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Podcast Episode Summary
Many Christians have memorized the famous Bible verse John 3:16 or heard it so many times that we may have glossed over the word “believes” here: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” In this week’s sermon, Pastor Jin Ho expands what it means to believe in the gospel.
Here are five teachings on believing. 1) Believing is a process. It’s not a one-time thing, but an ongoing condition of the heart and mind. The translation of the word “believes” in John 3:16 means refers to a continuous act of faith. It is a process of getting to know God; relationships take time. 2) Believing is an action. While there is an internal response, as our hearts are transformed and our mind and emotions respond to God, there must also be an external response. Our actions follow according to our internal response. The external response depends on our internal response, because behaviors cannot change until the heart and desires are changed. 3) Believing is following and obeying. It is impossible to fully translate our internal response to physical. We still sin. Therefore, God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us follow. The Spirit leads us every single day for the rest of our lives and He will never abandon us. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in us. Since Christianity is about grace, it’s not by our power that we can do anything; the Spirit does the work. 4) Believing results in eternal life, which starts within us, where the Holy Spirit lives. God’s love is forever, and this refers to the quality of life, not just the duration of existence. So we must rejoice in life no matter what, because eternal life has already started. Therefore, we can live confidently and courageously. 5) Believing is a work of God not just a personal initiative. Even our ability to come to God is an act of grace and mercy. He has enabled us to believe. He gave us His Word, and the purpose of the Bible is to generate faith, not provide information.
Speaker: Pastor Jin Ho Kim
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