Names for the People of God #1—“Believer”
Series: Names for God’s People
Chuck Sligh
April 3, 2016
TEXT: Acts 11:25-26 – “Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”
INTRODUCTION
What’s in a name?
Today names usually have little meaning or significance. We simply choose a name on the basis of how it sounds or its popularity or its novelty. Or we choose a name after someone we admire or in honor of someone.
For instance, our youngest son’s full name is Allen Matthew Sligh Allen is MY dad’s first name and Matthew was SUSAN’S dad’s middle name. It was our way of honoring both of his grandfathers.
In Bible times, the meaning of names carried greater significance than is usually the case today. To the Jews in particular, the meaning of a name meant a great deal. They usually gave their children names that had a special meaning.
Some people do that even today, as Susan and I did with our two older boys. We chose names based on their meaning, hoping they would live up to their names.
• CHARLES CHRISTOPHER, our oldest son’s name, means “strong and manly Christ-bearer.” – We wanted him to grow up and be STRONG and MANLY, and a bearer of the Good News of Christ, and he’s living up to his name.
• Our second son is JONATHAN ROBERT, which means “bright and shining gift from God,” and Jon has certainly been a special bright and shining gift from God to us.
Now, our text says that it was at Antioch that disciples were first called “Christians.” However, the term “Christian” is only one of a number names for God’s people in the Bible. Among these names are the following: Believer, Child of God, Disciple, Saint, Faithful, Friend, Beloved, Christian and several other names.
Each of these names has an important meaning. My question is, if you’re a follower of Christ, are you living up to your names?
Over the next few weeks I want us to look at some of these Bible names for the people of God and examine their significance is and see what we can learn from these titles.
The first one we want to look at is the name believers. Ultimately, above all else, God’s people are believers, so it makes sense to begin there. Let’s look at two ways that the Bible uses the term “believer.”
I. FIRST, THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF BELIEVERS FOR SALVATION
The cornerstone tenet in all of the New Testament is that one must be a believer in Jesus Christ to be a child of God. If you don’t grasp the idea of BELIEF in Jesus as your Savior, and the idea of FAITH in Him to save—then you can never understand New Testament Christianity.
• In Acts 4 we read that Peter and John were arrested for preaching the Gospel. – But it goes on to say, “...many of them which heard the word BELIEVED; and the number of the men was about five thousand.” (verse 4)
• When Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch in the desert, Philip told him of Jesus dying on the cross for his sins so that he could have forgiveness of sins and a relationship with God. Apparently, having already heard about baptism, this man said, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” (Acts 8:36) Philip, knowing that neither baptism, nor any other religious rite washes away sin said “If thou BELIEVEST with all thine heart, thou mayest.” (verse 37)
• Later, when Peter came to the home of Cornelius, the first Gentile ever to be saved, Peter preached Christ to Cornelius and all his house and he thundered out this message, “...that through His name [i.e., Jesus] whosoever BELIEVETH in him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43)
• When the Philippian jailor came to Paul and Silas after an earthquake, he asked them: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”, and Paul was quick to answer…“BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and your house.”
On and on and on we could go throughout the New Testament. Faith in Christ is the central, most fundamental element of biblical Christianity. Over and over again the New Testament thunders that faith—belief—is the SOLE means by which we can be right with God and have a relationship with Him.
Look at the verses on your Sermon Notes and follow along as I read them, and as I do, note how several of them not only proclaim faith, or its synonym, BELIEF, as the SOLE means of obtaining God’s grace, but how they strongly teach against things most people trust in to be saved—that is, works and religion.
• Romans 3:28 – Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law [which was what most Jews saw as the way to find God’s acceptance].”
• Romans 4:5 – “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
• Romans 5:1 – “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Romans 10:9 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
• Galatians 2:16 – “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
• Galatians 3:11 – “But…no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”
• Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Do you see it?—No amount of good works or religious observances, and no measure of devotion or sincerity—can ever earn God’s acceptance or forgiveness of sins. But if you have a genuine FAITH in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, you are ushered from death unto life / from sinner to saint / from darkness into light. You become a child of God who has the promise of eternal life when you die!
But what does it mean to “believe in Jesus” or to have “faith in Christ?”—
1. First of all, on its most basic, elemental level, faith is trust or reliance.
It’s not simply an intellectual acceptance or agreement to certain facts, though it begins there. For instance, everybody believes in Abraham Lincoln. What that means is that we believe all the FACTS about Lincoln’s life that are recorded in history. We accept them as historically true.
Many people believe in Jesus in this way, but that doesn’t save them, because saving faith goes beyond mere mental agreement to an active trust or reliance.
Illus. – For instance, knowing a chair could hold me up—that’s INTELLECTUAL belief in the stability of the chair. SITTING in the chair is trust or reliance.
That’s faith in the biblical sense—not simply believing in the existence of the chair and what it could theoretically do, but actually DEPENDING ON it to do what I intellectually believe it can do. In the same way, saving faith is more than a mental agreement ABOUT Jesus. It’s even more than acceptance of the fact that Jesus Christ CAN save you from your sin. It’s actually TRUSTING Jesus or RELYING ON Him to take away your sin and save you!
2. Second, biblical faith must be in the right object.
Simply “believing” is not enough. Our faith must not be in the idea of faith itself. Our faith must be in the right object.
Throughout the Gospels and the book of Acts, Jesus or the preachers in the book of Acts do not simply say to believe “believe!” Rather, they say to, “Believe on (or “in”) JESUS.”
