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| 2. Fundamentals vs. New Age -> Believing vs New Age Believing -> Into Him, Not a Promise |
Believing on Him, not a promise
Biblical believing, is directed to God Himself. Believe on (eis- as the result or purpose of ) the Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself. In Biblical believing the mind is directed toward the Holiness and Lordship of Almighty God Himself. The person is not believing or trusting in just the historical acts or promises of Jesus for his salvation. He is commiting to the Person Himself that redeemed him on the cross and promised salvation to whosoever repents and believes on Him.
He that is trusting that a promise is true if he believes historical facts in the scriptures may not be committing continuously for the result or purpose of Him, as the scriptures teach is necessary. "For as the Father hath Life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have Life in Himself" (John 5:26). "In Him was Life" (John 1:4). "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). The Life is in Him, not in a promise as the New Age seminary doctorates teach.
In fact, the Apostle John, whom the New Age Dallas Theological Seminary doctorates fearlessly say had more insight into the Gospel than Jesus or all the other Apostles including Paul,1 2 used the phrase "on Him" (eis auton) twenty different times in His Gospel relating to salvation. "And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and is believing on (eis--for the result of or purpose of) Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye may be believing on (eis-- for the result or purpose of) Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:29). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that is believing on (eis, for) Me is having everlasting life. I am that bread of life" (John 6:47-48). And John summarizes his Gospel, saying, "But these are written, that ye might have believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing (present continuous) ye might be having (present continuous) Life in (ev) His name" (John 20:31).
In his gospel John consistently says we are having eternal life as we are believing "for" Him, or in His name. There is nothing about believing a promise as these New Age doctorates of theology teach. No! We are clearly told to put our commitment for the result or purpose of (eis) Him, His Character, Lord Jesus Christ.
This repeated use of pisteuo eis auton, "is believing for the result or purpose of Him" is a striking phrase thoughout the gospel of John and the writings and preachings of the Apostles in the New Testament. C. H. Dodd3 states that he finds no parallel to the use of pistuo followed by the preposition eis to refer to trust in a person, in all of secular Greek. The expression is a literal translation of the expression "to believe in" from the Hebrew Old Testament, he says. This seems entirely appropriate, since Christ came to fulfill all the Law and the prophets. "Such an expression was rare or perhaps nonexistent in the secular Greek found outside the New Testament, but it was well suited to express the personal trust in Christ that is involved."4 Leon Morris commenting on this peculiar Greek expression says, "faith, for John, is an activity which takes men right out of themselves and makes them one with Christ."5 How well said!
Further in 1 John, John summarizes even his letter saying, "He that is having the Son is having Life; and he that is not having the Son of God is not having Life. These things have I written unto you that are believing in (eis, for the result or purpose of) the name of the Son of God; that ye might still (perfect active subjunctive) know that ye are having (present continuously) eternal Life, and that ye are might be believing on (eis, for) the name of the Son of God" (I Jn 5:12-13).
Then said Paul, "John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should be believing on (eis,for the result of) Him which should come after him, that is, into (eis) Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in (eis- for the result or purpose of) the name of the Lord Jesus." Acts 19:4-5 To the Philippians Paul said, "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to be believing on (eis, for) Him, but also to suffer for his sake" (1:29).
There are 17 instances of this peculiar phrase "believe for result of (eis) Him" in the Gospel of John. There is one instance in Acts 10:34: "through His name, whosoever is believing (eis, for) Him shall receive (aorist active infinitive) remission of sin"; and one other in Phil 1:29: "on behalf of Christ, not only to be believing (eis, for result or purpose of) Him, but also to be suffering for His sake.
In the Epistles there are 7 notable instances of the phrase "into (eis) Him." As in, "out from (ek) Him through (dia)Him and for result of (eis) Him Rom 11:36), out from (ek) whom are all things and we (eis) for result of Him (1 Cor 8:6), grow up for result or purpose of (eis) Him (Eph 4:15), for result or purpose of (eis) Him have been created (Col 1:16), reconcile all things (eis) for result or purpose of Him (Col 1:20), predestined as sons through Jesus Christ (eis) result or purpose of Him (Eph 1:4), and confirm your love (eis) Him" (2 Cor 2:8).
To Timothy he wrote, "Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them who are being (present active participle) hereafter believing (present active infinitive) on (epi, upon) Him for result or purpose of (eis) Life everlasting." 1 Tim 1:16 Notice the emphasis by Paul on the present continuous tense (twice) believing state speaking of his suffering "as a pattern to them" to continuously commit upon Him into life everlasting. This is quite stricking.
His fulfillment of His promises in His acts for us by which He secured our salvation is the means and reasons by which we may commit to Him. But we are to, in fact, be believing (committing) for (eis) Him, not simply affirm His promise. He, Himself, manifest in His Love to us, is the good news. It is the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ, Himself. The good news is the revelation of God Himself incarnate, His Love, His Holiness in Christ Jesus. And as His Love, His Holiness is preached, man's response can be either to continue seeking His own way or to repent (change mind from sin toward God's Holiness) and commit himself to his Creator and Lord, Christ Jesus. The invitation to the gospel preached by the Apostles and all historic Christianity, was simply to repent and believe (commit) for (eis) the Lord Jesus Christ.
For if truly His acts for us on this earth were not true, then He is not God and our lives are in vain (1Cor 12-19). But we do this because we are believing on (eis, for) Him, of these His acts for us, by which He, as only God could do, redeemed or purchased us. The message is to believe (commit) for (eis) Him, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who redeemed us. Not into a promise. His Godhead is the issue. His Lordship is the issue. His resurrection confirms Who He is, the only begotten ( "risen Christ," see Acts 13:33) of His Father. Praise God.
This "believing," therefore, implies more than just an intellectual believing (affirmation), or a trusting of a promise or an act, as the New Age "grace" regardless teachers say. The gospel is the "Gospel of Christ," a living risen Savior, God Himself, who has purchased us by His own blood. This is the good news, "for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that is believing (committing) for (eis) Him, to the Jew first and also the Gentile." (Rom 1:16) Praise His Holy Name. "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake (purpose)" (2 Cor 4:5). They did NOT preach a promise, as the New Age Dispensational "grace" regardless people do. They preached Christ Jesus, our risen Lord and Master for our Living obedience to Him.
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