A Statement of the Facts
“that whoever believes in Him should not perish . .” John 3:16 NASB
Believes – The apostle John uses this word 92 times in his gospel, but not once is it used as a noun. It is always a verb. It always denotes positive action. Believing is living the truths, not just knowing them. The Greek word is pisteuon. Here it is really a participle – it literally says “believing.” There is no more active word than a participle. Going, coming, doing, running, jumping – believing. You can’t just know these things; you have to enter into the action itself. Think of the life of Christ in you as the electricity that flows through the wires in the wall to the light bulb in the ceiling. The electricity can only flow while the switch is on. Once you turn off the switch, the power is no longer in the wires. So it is with our participation in the life of the Messiah. When we are connected to Him through the exercise and action of believing, His life flows through us. We are spiritually energized.
Pisteuon means acting with reliance and trust and faithfulness. The action of believing is the action of placing our trust, reliance and faith in Him. It is much more than acknowledging the doctrines of the church or the confessions and prayers of the past. It is very personal and very demanding. In the message of John, believing Yeshua is the same as coming to Him, receiving His teaching and accepting His authority as the guide for living. It is not an intellectual movement. It is a whole-person activity that engages every part of your life.
Once we realize that action, not acknowledgement, is the way faith works, then the question becomes: “What are the actions of faith?” And the answer is obvious. Live as Yeshua lived. Do what He did. What was that? Following the instructions of Torah in cooperation with God to fulfill His purpose here.
Today we will act out the life we have in Christ by behaving in ways that show our trust and reliance on Him. In troubles, we will turn to Him for direction. In victories, we will give Him our thanks. Every time we do something today, we can act out believing. Every step of faith in action moves us toward being fully human.
Paul tells us that the first two steps in believing are honoring God’s authority and giving thanks for His care. That will get us on the right track every time. Start there.
Topical Index: believing, pisteuon, action, faith, John 3:16
~ What does the Scripture say? “Abraham (Abram-Genesis chapter 15)) believed G-d, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ~
But James tells us- faith (our response to what G-d says) without works (what we “do” as a result or consequence of our beliefs) is dead or unproductive or fruitless or vain or empty. I can sit around “believing G-d” all day long, but as the saying goes- “I’ve got to add feet to my prayers!”- put this plan in motion! “Live out” -what I believe.
Everyone I know does this unbeknownst!- (is that a word? lol!) If I believe money is the end of all ends I will live my live accordingly- in hot pursuit of the dollar bill (or whatever form of mammon fits your culture..). If I believe I can “pull off” a robbery of the local bank or store- I put the plan in motion and “act accordingly”. If I believe I can make this computer run better or more efficiently by putting a fan in front of it- I get up and go and get a fan and cool this thing down.. If I believe someone has a grudge against me or doesn’t particularly care to be around me (I hope this isn’t true!) but I do respond with a ‘prejudiced’ mind toward that individual even though all I have to go on is what I (falsely?) perceive! What we believe- we “live by” (by-live)- all the rest is just religious talk!
All that to say, “yes”- our attitudes do determine our actions and our beliefs (whatever they may be) do determine our behavior, and our creeds will heavily influence our conduct and our doctrines determine our deeds. But first comes “belief.”
We love to quote Ephesians 2.8 and 9 but I ask- Hey!- whatever happened to (lonely?) verse 10? Let all things be done decently and in order! 8,9 & 10! or to simplify (I do love simplicity!) 1,2 and 3. By grace-through faith-unto good works. (all are part of the program..)
G-d started it. We participate in it. G-d gets the glory. For it is G-d who works in you (and through you!) both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Philippians 2.13)
“the first two steps in believing are honoring God’s authority and giving thanks for His care.”
And I think step three is, to paraprhase Al Pacino in the movie Heat:
Saying what you mean (truth) and doing what you say (good)
This is a very fruitful approach to “New” Testament words. Words like ‘faith’, ‘spirit’, ‘truth’, and ‘believe’ — for most of my life have had very fluffy and transitive meanings. I would normally make these fit my Christian experience, instead of reassessing if I am really am having a Christian experience.
I need to know what it really means to be a disciple, otherwise, Christianity seems more and more like a powerless, imaginary religion, with its own set of mythologies just like any other.
There is a lot more coming on this topic. If the Hebraic worldview is centered in actions rather than words, then there are real measures of “faith” that are not doctrinal statements. Christian doctrine is a religious substitute for believing action and, as you point out, Christianity as a religion is a powerless expression of another form of idolatry (oops, did I just say that?). I did not say that Christian believers are idol worshippers. That would NOT be true. But unfortunately most of them are sincerely misled and misinformed. They have a real experience of God but they have a truncated expression of His interaction in the world because the doctrines of the Church have distorted the activity of the Spirit.
On the Israel trip in April-May, Bob and I will be teaching a great deal about the real history of the 1st and 2nd centuries, and the difference it makes. It should be a great video.
I have just learnt today that pisteuon meant “obey”. If “obey” is used in John 3 instead of “believe in”, the meaning changes considerably.
May I know what the Hebrew rendering of the word “life” or “everlasting life”. I believe what we have in the Greek is “Zoe” for life, or divine life.
I wish to know what the original Aramaic / Hebrew word is.
perhaps the best place to look is Genesis 2:7 where the Hebrew is nephesh hayah. There are other terms, but this one is primary. It does NOT mean “soul” as usually translated. You can find most of this stuff on my web site. Just use the search box.