DAVID DECLARES IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS Devotion 14 of 28 This line of reasoning is germane to our text. God does not justify those who believe "there is one God," but the one "who believes on Him." This is NOT believing that Christ exists, or that there is one Christ, but that He is precisely who God has represented Him to be. The Gospel is, in fact, a delineation of Christ Jesus. It is the "the record that God gave of His Son" (1 John 5:10). Other versions read, "the testimony that God has given of His Son" (NKJV), "the witness that God has borne concerning His Son" (NASB), and "the testimony God has given about his Son" (NIV). Jesus Himself is the SUBJECT of the Gospel – "the Gospel OF Christ." – Tomorrow:
"But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin." (Romans 4:5-8, NKJV)
Believing on HIM
To believe "on HIM" is to trust and depend upon the Christ of the Gospel. It involves focusing all of our dependence upon HIM, making HIM the focal person of our lives. Where this is not being done, men are not believing "on HIM." Consider the dominance of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures – "HIM." Jesus Himself affirmed the Scriptures "testified of" HIM (John 5:39). He is the "spirit" or heart "of prophecy" (Rev 19:10). Let there be no mistake about this, where Jesus is not the most prominent Person, men have not believed on "HIM."
As shocking as this may seem to some, Jesus is not well known within much of His own church. It is not at all unusual for "church members" to hear more about their particular church and its tenets than about the Lord Jesus, who is the Head of the church, and the Savior of the body. Consequently, many people are trusting in their church and its creed. However, the promise of God is to the one who believes in HIM.
Believing ON Him
Believing "ON Him" is quite different from believing there is a God, or even believing there is one God, or even believing Jesus exists and that He died for our sins. In the sense of our text, believing "ON Him" is TRUSTING in, or relying on, the Christ of the Gospel. By that, I mean the person depends upon Jesus being the ONLY one in whom God is "well pleased." He shapes His life by the persuasion that only Jesus has dealt effectively with sin. He approaches life with a dominating conviction that everything is subject to Jesus, and that there is no promised blessing that cannot be received through Him. Such a person leans the weight of his soul upon Christ, casting all of his hope upon Christ's Person, accomplishments, and ministry. He is depending on Jesus to bring Him to glory.
Again, I want to emphasize that believing is EMBRACING Jesus as God has represented Him. There is a marked tendency in men to fabricate a Savior of their own. One who will save their home, their marriage, their finances, their country, etc. While care must be take not to discourage people from bringing their requests to the Lord, care must also be taken not to equate this with the Gospel. Such approaches are areas of possibility. The Gospel deals with guarantees.
Being More Specific
It may appear this has all missed the mark, for our text is speaking of believing on God – the One who justifies. Why, then, bring up believing on Christ Jesus?
Jesus has spoken to this issue. In summary, I will show that men cannot believe on God – the One who justifies the ungodly apart – from His Son. Here is something Jesus "cried out." "He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me. And he that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me" (John 12:44- 45). Again, Jesus said, "He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me" (Matt 10:40; John 13:20).
In a very poignant statement, Jesus confirmed that God cannot be accessed apart from Himself. "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). The God who justifies in inaccessible apart from His only begotten Son!
Through Peter, the Holy Spirit affirms that we believe in God through Jesus Christ, or by means of His ministry. "Who BY HIM do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God" (1 Pet 1:21). Confirming the effective ministry of Jesus in this regard, Peter also wrote, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Pet 1:18).
Looking at this matter from yet another perspective, John writes, "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:23, NASB). You must not allow the strength of this declaration to pass by you. Denying the Son is refusing Him in the capacity in which God presents Him. It involves more than denying He is the Son of God. It is a refusal to RECEIVE Him in that capacity. The very thought of NOT having the Father is startling to the sensitive soul. Let us not be deceived on this matter. No one will be saved who does not have the Father. Further, none can have the Father independently of the confession of, and reliance on, the Son.
The Bottom Line
Believing on the God who justifies the ungodly is realized by receiving Christ in the capacity presented in the Gospel. It simply is not possible to believe ON God apart from the Christ of the Gospel.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for giving Jesus Christ, Your Son, the ministry of bringing me to You. I trust in Him, precisely as Your have presented Him in the Gospel.