Believe

Scripture/Bible: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. John 3:16-21

Reflection:  Believing seems to be the magic formulae or it seems to do the job of saving.  It also seems such a trivial thing and can easily come under the lens of critical scrutiny.

How can a mere action of belief save the world from eternal damnation? If Jesus is saying it then what is it that he is communicating when he says that the only way for anyone wanting to be saved is to believe in him and him and them whom he sends in his name, with power and authority?

With this question in mind, I will seek to answer it from various angles and because our reflection is meant to be short I shall seek to answer it with some short answers and queries:

There have been many leaders both religious and secular in history that have made great promises, which of them have been successful for long with their ideologies?

Who among them have given such sound, simple and elaborate teachings on being saved, hell and eternal life and the problems of the world?

Who among them can claim to be the Savior and yet have performed the saving action by being the lamb of sacrifice, the most innocent, one who died one of the most miserable deaths in human history? He died in order to take away the sin (that human situation that separates us from knowing the truth of God and in defense of which he had to die) of the World?

Who among them have satisfied that need in man to seek a sign, in order that they may not have difficulty in believing in him? He did it with supernatural signs and continued with it through his holy servants and still continues his work to all who approach him or his holy servants with firm belief and sincerity of heart.

Which followers of any system or leaders can tell anyone with confidence that their God loves them no matter how sinful they maybe, can forgive their sins and that they will be able to experience him and his forgiveness even right now if they come to him with sincerity of heart and mind?

What is more, they can even claim that proof of God’s love by directing them to look at the Sacrifice of the cross. The cross of Jesus and the humiliations he endured for our sakes, a historical incident recorded by even historians, is the proof of his love for humanity sealed by his most precious blood.

Prayer: A sincere prayer is always from the heart: Make yours right now after reflecting on the above.

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