If a person is hungry, simply telling him you love him is not enough. You must give him something to eat. A small plaque in Haiti explains it best. The inscription reads, “Love is an active verb.”
The word “believe” is also an active verb. Merely agreeing with the biblical teaching that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the He died for our sins and rose again is not saving faith. Here is a case in point: Recently an immoral man who gives God no place in his life told me he’s convinced that everything the Bible says is true. He insists that he believes on the Lord Jesus and that he is on his way to heaven. but if he really believed, wouldn’t he repent of his sins, make a firm commitment to Christ, and start living differently? His belief is nothing more than mental assent.
Jesus emphatically declared that His followers must be doers. It’s no enough just to say, “Lord, Lord.” He indicated that a person may be correct in his doctrine and even perform astounding feats in the name of the Lord, yet be told in the judgment, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23). Genuine belief produces a life characterized by obedience.
C. H. Spurgeon claimed that 98 percent of the people he met – including the criminals he visited in England’s prisons – told him that they believed the Bible to be true. But the vast majority had never made a personal, life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ. For them, “believe” was not an active verb. Is it for you? – Herbert Vander Lugt
No truth of God stored in the mind
Will ever meet our needs
Until that truth gives birth to faith
And faith gives birth to deeds. – D. J. De Haan
Believing Christ died – that’s history; believing Christ died for me – that’s salvation!
- May 4, 1985, Our Daily Bread
For You 