Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 

                                                                                                                     John 11:25-26 

Today: Read John 11

In today’s passage, we see Jesus addressing Martha who was grieving over the loss of her brother Lazarus. Knowing that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus speaks truth into the life of Martha and inquires about her faith. First He declares good news:“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” He then follows this marvelous declaration with a simple yet profound question: “Do you believe this?” The message is clear and simple; faith in Christ brings eternal life. As we live and believe in Jesus, we can be assured that we will never die. Living means that we have real life. It is to enjoy true life. It is a life that is active, blessed, and endless in the kingdom of God. It means that we are full of vigor. Living means that we are fresh, strong, efficient, powerful, and efficacious. It is a powerful word and this life is found only in Christ!

Today there continues to be a battle between two competing messages. One is the message of salvation, forgiveness, healing, power, and effectiveness while the other is one of defeat, despair, and disillusionment. There are times when we just need to let the clear message of scripture heal our hearts and souls. Consider the following truths, all pointing to faith in Jesus as the basis for salvation:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. He who believes in Him is not judged…                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                   John 3:16,18a 

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

                                                                                                                        John 6:35 

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

                                                                                                                       John 6:40 

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 

                                                                                                                    John 11:25-26

This was also the message in the preaching and declarations of the first century church:

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

                                                                                                                   Acts 13:38-39 

They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 

                                                                                                                       Acts 16:31

It is also the resounding theme of the New Testament writers: 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

                                                                                                                   Romans 1:16 

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.  

                                                                                                            Romans 3:28 

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness…

                                                                                                                     Romans 4:4-5 

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation…for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

                                                                                                            Romans 10:9-11,13 

…nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

                                                                                                                   Galatians 2:16 

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

                                                                                                               Ephesians 2:8-9 

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  

                                                                             Galatians 3:26 

And this good news should produce in us confidence. Consider the following:

This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 

                                                                                                         Ephesians 3:11-12 

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

                                                                                                         2 Corinthians 3:4-6 

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.                                                                                                           

                                                                                                            Hebrews 4:14-16 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.

                                                                                                                 Hebrews 11:1-2 

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

                                                                                                                        John 15:15 

So as we rest in the finished work of Christ on the cross and have confidence in knowing that we have eternal life, we are now set spiritually free to love others. Consider the importance of loving others as a means of fulfilling the Law: 

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

                                                                                                            Galatians 5:1,13-14 

This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

                                                                                                                        1 John 3:23 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

                                                                                                         1 Corinthians 13:1-3 

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

                                                                                                               Romans 13:8-10 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.  

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

                                                                                                       1 John 4:7-8,18,20-21 

To trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross brings rest, confidence, and security. We no longer have to live everyday wondering whether or not we are saved. We do not have to have an unhealthy obsession with sin. We can rest in knowing that every sin that we will ever commit has been paid for by the death of Jesus. This assurance brings confidence. Faith itself is defined as having assurance of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1) and this same faith is powerful to shield us from every attempt of the enemy to derail our confidence in Christ. As a result, we are free to love others and to react to sinful mankind in the same way in which God has dealt with us in Jesus. As we live in the power of these two overarching truths: believing in Jesus and loving others, we can know that we are fulfilling the Law of God (1 John 3:23, Romans 13:10).

To enter into a vibrant relationship with Jesus or to simply be religious: these are the two options that we are presented with still today. Given all of the scriptural evidence pointing to a life of faith, forgiveness, power, confidence, and love, all that is left is to contemplate Jesus’ question, “Do you believe?”