In truth, all people who are striving to get to God have faith in something—or are trusting in or relying on something… Some are trusting in their religion or denomination, or they’re relying on another person besides Jesus, like the Virgin Mary, for instance. Others are trusting in their good life or their good deeds. Some are relying on their baptism, or their adherence to the Golden Rule, or the Ten Commandments, or whatever code of conduct they choose to live by—all of which are thought to earn them points with God and to make them more acceptable to Him.
But the Bible is absolutely clear that just having FAITH, or just trusting in SOMETHING does not meets God’s requirements.
Our faith must be in the right object and that object must be none other than Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.
In John 14:6 Jesus declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
In Acts 4:12 Peter was just as clear when he said, “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
So my question for you today is, What are you trusting in to get you into a right relationship with God? Are you trusting is Jesus Christ alone, or are you trusting your works, or religion or religious rites or any of the other things I’ve mentioned? Today, why don’t you trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior?
But all this has to do with faith to find God and be saved. What about the majority of us here this morning who are already believers? Let me ask you a question—Are you living up to your name?
Are you a REALLY a BELIEVER?
II. THAT LEADS ME TO THE SECOND ASPECT OF BELIEF AND FAITH IN THE BIBLE—“BELIEVING BELIEVERS”
Once you’re in God’s family, that’s only the BEGINNING of your life of faith. Christian, are you living up to your name as a “believer?” I want us to look at some of the promises of God that many believers find hard to believe, that often cause us who are saved to become “unbelieving believers”:
1. First, many believers find it hard to really believe that God really answers prayer.
But this is exactly what God promises He will do if we meet His conditions. What are His conditions?
• 1 John 3:22 says, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
• And in 1 John 5:14 we read, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.”
In these verses God lays down two conditions for answered prayer— That we keep His commandments and please Him by obedience. That we ask according to His will.
If we meet those two conditions, we have the promise of the Word of God that GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.
But can I be so bold as to suggest that most of us don’t REALLY believe that? We may believe it in our heads, but we don’t REALLY believe it with our hearts. If we really did, our prayer life would be different.
God says that He WILL answer our prayers if we will meet His conditions. In fact, God is looking for people willing to step out by faith and really BELIEVE Him and His promises concerning prayer.
He says in Jeremiah 33:3 – “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowes not.”
God is looking for people who are living in obedience to Him and will trust Him to keep His promises so He can do great and wonderful and exciting things in their lives: In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect [fully committed] toward him.”
Do you really believe that? Are you living up to your name, Mr. or Mrs. “BELIEVER”—Or are you one of those “unbelieving believers” I’m talking about?
2. Second, many believers find it hard to really believe it when God says that He blesses and will supply their every need to those who tithe.
It’s hard to wrap our finite minds around the idea that you can give ten percent or more to God, and actually come out AHEAD materially and spiritually. That just doesn’t make sense to us—but that is EXACTLY what God’s Word teaches. – Look at the verses on the back of your Sermon Notes:
• Proverbs 3:9-10 says “Honor the Lord with your substance, and with the firstfruits of all your increase: So shall your barns be filled with plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine.” –Believer, do your REALLY believe that, or are you an “unbelieving believer?”
• Malachi 3:10 says “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” – Believer, do your really BELIEVE that, or are you an “unbelieving believer?”
• Luke 6:38 says “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you mete out, it shall be measured to you again.” – How about it Believer—do you believe God enough to “put your money where your mouth is?”
Hebrews 11:6 says “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (EXPAND AS LED)
3. Third, many believers have a hard time really believing that GOD IS IN CONTROL WHEN THEY’RE GOING THROUGH TRIALS AND TROUBLES.
New believers sometimes think that when they find Christ, they’re somehow supposed to be immune from trials. Nothing could be further than the truth! In fact, it just so happens that God allows trials in our lives to help us grow and that trials are indispensable to Christian growth.
God uses trials for several good, positive reasons:
• Sometimes, TO DISCIPLINE US when we go astray.
• Sometimes God allows us to go through trials TO BUILD GODLY CHARACTER IN US by chipping away the rough spots and the inconsistencies and blind spots in our lives.
• And sometimes God allows trials TO LET THE GLORY OF GOD SHINE THROUGH US by our victory over our trials and afflictions.
But as we go through troubles and difficulties, we sometimes question God and His goodness or fairness or whether He really knows what He’s doing.
Believer, do you REALLY believe Romans 8:28? Many of you, no doubt, have that verse committed to memory, but do you REALLY believe it when God says that “…all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Do you REALLY believe that, or are you an “unbelieving believer” as you go through your trials?
If you claim the name of believer in Jesus Christ, God help you to live up to your name by truly believing God’s promises.
CONCLUSION
“Believer.”—What a wonderful name!
1. Are you a believer in Jesus Christ and in Him ALONE for your salvation?
1.
2. Are you among of us who confess, “I believe in Jesus Christ for my salvation”…
a. Not a belief of the head, but a TRUST…
b. Not reliance in your good life, or your religion, or your church, or your baptism, or anything that YOU do to earn your salvation—but a living, vibrant TRUST in the One who loves you so much, He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin.
3. Listen to the words of Jesus: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
How about you Christian—are you a “believing believer?”
• Do you REALLY believe the promises of God?
Are you walking by FAITH or by sight? Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please God. For He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him.”
Why don’t you begin to live up to your name? Why don’t you dust off that old prayer list and make a commitment to God to begin to pray faithfully and to pray IN FAITH. If you’re not already faithfully and systematically giving to God through your local church, why not launch out by faith and begin at the bare minimum—tithing ten percent of your income? And finally, if you’re going through a trial right now, why don’t you TRUST in God as He navigates you through the thorny trial you are facing.
God help you and me to live up to our name as “BELIEVER”!
