Do you Believe? -- I John 5: 1-5

John began his letter with this description of God: “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” 1:5.  God’s light shines on us, and we reflect that light to the world. God’s light defines what it means to be a Christian. 

In the middle part of the letter, he describes the people who walk in the light. They obey God, the Father, and walk in love and obedience. 

In the final part of the letter, John describes the light itself. This light is what connects us with God, and which causes us to shine out to others. According to John, the thing that connects us is faith. If God is the source of light, and we are the recipients of that light, then faith is what carries that light to us. It is the quality in us that enables us to see that light, and it is the content of what we see when we look to the light. Faith is what connects us to God. 

Paul says this in Ephesians 2: 8-9, “For it is by grace though faith you have been saved, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of your works so that no one can boast.” God’s grace come to us through our faith. Just as electricity comes to our homes through wires and trains and planes connect our cities, the commerce of our hearts with God travels through our capacity to believe.

What is faith?

In one sense, faith is first of all quality of the human heart which exists in everyone. No one is without faith, even if they claim to believe in nothing. We cannot exist without some kind of faith. It is the motivating factor behind all we say, act, do, and feel.  We can’t function without faith, even for a day. Faith is whatever gives reason to our existence.

But it is not enough just to have faith—we must have faith in something or someone. Faith is like riding in a car. You really can’t drive nowhere. You have to be headed somewhere. Faith must always have an object to function.

Faith is like a plug on an electrical appliance. That plug is absolutely necessary for the appliance to function, but it will do nothing unless it is plugged into the wall. Faith is the plug through which we plug into the power of God. It is useless without the power, but the power cannot function in our lives without the plug. The object of faith is whatever we draw on in our lives for power or direction.

Some people plug their faith into their own sense of self-worth. They believe in their own abilities but not much else. Other people plug their faith into the community around them, whether it is family, country, or racial identity.

The Christian faith is not faith in ourselves, our country, our political party, or our community. It is not even faith in the church. None of these, not even faith in the best that humanity has to offer, is good enough to power a Christian life. Our faith must be in Jesus. Only one faith enables us to say we are born of God—Faith in Jesus as the Messiah, or Christ (Christ and Messiah are the same thing). If we believe in Jesus, then we are born of God. If we do not, then we are not born of God. 

So what does it mean to say that Jesus is the Christ?  Three things.

First, belief in Jesus as Christ is a statement of truth. To believe in Jesus Christ is to believe that Jesus was God, the Son, the second person of the Trinity.

Many people think this is unfair, both today and in Jesus’ day.  In our postmodern society, it is much more common to hear that we need to believe in something, and that it does not matter whether the basis for that belief is true or false. All that matters is that we believe.

We’ve all heard that, whether we notice it or not. It’s been part of our culture for years.

A man says, “I don’t think it matters whether you are Muslim, Jew, or Christian, just so long as you believe in something.”  Really?  Does it matter whether you are a Nazi, Isis, Or a member of the KKK?  These are specific belief systems, too. It’s intellectually lazy to think that the object of our belief, no matter how preposterous does not matter. 

The idea that truth is not important is preached in our movies, books, and plays. Postmodern philosophy, which is behind most of what we see in the media, holds that the truth of our faith is not important. In fact, in modern novels and movies such as Field of Dreams, The Life of Pi, Big Fish, and many others portray that lying is considered good, if it gives us something to believe in. A constant theme running through our society is that believing in a lie is as good as believing in the truth. 

It’s in our politics. We no longer talk or care about which side is right, but “shaping the narrative”—telling a lie so compelling that everyone will believe it. It’s in our science. The arguments about global warming, the health effects of illegal drugs, or homosexuality are not about actual scientific research, but who’s opinion shape the data. It’s in sports. Winning or losing is not nearly as important in sporting events as whether we look like winners or loser. It’s in religion, too. One well-known lady televangelist was once reported to have said, “Jesus is so wonderful—who cares if He’s real!”  

People are not asking anymore, “What’s true,” but “What can belief in something do for me?” 

