E108 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Foundation of the Christian Faith - Part 1
Hope’s Harbor
Gritty Bible Devotions
Episode #108
Title: Foundations of the Christian Faith – Part 1
Date: May 29, 2023
Contact: info@hopesharbor.net
Key verse(s): Allow me to paraphrase John 3:18 – “You who believe in Him are not condemned; but you who do not believe are condemned already, because you have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
The word believe is not only in vs 18, but also in verses 16 & 17, which means to have faith, to place trust in as in trusting Jesus for salvation.
Intro: What is the foundational truth or belief of Christianity that if taken away we no longer have Christianity, and by implication no longer have forgiveness leading to eternal life and all that must happen for this to take place?
I hoped to find a simple outline online for the foundations of our faith. Instead what I got was a dizzying array of different lists. The 5 beliefs, the 7 pillars, the 10 fundamentals, etc.
And then I found the ministry of Pastor Colin Smith at: https://openthebible.org/open-the-bible-daily/the-foundation-of-christian-faith
On this site there was one foundation put forth, upon which all other beliefs build upon. I know this is true from my own experience when I came to believe John 3:16-18.
Let’s see if we can sort through the truths of the Bible and gain a better understanding of the foundational beliefs of our faith.
Devotion focus: The Foundation of Christian Faith
The foundation for our faith is found when we answer this question:
Who is Jesus? Before we personally answer this question and make a decision based on our answer, all other considerations of the Christian faith are academic and/or incidental. Understanding this today was an eye-opener for me.
I know there are other foundational beliefs stemming from the answer of who Jesus is and we’ll examine those. But to start with: who is Jesus? By this I mean who is Jesus in the historical sense.
Going back to the key verse and the two preceding verses gives the answer.
John 3:16 through 18:
VS 16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
VS 17 - “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
VS 18 - "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
In these verses, Jesus tells us He is GOD’s Son and that to avoid condemnation for sin and receive forgiveness a person must believe in Him. This means to place trust in as you would a chair when you sit down. I know this may be a lame comparison, but think about the principle at work: you believe a particular chair will hold you, but belief carried out is trust in the chair enough to rest your weight on it.
This same principle is found in Psalm 37:5 – ‘Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.’
To commit in this verse literally means to roll off onto. Have you ever, as a kid, been at a pool and stood on the edge facing away from the water, and fallen backward? Let me take it one step further… have you ever fallen backwards into the arms of your friends? It takes trust to do this and likewise, it takes trust to roll off onto GOD.
So the foundational truth of Christianity is to trust Jesus for salvation, for new life. This is being born again, by the way.
Now, what about the other beliefs of the Christian faith? What weight do they carry? Here are a few: Jesus’s born of a virgin – baptism – belief in the Bible as GOD’s inerrant Word – Communion – Giving – the Trinity. We know faith in Jesus’s death for sin is a must, but we covered that in the question of who Jesus is.
But now, where does faith in His sinless life come in? His burial and resurrection?
To answer these questions let’s go to the day Jesus was crucified. There beside Him on other crosses were 2 men. One of them eventually made a request of Jesus. He asked Jesus to remember him when He, Jesus, came into his kingdom. We don’t know what this man knew about Jesus, other than when he rebuked the other man for railing against Jesus and said in Luke 23:42 - “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Jesus answered in vs 43 - "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
What? No prayer of repentance? No prayer of salvation? Listen to what the man said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me.” Isn’t this repentance? Using Scripture to interpret Scripture listen to the last portion of Mark 15:32 – ‘…Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.’
Something changed within one of the thieves between the times of Mark 15:32 and the event recorded in Luke 23:42. I call it repentance of this sort: of changing direction, a change of mind. But what about faith? Both are required, you know. Well, listen to the thief once more in Luke 23:42 - “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." What do you take this to mean?
Keep in mind this thief hanging beside Jesus was also in excruciating pain and knew he was about to die. And yet somehow he comes to a change of mind and may I add, a change of heart. His request reveals hope, in my mind. Even if the man didn’t know much else about Jesus, the Romans wrote ‘King of the Jews,’ on a sign and hung it over Jesus.
Is it logical this man believed in Jesus as King? I think so when you consider that man knew Jesus was about to enter His kingdom and said as much in Luke 23:42.
In Episode 108 we’ll examine other foundational truths concerning the Christian faith, truths that come out of the new birth that we adopt as we live the Christian life, but are not required for salvation, but are rather part of the system of belief for living the new life in Christ.
Summary: There is only one foundational belief required to have new life in Jesus and that is to settle Who He is in your heart and then decide if you will place faith in His saving work on the cross. Repentance is a crucial part of this, but not repentance from all sin. That is impossible. It is repentance as a change of heart, a change of mind, a change of direction – from going away from GOD, to now going to GOD as Savior.
Action to consider: Think through the requirements of the Christian life. Striving for holiness is a result of having been born again, but is not the cause of the new birth. That would be a works-based salvation and if possible, it would mean Jesus didn’t have to die a horrible death on that Roman cross.
If you will think through this on your own, it will clarify the Christian life and make it one of joy. Otherwise, we risk falling into the trap of legalism.
Next week’s devotion: Foundational Truths of Living the Christian Life
Appendix: Taken from Pastor Colin Smith’s website and used with permission:
https://openthebible.org/open-the-bible-daily/the-foundation-of-christian-faith
Who is Jesus? That question takes us to the foundation of the Christian faith. Everything else rests on this. People have many questions about the Christian faith—some have difficulty believing in miracles, especially Jesus rising from the dead. Some have difficulties with the exclusive claims of Jesus: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” But when you come to the Gospels, the first truth that confronts us is the revelation of who Jesus is.
If Jesus were simply a godly man, his miracles would be suspicious, his claims would be preposterous, and a thinking person would treat any promise that came from his mouth with extreme skepticism.
But if God came into the world in Jesus Christ, as the Scriptures tell us he did, you would expect him to say things that no one else could ever say and do things that no one else could ever do. And it is much more startling that the Son of God should die than that he should rise again!
When you settle in your mind and in your heart who Jesus is—that he is the Lord, the Savior, the Christ, the Redeemer, and the King, and that he is all these things because he is the Son of God—then you have laid the foundation of faith on which everything else will rest. You can rest the weight of your life, your death, and your eternity on him.
Is the foundation of your faith resting on who Jesus is? Or on something else?