The Closed Door
And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:18-19 NASB
Unbelief – God closes the door to those who do not believe. They do not enter His rest. So who are these unfortunates? If we focus our attention on the Greek word apistia, we conclude that these are the ones who reject Jesus. This is the result of two centuries of evangelistic thought. To believe is to accept Jesus as your personal Savior. To believe is to acknowledge that the Bible is God’s word. To believe is to join a church. In contemporary culture, to believe is to identify yourself as a Christian on a government census. Nothing more is required. Perhaps that’s why we have invented the word “un-churched” as if the true mark of believing is attending.
But even in Greek, these ideas are nonsense. The Greek word apistis is the combination of the negative a and the noun pistis. But pistis in Greek does not mean simply cognitive assent, group affiliation or personal declaration. Pistis means “trust” and implies “obedience.” To believe is to trust and obey. Unbelief is not lack of vouching for true statements. Unbelief is unreliability, untrustworthiness, disobedience. Even in Greek philosophy, pistis is “about belief in the gods and its distinctive certainty, which is given by the deity and is related to piety and general belief in the incorporeal. Conduct is affected by such belief, which carries with it belief in the soul’s immortality, membership in the divine world, and final judgment.”[1] In Hebraic thought, these Greek concepts are related to emuna, “trust.” And trust always means acting accordingly.
This raises a critical question for most of us. If both Greek and Hebrew thought tie the knot between trust (belief) and obedience, where did we ever get the idea that we can enter into His rest on the basis of declaration alone? When did we read these two verses as if the idea of unbelief was not parallel to “disobedient?” The author of the text seems to make it abundantly clear. The Greek word he uses speaks of the same connection. Any reader with a Hebraic background would immediately see the relationship. So what happened? Who introduced that change? Who came up with the teaching that all we needed to do was assent to the truth of the statements?
Nancy Pearcey suggests that contemporary Christian practice of the one time declaration theology began in the tent-revival era prior to the American Civil War.[2] This is the basis of modern evangelicalism. It is our history, but I would venture to guess that most of us don’t know anything about it. We haven’t read Edwards, Finney or Beecher. We probably don’t even know they existed. But modern evangelical Christianity is a product of the influence of these men. And they were neither Greek nor Hebrew. When you don’t know your history, you suffer. The only way out is investigation. Ask questions—of everything. Start with “Why?” “Why do I think this is what the text says?” “Who told me?” “Have I looked for myself?”
Topical Index: unbelief, apistis, disobedience, emuna, Hebrews 3:18-19
Can You Believe?
~ they were not able to enter because of unbelief ~ (Hebrews 3.19)
be·lieve [bih-leev]
verb (used without object), be·lieved, be·liev·ing.
1. to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so: Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully. verb (used with object), be·lieved, be·liev·ing.
2. to have confidence or faith in the truth of (a positive assertion, story, etc.); give credence to.
3. to have confidence in the assertions of (a person).
4. to have a conviction that (a person or thing) is, has been, or will be engaged in a given action or involved in a given situation: The fugitive is believed to be headed for the Mexican border.
5. to suppose or assume; understand (usually followed by a noun clause): I believe that he has left town.
pisteúō (from 4102 /pístis, “faith,” derived from 3982 /peíthō, “persuade, be persuaded”) – believe (affirm, have confidence); used of persuading oneself (= human believing) and with the sacred significance of being persuaded by the Lord (= faith-believing). Only the context indicates whether 4100 /pisteúō (“believe”) is self-serving (without sacred meaning), or the believing that leads to/proceeds from God’s inbirthing of faith.
Belief, faith and trust are all related to each other. It seems you can’t have one without the other. These are a “threefold” cord, a holy tri-unity of words.
All three are not to be the “end” but rather something that leads into a relationship. Belief is not an end in itself, neither is faith or trust. In other words, “belief in what?”- or (even better)- “Who.” Trust in what? – (or even better)- “Who?” Have faith in “what?”- (or even better) – “Who?”
I have placed my faith in… “Who?”
I believe in.. “Who?”
I will trust in.. “Who?
~ Ask and you will receive.. ~ Says who?
~ Seek and you will find.. ~ Says who?
~ Knock and it will be opened/revealed unto you.. Says who?
May I? (we certainly haven’t heard this in “too long..”) And I quote.. “Thus saith the LORD..”
