Back when we were doing the Jesus and Holy Spirit devotions, I came across this sermon by Maclaren. It gave a good explanation as to how the Holy Spirit replaced Jesus as Comforter and Advocate.
I know I used a lot of it in other devotions, but I really liked this one sentence. Maclaren wrote, “The ladder that has its summit in heaven has for its rungs, first, ‘believe’; second, ‘love’; third, ‘obey.’”
This devotion got too long, so I am going to break it into two. We are going to talk about the first step in this devotion, and the last two steps in the next devotion.
Let's Put It into Context
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (Jn. 14: 16 CSB)
My sentence is the second sentence of the sermon. The first sentence hooks it to verses that came before. So, let’s do a recap of the first 15 verses.
- I’m going away, but I’m coming back for you (Jn. 14: 1-4).
- I’m the only way to a relationship with the Father (Jn. 14: 5-14).
- You show your love for Me through obedience to God’s laws and commandments (Jn. 14: 15).
What Jesus had been talking about it having a relationship with God. We do this by accepting the gift of salvation. Salvation is the deliverance from the consequences of sin.
Maclaren identified three steps that are present in salvation. Let’s take a look.
Believe
“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11: 6 CSB)
The foundation of salvation is belief. That has components of faith, access, and reward.
Faith
Faith is the belief that the doctrines stated in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them. Noel believed there are two aspects to faith.
The first aspect is our comprehension of the subject. It starts with knowledge. We have to know the evidence presented and believe it to be true.
But, as Noel said, our faith is limited to our understanding. And let’s be realistic here. There is much that is beyond our understanding.
God knows that. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55: 8-9 CSB)
That is why the second aspect is we have to trust God in what we don’t understand. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3: 5-6 CSB). Trust is confidence that the promises of God are true.
Why is it so hard to trust God? Satan has us so self-centered. We have to be independent. We have to rely on ourselves. We are smart — we should be able to figure it out ourselves. If we can’t, it is flawed or inferior.
We have to remember that Satan is a liar. “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8: 44 NLT).
Noel had this to say. He wrote, “The answer is that sin has crippled our power of judgment — that sin has deadened the spiritual sensibility which is absolutely essential to the perception of Divine truth.” Sin interferes with our ability to respond to those things spiritual.
Satan tells us we don’t need God — that He isn’t omnipotent as He says. He says there is no reason for atonement and that Jesus doesn’t love us because we aren’t worthy. Satan tries to convince us that grace isn’t free — we have to earn it.
Satan is wrong.
Look at Scriptures. They show that God wants His grace to instill in us a confidence — in Him and in ourselves. “And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever” (Isa. 32: 17 NLT).
Scriptures also give us evidence to support faith. Tillotson gave us a list of evidence as to why we can believe Jesus is the Messiah.
- The voice from heaven (Mt. 3: 17).
- Jesus’ miracles
- Jesus’ resurrection
- The effect of the Holy Spirit in the disciples
Tillotson also reminded us that, even though faith is a gift, we can quench the Spirit when He is trying to give it to us. Our resistance can lead to the unpardonable sin.
Access
Because we have faith, we seek God. Two things come to mind about that.
Look again what Hebrews 11: 6 says. “… since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists …” (Heb. 11: 6 CSB).
Let’s take the “draws near” first. We’ve talked about the access we have to God before.
Foster contended that, when we begin to approach God, we do so through a Mediator. This Mediator is Jesus.
Remember, when we put things into context, we said Jesus was the only way to a relationship with the Father (Jn. 14: 5-14).
Yes, we can approach God. But in order to do that, we have to believe there is a God. We have to believe that He is Sovereign Lord. We have to believe that our relationships with Him need to be restored.
We approach of God through prayer. Home wrote, “Prayer is the voice of faith.” Isn’t that beautiful?
And true. If we don’t have faith that God exists, we won’t be talking to Him. If we don’t have faith in what He says in His Word, we won’t be reading it and talking to Him.
Goodrich brought up some wonderful points. When we pray, we sometimes tend to think of God as right there. He isn’t just this huge Being Who is everywhere.
God is right there with us — and we know it.
Yes, we have to approach God through Jesus. He gave us free will. He doesn’t force us to believe in Him.
So, we have to come to Him. “Therefore he [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb. 7: 25 NIV).
Rewards
We have to have faith that, as we ask in prayer, God will reward us.
Now, we can’t read that to mean God is going to give us everything we ask for. He is not going to give us something that will take our focus off of Him. He is not going to answer a prayer that is not in our best interests.
God definitely is not going to answer a prayer that will not expand His kingdom.
Goodrich contended that answers to prayer requires grace. Grace is a free and unmerited gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers. God’s willingness to reward comes from His gift.
God’s reward is amazing. “He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the LORD’s, and he has set the world in order” (II Sam. 2: 8 NLT). We can rest assured He will reward us when we are obedient.
The first step in salvation is to believe in God the Father. But it doesn’t stop there. In the next devotion, we will discuss love and obedience.
Father God. Mankind disobeyed You, yet You in Your grace designed the plan of salvation so that our relationship with You could be restored. We must seek You in faith. When we do – and admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess You as Sovereign Lord – You will restore us to You. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
