The command to believe.

As yesterday’s thought expressed, I have recently had a major shift in how I view the Gospel. Whereas previously, I would have described salvation through Jesus Christ as an invitation or an offer, I now think it’s far more accurate to describe it as a command, really the major command God issues. Consider these passages in the New Testament:

Just after the famous John 3:16, verse 18 says, "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Acts 17:30-31 says, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

And 1 John 3:23 says, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”

See, what’s fascinating about thinking of belief in the Gospel as a command rather than an offer is that it winds up restoring this simple faith to its rightful place as the pinnacle and foundation of all other moral obligations. We must believe in the greatest act of love God has ever performed, because to deny it is to deny His very Nature.