Suppose you believe that guns will not harm you. So you put a loaded gun to your head and pull the trigger. Do you think you would be alive or dead? Does it matter whether you believe in guns when you are shot by them?  Suppose you believe in the resurrection of the dead and there is no resurrection?  Will you be dead or alive? Our beliefs are immaterial to the truth.  John says what we believe in is important, and what we should believe in is Jesus.

Truth matters. Reality matters. If Jesus is not who he says He was, then He is a liar.

C S Lewis argued that Jesus claimed to be God, and that people think of Him as a good man. Jesus cannot be both a good man and God. If He knew He was not God and claimed to be God, then He was a liar. If he was a man and was deluded into thinking He was God, then He was a madman. But if He was God and claimed to be God, we cannot call him just a good man.  If Jesus was not who He claimed to be, we should have nothing to do with Him. If Jesus was who He claimed to be, He should be the Lord of our lives.

Do Christians ever doubt that Jesus was God? Of course. A person who never doubts probably doesn’t think too deeply. But the historical evidence that Jesus was God is strong. Christianity is based upon belief in a real Jesus who really lived, really died, and really was resurrected.

Second, our belief is the basis for our behavior. John says that the way we know we love Him--that is, believe in Him—is that we obey him. Obedience is how we show ourselves what we love and believe. 

Suppose you believe that God supplies all your needs. But suppose you’re out of money. You see a chance to get some money by stealing it from someone else. The Bible says, “Thou shalt not steal.” Your actions should be clear--you don’t steal, but trust God to provide in another way. You either believe or you don’t. If you don’t’ act on it, then you don’t have faith.

You can’t separate your faith from your behavior. Real faith leads to obedience. False faith leads to disobedience.

Here is the difference between faith and belief. Belief is confined to the head. Faith involves the body. I might believe in ghosts, UFOs, or Bigfoot, but those beliefs make no difference in my behavior. I don’t dedicate my life to looking for them. But if I have faith in God, then every decision I make through the day, ever feeling I feel, every task I undertake in life is affected by that believe. I start each day asking, “God, what would you have me do?” Then I look for the answer. Faith in God is a lifestyle, not a whim.

Third, our belief is the basis for hope in our lives. Faith, John says, overcomes the world.

Many times we hope for things that don’t happen. But nothing happens for us without hope.  Hope may have disappointment, but lack of hope never leads to victory. Neither does hope in the wrong things. If I have faith that if I play the lottery every day I will eventually win the Power Ball jackpot, then I will likely be disappointed. Gambling is a false hope. If I think that I’ll suddenly be discovered by a Hollywood talent agent, that’s likely a false hope, too. But if I believe that Jesus can give me a better life through following His life and teachings, and spending time in prayer and Scripture, that is a hope that will not disappoint.

God doesn’t promise to take us out of our problems, but that we will overcome in our promise. He doesn’t remove us from the world, but that we will overcome in the world. Faith in Jesus is self-demonstrating. When we trust in Him, He leads us to a victorious life on this world.

But in order to know that victorious life, we must have faith. Faith involves risk. We trust and obey, in spite of our doubts.  In time, the fulfilled hope will strengthen our faith.

Do you remember the story of Jesus stilling the storm?  Jesus and his disciples were in a boat at sea. A storm arose that caused even the experienced fishermen in the boat to tremble with fear. Jesus calmed the storm, then rebuked them for their lack of faith.

We are often too hard on the disciples in these stories. Remember, they had followed and obeyed Jesus. They got in the boat and sailed out into dangerous weather. Most of us don’t have enough faith to get in the boat at all. We sit on the shore and criticize others, when we won’t even venture off our skeptical perches. Real faith in Jesus is throwing ourselves out there in belief, professing belief in Jesus, in spite of our doubts and fears. Real faith steps forward in Christian commitment, obeying when it’s hard, and being rewarded with hope and victory.

Belief that can overcome is belief founded in a real God.

Do you believe in Jesus? That’s the most important question that you can ever answer. Don’t let it remain a question in the back of your mind. Seek Him, until you find Him.