Live and Believe

In John 11, Jesus goes to Bethany because His good friend Lazarus has died. When He arrives one of Lazarus' sisters approaches and tells Jesus if he had been there her brother would not have died. Jesus says the unbelievable--"Your brother will rise again."

She responds by saying "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Here is Jesus' response:

     I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and
     whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26)

If you are a follower of Jesus you may be familiar with this verse. Sometimes familiarity can cause a person to miss all of what Jesus is saying.

So many times I hear people say all you have to do is believe in Jesus. People will say that in order to experience the resurrection all that is required is belief. But that is just part of what Jesus says. He says that in order for us to never die (spiritually) we must "live" and "believe."

The believe part is considered fairly easy to accomplish. All a person needs to do is say they believe in Jesus. I can make that statement in this post: "I Scott Baker, believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and even though I die, I can live for eternity."

I confidently can make this statement because of the redeeming quality of God, through His Son, Jesus. I have life because of God's grace.

It is the second part to my belief that is most convincing. Do I "live" in Jesus? Is my belief so strong in Jesus that my life is different from the world. Can people tell I am a disciple of Jesus by the way I live?

It is the "living in Jesus" that defines me as a Christian. It is more than a statement of faith verbally. It is a statement of faith physically--faith by action.

Do you believe in Jesus enough you are going to be defined by Him--is your identity found in Jesus?