Who am I “listening to?” Who do I trust? What is the object of my faith? Friend, ~ it is the LORD. The One whose (very) Name is- “The Word of God” (Revelation 19.13)
Yes, ~ I will hear what God the LORD will speak, for He will speak peace unto His people and to His saints, but do not let them “turn again” unto folly ~
– What is this “folly?” It is a fool’s dream..- for this folly is (simply put) “sin.” Sin is foolishness. Sin (disobedience) is a foolish thing for any man, anywhere to do.
The Word of God, (our authority and our instruction for rightly-related living) clearly states: “has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, – “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15.22)
Obedience. To obey. To do what God says to do. Question. Who (someone inquired) is (not was) the most obedient Man ever to have lived? Friend, without question ~ it is the LORD. ~ And contrariwise “who” was it that rebelled again God and is now the “father of lies” and lives in total rebellion against God? What we believe we “live-by” – all the rest is just religious talk. What does God say about all this? Listen. Listen to Him.
Our Savior, as a Man, defeated the devil. (we all really do need to know this!- and to know it well!) What we need is to remember “what He said..”
Just three words. Three just words. Is any man able to remember these? Friend, – (Hallelujah!)- “it is written!” (Again?) “it is written!” (and again, -why not?)- “it is written.”
~ Every word of God is pure, He is a shield unto all those who (will) trust in Him ~
What does the prophet Jeremiah have to say to us? ~ blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him ~ (Jeremiah 17.7) Confidence? Seriously? Now we have “done gone” and introduced another word to belief,trust and faith! It is the “Bible word”- hope or confidence or assurance. Yes, blessed assurance!
I would like to review the testimony of Peter on more time, for it seemed (to me) to please our LORD.. Now what was it Peter said? What was his testimony?
~ You are the Christ, (the Messiah) the Son of the Living God ~
And what was the response of our Redeemer? “Blessed” are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven.… Can you believe this?
Sadly, the Word of God which speaks so voluminously
about trust and obedience, can often be slightly misunderstood,
greatly misunderstood or simply flat-out perversely distorted.
Motives may vary from innocent error to gross, intentional
deceit.
Paul encountered such with a sorcerer and false prophet in
Acts 13:9 saying to him, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son
of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease
perverting the straight ways of the Lord?”
This perversion started early on. “And the Lord said to the woman,
“What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent
deceived me, and I ate.” Gen 3:13
It continues to this day. This blog bears evidence of those seeking
the truth.
“What is truth?” Pilate asked while staring it in the face.
Truth is a Person.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father
except through Me.” Jn 14:6
This Person invites ALL to avoid error and disception by coming
to Him directly . . . to learn the truth.
Truth comes One on one. It’s teaching you can trust. Personal
relationship.
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Mat 11:29
Rest for your souls. Rest from sin, yes. But also rest from falsehood,
wayward religious thinking and people, oppression and the tiring
frustration of seeking.
“And learn from Me.”
“Teach me to do Your will,
for You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.” Ps 143:10
And the teacher said: “If anyone loves Me, he will obey
My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come
and make our home with him.” Jn 14:23
“We will make our home with him.”
Home teaching!!! In personal relationship!!!
And we learn: trust and obey . . . for there is no other way.
The connection between disobedience and unbelief is so clear! It’s amazing how many things we can miss or breeze by because of presumptions about what the text means and not allowing it to speak for itself.
If this happened to our fellow Israelite ancestors, what makes us think we are immune to the consequences of practicing a lifestyle of disobedience? What place does the fear of the Lord have and the responsibility of my sin effecting community when it is overridden by having the right thoughts or saying the right things?
Rich wrote: “Truth is a Person.” AMEN!
“To believe is to trust and obey.” Exactly. Nothing less, nothing more. Not complicated at all but requires a complete setting aside of self-reliance, intellectual argument, ambitious accomplishing of things, self-gratification. Denying the world, the flesh and the devil takes STRENGTH, continual alertness and determination.
Trust and obey with a heart sold out to The One Who Knows Me. For me, when I’m “in the zone” of complete trust and obedience to THE GOD Whom I can’t see, it’s sort of like being on a different plain, a different platform just floating an inch off the ground. He is not of this world and I am His; I, too, am not of this world when I’m in full trust and obedience.