| The Grapevine
Number 160 February 3, 2007 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15 The Faithful Believer by Jack Northart History is being made every second of everyday. Whether people are acting on a conviction, or take no action of any conviction at all, history continues to roll on with each passing moment. A person could live his entire life without ever getting out of his chair so to speak, and yet his life would be recorded in time as someone who did very little. He may have lived a safe and secure life, but accomplished very little for himself or for others or for God. Since every man has free will, we all can make our decisions as we see fit. We can decide to sit on the sidelines or get into the game of life and play. John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall do these works and greater works. There is a tendency to call anyone who is a born again Christian “a believer.” It is true that when a person confesses Jesus as lord, and BELIEVES in his heart that God has raised him from the dead, that he gets saved. He receives the gift of holy spirit; eternal life. It is a one-time event that occurs in a fraction of a moment because of what God promises in Romans 10:9,10. If that is the only thing that this person ever believes when it comes to God and Jesus Christ, then that is what makes him a born-again one. But does that make him a “believer” in the biblical sense? Acts 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed [Gr. pistos] were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the record in the book of Acts where the Gentiles first believed the Word of God and were born again under the ministry of the apostle Peter. When he journeyed to the house of Cornelius, Peter had six other brethren accompany him. These six brethren are referred to as “they of the circumcision which believed.” The Greek word for “believed” is pistos. This word in verse 45, as well as in Acts 16:1 are the only two places in the KJV that pistos is translated “believed.” It is translated fifty-two other places as “faithful” and two places “faithfully.” Pistos is an adjective related to the Greek noun pistis (believe, faith). The adjective is used in a passive sense to refer to someone who is “faithful, trustworthy, reliable.” A person who is faithful to God is someone who believes God consistently and who is trustworthy. The adjective also occurs a few times in an active sense to refer to someone who is “trusting, faithful, believing,” which is someone who believes consistently hence: a believer. John 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing [pistos]. Thomas had sat under the teaching ministry of Jesus Christ for most of the time that his ministry was on earth, yet he did not believe the report of Christ’s resurrection as told by the other disciples. When Jesus appeared to them when Thomas was present with them, he charged Thomas, “be not faithless, but believing.” Thomas had taken a hard attitude toward this situation previously. He was not believing the truth about the resurrection even though Christ had taught them about it on previous occasions. He was not faithful. He was not believing. It is also interesting to note that the Greek word for “faithless,” is apistos and it means, “untrustworthy, faithless, unbelieving, disbelieving, infidel.” Although Thomas was numbered among the twelve apostles, he declared that he wouldn’t believe the report until he saw him. Was he still an apostle chosen by Christ? Yes. But was he a “believer” in the true biblical sense? No he wasn’t. He had the nametag, but chose not to believe. II Corinthians 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth [pistos] with an infidel [apistos]? How many people on earth are presently born again of God’s spirit? Only God knows the answer to that question. There could be millions for all we know. What separates them from the love of Christ? Nothing. What separates many of them from the beautiful fellowship of believers? Unbelief. They may have believed enough for salvation but to continue to stay faithful and believe and trust God, they have a difficult time because of not WANTING to believe any more. There is no club to join or a membership card to carry to get you in the door. There is only God’s Word to believe. When we believe it and act on it then we are true and faithful believers. We will see the results of our believing God’s Word. I Corinthians 4:1-2 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful [pistos]. A steward is one who trusts God’s promises, and has not only believed on Jesus Christ once, but continues to be faithful, trustworthy and convinced of God’s Word. This person will be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God. A steward is an administrator. His job is to oversee the affairs of a household. He must be faithful. Luke16:10 He that is faithful [pistos] in that which is least is faithful [pistos] also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. A true believer is a faithful believer. He stands in the face of accusation, temptation and pressure and proves God at His Word. He’s not a believer in name only but a true, faithful believer, who is worthy to be called a believer. The history he makes will be that he believed God. Return to main page |