Faith in the Real Jesus

 In the Bible Jesus warned, “For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.” (Matt 24:5 NIV)

Jesus is a real, historical person. Legitimate scholars won’t even challenge this point anymore (the peer-reviewed evidence is overwhelming). We read in the Bible that he offers salvation to us based on a single condition: Believing Loyalty. That’s it. The Bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬‬ NIV)

Essentially, when your conscience reveals that you’re unable to be the good person God wants you to be, you’ll eventually be worried about what happens after you die. This is when the Holy Spirit can prompt you to accept Jesus as your savior and then dwell inside your newly-regenerated spirit. Salvation is a free gift!

So what about loyalty? Have you ever wondered about the ordering of the Ten Commandments? Is God trying to tell us something? Let’s look at the very first one.

“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3 NIV)

God wants us to understand that he expects to have the highest place of honor in our lives. As we spend time with him in prayer and read the Bible, we continually learn more about God as he reveals his character. Once we begin to understand how faithful and good he is, the things of the world won’t seem as important.

In addition to the ever-present lust for money, power and status, today’s social media also tempts our pride with worldly communities that seek to exploit our natural desire to belong. This is very dangerous. We can easily be lulled into a feeling that we belong to the “right” group or tribe, confident that God is on our side while ignoring our own personal relationship with him. Sadly, we may also lose empathy for others in the comfortable bubble of the community (out of sight, out of mind).

Trusting our tribe to define Jesus for us isn’t the way to salvation. Tribal affections change, and the pressure to follow the group is hard to resist. Be sure to make your personal relationship with God through his Son your first priority. That is the essence of Believing Loyalty.