Benefits Proceeding from Believing God

Benefits Proceeding from Believing God

By Al Stoner

Believing God always makes for advantage to the believing ones. There is always personal spiritual benefit, especially, that will be derived from simply believing the Scripture. For example, consider the following:

The Reception of Salvation. With regard to the reception of salvation and the deliverance from condemnation Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mk. 16:16).  Let us continually put one another in mind of the direct connection of believing and having been baptized with being saved: that is, being saved from the wrath to come, saved unto life eternal, saved with a great and everlasting salvation, just to name a few of the blessed involvements. While these things may already be believed by us, yet, in the time of temptation and affliction, there is a vital need for men to be persuaded anew and afresh of these things and of this vital connection. As Jude declared, "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this" (Jude 3). We ought ever to give thanks for sacred memories which may be stirred up and drawn upon for strength in the day of evil. 

The old serpent would seek to convince us that these requirements (faith and baptism), given by the Lord Himself, either are not enough for the obtainment of salvation, or at another opposite extreme, that they are not of such great consequence. Let us not be ignorant of his devices! 

The Word to Nicodemus. And again, speaking of the same benefit, the Lord declared to Nicodemus, "He that believeth on Him (the Son) is not condemned" (Jn. 3:18). That is marvelously good news to the individual who has been convinced by the law that he has sinned and come short of the glory of God! May such affirmations of the Savior as this ever be given room to sink down into our ears! O the blessedness of receiving them and pondering them. Let us hang all of our hopes upon His Word and believe upon Him with all of our hearts!  O hear again, and believe the glad tidings: He that believeth on Him (Christ) is not condemned!

A Blessing and a Curse Contrasted. Another similar affirmation of the Savior reads as follows: "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" (Jn. 3:36). Here the wonderful blessedness associated with believing and the very severe consequences for not believing are set in juxtaposition to each other. We can come to appreciate more the glorious benefits that are inextricably tied to believing by beholding contrasts of this sort.

Rivers of Living Water. "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly [or, from within him (ASV)] shall flow rivers of living water" (Jn. 7:38). Believing on the Savior not only benefits the believer, but enables him or her to be of great profit to those all around.  The rivers of living waters speak of the knowledge of both the Father and the Son given to believing men by the Holy Spirit.

"Rivers of living water" also speak of an abundance of the life-giving water that may flow out of the believer in Christ to those round about him or her. This living water may have the ministry of nourishing other brothers and sisters in Christ, or it may have the effect of convincing the sinner of his or her absolute need for the Savior. Also, it is a blessedly joyous experience to have the living water flowing out to others from within oneself. Let us continually draw near and make ourselves available to the Savior to be used of Him in this manner! 

The Possibility of All Things. "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mk. 9:23). It is good for us to continually cast all of our cares upon Him, with whom all things are possible (cf. Lk. 1:37). While we remain in this present evil world, we shall frequently be confronted with situations and obstacles which appear to be jeopardous and seemingly out of control. But when those times come, let us seek to "glorify" "the Lord" even "in the fires" (Isa. 24:15) of adversity and trial. And though we may be sorely tempted to fret and to reason things out with the carnal mind, let us ever remember that "all things are possible to him that believeth!" "The Lord God Omnipotent" (Rev. 19:6) is "for us" (Rom. 8:31), and He will make all things work together for good to those who love Him, and who are the called according to His purpose (cf. Rom. 8:28). 

The Satisfying of Man's Inward Hunger and Thirst. "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst" (Jn. 6:35).  While we remain here in this world as strangers and pilgrims, we shall, according to the measure of our faith, continue to hunger and thirst for the Savior and for the living God. We long to be forever uninhibitedly in Their Presence. But we are no longer hungering and thirsting aimlessly and without purpose. Our hunger and thirst have been partially satisfied even now through the knowledge of the Father and the Son that we have by faith. We shall be completed satisfied when we arrive safely in the presence of God and of the Lamb. “I shall be satisfied, when I shall awake with Thy likeness,” the Psalmist declared.  In the present time we are waiting for the hope of righteousness, and living in prospect of being fully conformed to the image of God’s Son.

The Promise of Life. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life" (Jn. 6:47). We ought to give thanks for the great plainness of speech with which the Savior affirms this promise. It is declarations such as these that have the ability to sustain us in the hour of temptation. Let us let these words sink down into our hearts' affection! Let us seek to triumphantly glorify God by our faith in His beloved Son!

Faith and the Power of God. "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:16-17).

This power is not exerted upon men from without, but rather it is power that is summoned into action from within as men believe the record which God has given of His Son. It is power that is operative wherever there is faith in God's Son, to enable them to live godly, to perfect holiness in the fear of God, and to set their affection on things above. It is power that is unto salvation.

Faith and the End of the Law. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:4). Faith is not the beginning of lawlessness for the believer in God's Son, but it is the end of the law's requirement as being the condition of salvation. For those who are in Christ, obeying the gospel and continuing in the faith are the conditions that must be met for the reception of salvation. Those conditions are certainly doable to those who have an honest and good heart, and we ought to give thanks to God continually for this blessed arrangement and benefit. 

The Benefit of Unashamedness. "Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded" (I Pet. 2:6).  There are often times when the people of God are confounded and put to shame in this world by rebuffs from the ungodly. But shame and consternation shall not be their ultimate portion. When they are at last inducted into the "everlasting habitations" (Lk. 16:9), they shall never again be "confounded world without end" (Isa. 45:17).

The Benefit of Overcoming. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (I Jn. 5:5). We must overcome the world in all three of its essential elements: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (2:15-16). 

Some of the most notable of the sons of earth have sought, in their own way, to overcome and conquer the world. From God's perspective, however, they all failed, and the world, with all of its sinful lusts, actually overcame them. But every one who has believed that Jesus is the Son of God, and who continues in that confidence unto death, or until His appearing, they shall, without question, overcome the world! By their faith they shall have been the victors over the world's lusts, pride, and corruption, and they shall be "accounted worthy to obtain that world" (Lk. 20:35).

The Witness in Ourselves. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son" (I Jn. 5:10). It is one thing to be an heir to the benefits of salvation, and it is quite another to know, of a certainty, that these benefits are ours. It is by means of this witness within us that we know that we have eternal life (I Jn. 5:13), and that "we know that we know Him" (cf. 2:3). --Editor