The Gospel of Restoration
The opening line of a heart-wrenching soliloquy from the turn of the 17th century makes a memorable declaration: “To be, or not to be: That is the question.”
For us in the 20th century considering the essence of Christian life, well might a more suitable declaration be coined: To believe, or not to believe: That is the question.
Christ bids us believe - and in His mercy He gives abundant evidence why we should do so: “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:37, 38).
His word abounds with promises to all who will believe. The Lord declares: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive)” (John 7:38, 39).
Slowness to believe in Christ was gently reproved in His comment to the nobleman: “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” (John 4:48).
The closing words of the same gospel extol the power of belief:
“Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:29-31). Precious promises to believe - to be living by!
In what are we to believe? All that God has said - the promises and warnings alike. Those who fail to believe the promises generally fail to believe the warnings and vice versa. Such miss out on “the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe” (Ephesians 1:19). “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4).
We read in Romans 11:20 and Hebrews 3:19 that the children of Israel could not enter into Christ’s peace and rest due to unbelief. Are we in the same danger? Is our belief too superficial?
“It is important that we understand clearly the nature of faith. There are many who believe that Christ is the Saviour of the world, that the gospel is true and reveals the plan of salvation, yet they do not possess saving faith. They are intellectually convinced of the truth, but this is not enough; in order to be justified, the sinner must have that faith that appropriates the merits of Christ to his own soul. We read that the devils ‘believe, and tremble’ (James 2:19); but their belief does not bring them justification, neither will the belief of those who give a merely intellectual assent to the truths of the Bible bring them the benefits of salvation. This belief fails of reaching the vital point, for the truth does not engage the heart or transform the character.
“In genuine, saving faith, there is trust in God, through the belief in the great atoning sacrifice made by the Son of God on Calvary. In Christ, the justified believer beholds his only hope and deliverer. Belief may exist without trust, but confidence born of trust cannot exist without faith.”1
True belief is a life-changing phenomenon. “There are few who believe with heart and soul that we have a heaven to win and a hell to shun; but these few show their faith by their works.”2 Let us therefore determine to echo the vow of the apostle:
“We are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39)!