Tag: Believe

Look and Live

“So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:9

As the people of Israel were on their way to the Promised Land, they complained against God and Moses because they were dissatisfied with the manna He sent them to eat (21:4-5). To discipline them, God sent poisonous snakes among the people, resulting in many physical deaths (21:6). Moses then prayed to the Lord (21:7) and God told Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it, shall live” (21:8). This invitation to look at the bronze serpent was given to “everyone.” How did the people respond? We then read, “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (21:9). One look of faith at this bronze serpent delivered the bitten person from physical death.

Jesus refers to this passage when He talked with Nicodemus (John 3:14). In a similar fashion, all of humanity has been struck down by sin (Rom. 3:23). Sin has sunk its fangs into our spiritual souls and the venom has made its way to our hearts and we are dying in our sins. But God saw our hopelessness and lifted up His Son on the cross to die for our sins (Rom. 5:8). To be born again and experience eternal life, Nicodemus needed simply to “look and live,” just as in Numbers 21 a bitten person had to “look and live.” Jesus explained their “look” as simply believing in Him:

“14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). 

Just as the dying Israelites had to look at the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole, so all people who are dying in their sins must look in faith to Jesus who was lifted up on a cross to die for their sins. To Nicodemus, the admonition to look and live would have been both personal and effective. Having fasted, prayed, faithfully attended the synagogue, observed the feasts, and honored the Sabbaths, he was tempted to look at what he had done to give a him a right standing with God. Instead, now he discovered he must simply look to Christ alone for eternal life. He must believe in Him.

Have you been born again by believing in Jesus for His gift of eternal life? It doesn’t matter if you are a child who is nine or an adult who is ninety. It matters not if you are a morally good person or if you have spent more time inside a jail than outside, you must believe or trust in Christ alone to save you. Perhaps you can identify with Nicodemus – you have always believed the way to heaven was by living a good life or by believing in Christ plus something else. But now you understand you were mistaken, and you want to trust Christ alone as your only way to heaven. Again, the promise is “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (3:15).  “Look” to Jesus alone in faith and you will “live” forever with Him in heaven when you die.

Must I Repent to Go to Heaven?

“Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'” Mark 1:14-15

When Jesus came to Galilee, His message challenged the Galileans to “repent and believe the gospel” of the kingdom of God. In evangelism contexts of the Bible, the word “repent” means to change one’s mind about whatever is keeping an unbeliever from believing in Jesus, and then believing in Him for everlasting life (Mark 1:15). The non-Christian may need to change his mind about the Person of Christ (Mark 1:15; Acts 2:38), God (Acts 20:21), idols (Revelation 9:20), sin (Revelation 9:21), or his works (Revelation 16:11; Hebrews 6:1) before he or she can believe in Christ for the gift of salvation.

Repentance cannot refer to sorrow for sin or turning from sin because in the Old Testament God repents (e.g. Genesis 6:6-7; Exodus 32:14; Jeremiah 26:19; Jonah 3:9-10; et. al.). If repentance meant sorrow for sin, God would be a sinner.

The gospel of John was written to tell non-Christians how to get to heaven (John 20:31),  yet John never uses the words “repent” or “repentance” as a condition for everlasting life because when one changes from unbelief to belief, he or she has repented. Another possible reason for the absence of these words in John’s gospel is because they are easily misunderstood to mean something like “turning from sins” or “penance” which involve works. The word “believe,” however, communicates such simplicity that it is less likely to be misconstrued to include a works-oriented response.

The issue is are you willing to agree with God that you are a sinner in His sight, who deserves to be separated from Him forever in a terrible place of suffering called the Lake of Fire (Romans 3:23; 6:23; Revelation 20:15)?

The invitation to repent can confuse people into trusting in their own efforts (turning from sin) or feelings (sorrow for sin) instead of the finished work of Christ on the cross (John 19:30).

In the context of Mark 1:15, Christ was offering His Messianic Kingdom to His self-righteous audience. But they needed to stop trusting in their own righteousness (“repent”) and “believe” in Jesus alone as their Messianic King so they could enter His Kingdom (Mark 10:15).

When we share the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection today (I Cor. 15:3-6), we must invite non-Christians to believe or trust in Christ alone to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5, 16). When they believe in Christ they have repented or changed their mind from unbelief to belief. This is so simple that children often understand and believe it before adults do. Let’s keep the gospel clear as we reach out to a lost world!