Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

— John 6:29

6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,

7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

— Luke 24:6-7

21 [Abraham was ] fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised

22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,

24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

— Romans 4:21-25

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

— 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for Me;

12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God,

14 For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

–Hebrews 10: 5, 12, 14

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace and mercy to you from Jesus the Lord.

One more confusions of the gospel message for salvation is “just have faith” or “simply believe.” To tell an unbeliever to just have faith, meaning a positive vibe toward God or toward life, is confusing because the object of faith is not stated or clearly defined. Many people mistakenly believe they will be saved because they have positive optimism about life or about God. Sadly, this is a fatal mistake. The concept of having faith is biblical, but for salvation, faith must be in Christ specifically. Jesus said it clearly in John 6:29, “The work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the One He sent.”

To many modern thinkers, Jesus is an undefined good man or good man or good example. Christ becomes an ideal to ultimately achieve by simply having a good outlook on life. Many of these people see faith as a mystical type of Karma or holy cosmic force. Because the statements “just have faith” or “believe” does not describe a faith placed in the Lord Jesus Christ’s death for our sins and resurrection, this is a misleading message.