Greetings Gentlemen, Brothers,
may I copy paste a rather long extract that might be interesting to you and to us in this study discussion?
It is part of what I was considering initially, although there is at least on other point I would like to raise later, if possible.
I was looking at the Gospel of John, chapter 8 around verse 30 we see a mention of certain men believing on Him. As you read on, you notice that the conversation is not how one might expect it to be considering the mention that they believed on Him.
We see elsewhere, for instance,
Now when He was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did.
John 2:32
and
And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?
John 7:31
that this 'word', believed is used and while we may glance over it, if we slow down and look, we might see that the expression used refers to more than simply believe, or believed or believing and hence the reason for this study, to look a little deeper into what the Scripture actually say and to not be too quick and miss finer points that while they seem small, are quite important in the grasp we might have or get on Scripture and the ways of both God and man.
Bless you and thank you for your participation ....><>
(I do not necessarily endorse the following but include it here for reference and discussion)
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from biblehum.com
MacLaren's Expositions
John
THREE ASPECTS OF FAITH
John 8:30 - John 8:31.
The Revised Version accurately represents the original by varying the expression in these two clauses, retaining ‘believed on Him’ in the former, and substituting the simple ‘believed Him’ in the latter. The variation in two contiguous clauses can scarcely be accidental in so careful a writer as the Apostle John. And the reason and meaning of it are obvious enough on the face of the narrative. His purpose is to distinguish between more and less perfect acceptance of Jesus Christ. The more perfect is the former, ‘they believed on Him’; the less perfect is the latter, the simple acceptance of His word on His claim of Messiahship, which is stigmatised as shallow, and proved to be transient by the context.
They were ‘Jews’ which believed, and they continued to be so whilst they were believing. Now, the word ‘Jew’ in this Gospel always connotes antagonism to Jesus Christ; and as for these persons, how slight and unreliable their adhesion to the Lord is, comes out in the course of the next few verses; and by the end of the chapter they are taking up stones to stone Him. So John would show us that there is a kind of acceptance which may be real, and may be the basis of something much better hereafter, but which, if it does not grow, rots and disappears; and he would draw a broad line of distinction between that and the other mental act, far deeper, more wholesome, more lasting and vital, which he designates as ‘believing on Him.’ I take these words, then, for consideration, not so much to deal with other thoughts suggested by them, as because they afford me a starting-point for the consideration of the various phases of the act of believing, its blessings and its nature, and its relation to its objects, which are expressed in the New Testament by the various grammatical connections and constructions of this word.
Now, the facts with which I wish to deal may be very briefly stated. There are three ways in which the New Testament represents the act of believing, and its relation to its Object, Christ. These three are, first, the simple one which appears in the text as ‘believed Him.’ Then there is a second, which appears in two forms, slightly different, but which, for our purpose, may be treated as substantially the same-’believing on Him.’ And then there is a third, which, literally and accurately translated is, ‘believing unto’ or ‘into Him.’ That phrase is John’s favourite one, and rather unfortunately, though perhaps necessarily, it has been generally rendered by our translators by the less forcible ‘believing in,’ which gives the idea of repose in, but does not give the idea of motion towards. These three, then, I think, do set forth, if we will ponder them, very large lessons as to the essence of this act of believing, as to the Object upon which it fastens, and as to the blessings which flow from it, which it will be worth our while to consider now. I may cast the whole into the shape of three exhortations: believe Him, believe on Him, believe unto Him.
I. First, then, believe Christ.
We accept a man’s words when we trust the man. Even if belief, or faith, is represented in the New Testament, as it very rarely is, as having for its object the words of revelation, behind that acceptance of the words lies confidence in the person speaking. And the beginning of all true Christian faith has in it, not merely the intellectual acceptance of certain propositions as true, but a confidence in the veracity of Him by whom they are made known to us-even Jesus Christ our Lord.
