock hard heart.
Therefore, no matter how much one “believes” or “confesses” Jesus, one cannot truely receive him until one’s heart has been properly prepared to receive him.
There is a preparation process that must occur before salvation can take place.
Certain ground work needs to happen before one can truely receive the seed.
I’ll give you an analogy.
My husband and I recently landscaped my mother’s yard with pebbles and pavers but before we could lay a single paver we first had to prepare the ground.
We used a hoe to brake up the hard, lumpy dirt, remove rocks, old roots and create a level surface.
So too, Jesus requires us to remove the rocks, roots and any other rubbish laying within our lives and hearts.
This ground work is called repentance.
Repentance prepares the heart for Jesus to come in.
What did John the Baptist say in Matthew 3:3?
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
What else did John say in this same chapter?
Vs2 Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Vs 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance
Repentance is metanoia met-an-oy-ah in the Greek and means
a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done.
Genuine repentance manifests itself in actions.
In verse 8 that we just read “fruits” is Karpos in the Greek and means work, act or deed.
“Meet” is axios and means worthy.
Therefore John the Baptist was saying “bring forth works, acts or deeds worthy of repentance”.
Do you see how an intellectual belief in Jesus or mere acknowledgment of what he’s done for us does NOT = salvation?
We have to actually DO something.
We see an example of this in Acts 19:18&19
And many that believed came and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men...
These people believed, confessed then demonstrated their belief through burning their expensive books on magic.
Let’s take another look at the Greek word for “believe”.
Pist-yoo-o means
entrust (especially ones spiritual well-being to Christ), commit, commit unto (one’s) trust
Notice the word commit?
This reminds me of a marriage. In committing to a particular person in marriage, one chooses to forsake all others.
Similarly, committing to Christ means forsaking anything and everything that would come between oneself and him.
In this way, “believing” and “repenting” are synonymous.
In conclusion,
Genuine salvation is proceeded by works, acts or deeds worthy of repentance.
Genuine salvation produces a strong Christian character able to endure temptation and live above sin.
If therefore you are caught in a miserable cycle of sin, confess, sin, confess, you need to ask yourself...
“Am I the plant trying to grow upon a rock with a superficial belief but no actual root below the surface, in other words, without Christ actually abiding within my heart?”
Let me share my story....
I spent over 20 years going to church and professing to be a Christian, however, during that time I did commit sin. I don’t mean a mistake or a lapse in judgement, I mean wilful sin.
Each time I did it i felt dreadfully ashamed and fearful of facing God. I would pray and cry and beg Gods forgiveness, then a few months later I’d do it again. What I’m saying is that I know how it feels to be caught in the sin, confess cycle. It’s a horrible state to be in.
Part of my problem was that I believed Jesus was my “advocate” and the blood was always there. That I could go back to God and receive his forgiveness whenever I required it. This then caused a lot of confusion in my mind, was I saved? was I lost? At what stage did I regain my salvation before loosing it again and so on.
I knew that sin put me out of the kingdom but I didn’t truely appreciate the danger of being in a sin, confess cycle; that the longer I stayed in it, the harder my heart would become until it would be almost impossible to find a true place of repentance. I was in danger of becoming reprobate.
This is why I implore anyone reading this article, that can relate to my experience to be really honest with themselves.
Genuine salvation is not inclusive of a sin-confess cycle. True repentance which is dying to self, happens once and for all when we first come to God and after that we simply endure.
Maybe you’re waiting for God to magically remove your desire to sin. Maybe you feel completely defeated and think there’s no hope. There is hope but in order to break out of the sin, confess cycle YOU have to DO something.
If you eye offends you pluck it out, if your hand offends you cut it off.
Maybe like the believers in Acts 19 you have things in your possession you need to destroy or perhaps there’s a person or activity you need to cut out of your life? You’ll know what that thing is. We need to take God and his salvation seriously.
Let us each work out our salvation with fear and trembling, God bless.
Cath Gavin
