He who has believed

He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Mark16:16 NASB

In the previous verse, Jesus had given the great commission to the apostles. He told them that they were to preach the gospel and then He let it be known that those that hear the gospel and believe in Jesus are to be baptized in order to be saved. The other side of the coin is, after hearing the gospel and a person disbelieves they are condemned. Strong words from Jesus to say the least.

Obviously Jesus wanted people to hear about Him and all that he had done before coming to a conclusion about their belief in Him. When you think about it, it makes good sense that one should not jump to conclusions concerning Jesus. Ones eternal destination relies on an informed decision.

Jesus had told His apostles to go and preach the gospel to all creation. So, what they did was to go everywhere and tell people all that they had witnessed concerning Jesus. Then it would be up to the hearer to make a decision. Today we have the four Gospels to do that for us. So, it would make good sense for us to read through at least one of the gospels and let Jesus apostles or disciples tell us what they witnessed. When we have done that we then can make an informed decision.

Remember what Jesus said; He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Today read a gospel account and make a decision about your belief in Jesus. If you decide to believe in Him, it is then up to you to make some decisions concerning what you will do about it.

Tomorrow we will discuss repentance.

© 2012 Leo J. Woodman

Faith comes by hearing

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 10:17 ESV

Faith comes from hearing. Hearing what? The word of Christ. In order to believe in Christ, we need to hear what He is saying. The way to hear what He is saying is to read the gospels and hear the lessons from the gospels. That is where the word of Christ is to be found.

Jesus said many times, “he who has an ear let him hear”. Jesus always wanted his audience to truly hear what He was saying. He wanted them to take it to heart, to really absorb the truth's He was sharing with them.

Two thousand years later Jesus still speaks to us through the gospels. The word gospel means good news. We all need the good news. We live in a world of bad news. We need to hear what Jesus has to say.

The good news is that Jesus overcame the grave. In Him we too can overcome the grave. We can find peace with our heavenly Father through Jesus.

Read one of the gospel accounts today. Read it in one sitting and take it in as a whole. Enjoy the richness of God's love as it is shown in Jesus. Hear the good news!

Tomorrow we will look at belief.

© 2012 Leo J. Woodman