I do not need to insist upon that at any length here-it would take me away from my present purpose; but what I do wish to emphasise is, that from the very starting-point, the smallest germ of the most rudimentary and imperfect faith which knits a soul to Jesus Christ has Him for its Object, and is thus distinguished from the mere acceptance of truths which, on other grounds than the authority of the speaker, may legitimately commend themselves to a man.
Then believe Him. Now, that breaks up into two thoughts, which are all that I intend to deduce from it now, although many more might be suggested. The one is this, that the least and the lowest that Jesus Christ asks from us is the entire and unhesitating acceptance of His utterances as final, conclusive, and absolutely true. Whatever more Jesus Christ may be, He is, by His life and words, the Communicator of divine and certain truth. He is a Teacher, though He is a great deal more. And whatever more Christian faith may be-and it is a great deal more-it requires, at least, the frank and full recognition of the authority of every word that comes from His lips. A Christianity without a creed is a dream. Bones without flesh are very dry, no doubt; but what about flesh without bones? An inert, shapeless mass. You will never have a vigorous and true Christian life if it is to be moulded according to the fantastic dream of these latter days, which tells us that we may take Jesus as the Guide of our conduct and need not mind about what He says to us. ‘Believe Me’ is His requirement. The words of His mouth, and the revelations which He has made in the sweetness of His life, and in all the graciousness of His dealings, are the very unveiling to man of absolute and final and certain truth.
But then, on the other hand, let us remember that, while all this is most clear and distinct in the teaching of Scripture, it carries us but a very short way. We find, in the instance from which we take our starting-point in this sermon, the broad distinction drawn, and practically illustrated in the conduct of the persons concerned, between the simple acceptance of what Christ says, and a true faith that clings to Him for evermore. And the same kind of disparagement of the lower process of merely accepting His word is found more than once in connection with the same phrases. We find, for instance, the two which are connected in our texts used in a previous conversation between our Lord and His antagonists. When He says to them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent,’ they reply, dragging down His claim to a lower level, ‘What sign showest Thou, that we may see, and believe Thee?’ He demanded belief on Himself; they answer, ‘We are ready to believe you, on condition that we see something that may make the rendering of our belief a logical necessity for us.’
Let us lay to heart the rudimentary and incomplete character of a faith which simply accepts the teaching of Jesus Christ, and does no more. The notion that orthodoxy is Christianity, that a man who does not contradict the teaching of the New Testament is thereby a Christian, is a very old and very perilous and very widespread one. There are many of us who have no better claim to be called Christians than this, that we never denied anything that Jesus Christ said, though we are not sufficiently interested in it, I was going to say, even to deny it. This rudimentary faith, which contents itself with the acceptance of the truth revealed, hardens into mere formalism, or liquefies into mere careless indifference as to the very truth that it professes to believe. There is nothing more impotent than creeds which lie dormant in our brains, and have no influence upon our lives. I wonder how many readers of this sermon, who fancy themselves good Christians, do with their creed as the Japanese used to do with their Emperor-keep him in a palace behind bamboo screens, and never let him do anything, whilst all the reality of power was possessed by another man, who did not profess to be a king at all. Do you think you are Christians because you would sign thirty-nine or three hundred and ninety articles of Christianity, if they were offered to you, while there is not one of them that influences either your thinking or your conduct? Do not let us have these ‘sluggish kings,’ with a mayor of the place to do the real government, but set on the throne of your hearts the principles of your religion, and see to it that all your convictions be translated into practice, and all your practice be informed by your convictions.
This belief in a set of dogmas, on the authority of Jesus Christ, about which dogmas we do not care a rush, and which make no difference upon our lives, is the faith about which James has so many hard things to say; and he ventures upon a parallel that I should not like to venture on unless I were made bold by his example: ‘Thou believest, O vain man! thou doest well: the devils also believe, and’-better than you, in that their belief does something for them, they ‘believe-and tremble!’ But what shall we say about a man who professes himself a disciple, and neither trembles, nor thrills, nor hopes, nor dreads, nor desires, nor does any single thing because of his creed? Believe Jesus, but do not stop there.
CONTINUED NEXT POST...
