I Believe in GOD

Wesley Grubb • Mar 01, 2024

A Confession of Faith

All theists are willing to say, “I believe in God.” By definition, a theist is one who asserts the claim, or affirms the proposition, that God exists. Adherents of many different faiths and a host of various religions, historically as well as globally, believe in God. Christians count themselves among this group of believers. The Christian religion is one among many that teaches the existence of one supreme being, one true and living God. Together with Judaism, Christianity proclaims its faith in the God of Israel, whose name is Yahweh. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King” (Jeremiah 10:10). In distinction from Judaism, Christianity proclaims its faith that Jesus is Yahweh’s uniquely begotten Son. In the words of the apostle Peter, speaking to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Jeremiah declares Yahweh is the living God, and Peter confesses Jesus is the son of the living God, the son of Yahweh. This pair of beliefs is what sets Christianity apart. Jesus himself says, “Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1).

What does it mean when a Christian utters the theistic confession, “I believe in God”? This confession of faith for the Christian will have many things in common with the faith of believers in other religions. For instance, the word “I” carries tremendous significance. “I” is not the lightweight concept of mere intellectual agreement. It does not mean we are simply of the opinion that God exists. “I” is the heavyweight concept that includes the whole person, not just the mind. You and I are not simply minds. We have hearts, wills, bodies, energy, relationships, responsibilities, possessions, and more. When you say “I” believe in God, it ought to mean all of you, every facet of your life. And when you say I “believe” in God, it ought to mean that you have committed yourself to God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Other religions share these things in common with Christianity when their adherents profess faith in God. The key difference that sets Christianity apart from all other faiths is the one mentioned above: not the “I,” and not “believe,” but what the Christian means by “God.” Because we believe that the one true God is the Father of Jesus, our faith in God must include faith in Jesus. Father and Son are inseparably linked. To believe in one is to believe in the other; to reject one is to reject the other. The apostle John says, “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23). “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). This fundamental point means that Jesus is central to our confession of faith. Jesus is included in our belief in God.

“I believe in God,” for the Christian, means, “I believe the one true God is the Father of the Lord Jesus, and I pledge my life in worship and in service to the Father and his Son.” This is the basic expression of the Christian faith, and this is the starting point of the Christian life. This Lenten season, let us pray like the man in the Gospels who said to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Grace and peace,

Pastor Wesley

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A Time for Feasting

By Wesley Grubb • 01 Apr, 2024

With the coming of Spring, the church enters into the joyous season of Easter. During Lent, we traditionally practice the discipline of self-denial. We give up something for Lent. This is an act of fasting for forty days. Easter is the mirror opposite of Lent. Just as we give up something for Lent, we are encouraged to take up something for Easter. Lent is about fasting, but Easter is about feasting. Easter is a forty-day period of celebration and rejoicing. The church greets the new life of Spring bursting forth in the earth by commemorating the glorious morning when our Lord burst forth from his tomb, bringing us eternal life. Here is how the apostle Paul says it: [God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Here we have the meaning of Easter encapsulated. These are the things we celebrate, and all of them were accomplished and secured for us by Jesus on that first Easter through his resurrection. Our whole salvation is a sovereign work of God . It is not based on our holiness, our works, our purposes, or our merits. We are saved only by God’s purpose and grace, which he ordained to give us in eternity past. God saves us first, and then he calls us to live a holy life. And the way we obtain these gifts is only in union with Christ Jesus in his death and resurrection. As Paul says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:4, 5, 11). Our ultimate salvation is rescue from death . Being saved means achieving immortality. God’s sovereign purpose and saving grace, which he prepared in eternity and revealed in history, are intended to do for us one day what he did for Jesus on Easter. The symbol of our salvation is not only the cross, but the empty tomb. In his resurrection, Jesus abolished our death and brought us life. Paul says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11). Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection in the past and the anticipation of our own resurrection in the future. This is why we take up something for Lent. We do something joyful for others that promotes flourishing and well-being. We add something to our lives that brings more life to ourselves and others. More life, unending life, abundant life—that is what we celebrate, and we give Jesus all the glory. What will you take up this Easter that is life-giving? Make it your aim this Easter to be the kind of person who brings life and joy to the people around you. He is risen! Grace and peace, Pastor Wesley