Paul redeemed that purchased possession and our salvation is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit
himself.
So what does it mean to believe?
It's to trust.
While you're turning to John chapter 7, I'm going to read for you a famous verse, 2 Timothy
1.12.
For the which cause I also suffer these things, nevertheless I'm not ashamed for I know whom
I have believed.
And I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day.
So he says I know whom I believe and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day.
Come up here for a second Daniel.
So here's what it means what I've committed unto him.
The word commit there has to do with entrusting something to someone for safe keeping.
So if I were to commit unto Daniel my wallet here, I'm basically trusting him to hold onto
it for me.
Right?
I've committed my wallet.
It's valuable.
Right?
It's got my ID.
It's got credit cards.
It's got, well no, not a lot of money.
No, I'm just kidding.
But anyway, it's got cash in it.
So Daniel, go ahead and sit down with that because I'm trusting Daniel here.
Now notice I picked Daniel.
You know, I didn't just pick like a first time visitor.
Say here you go buddy, you know, hang onto this for me.
You know, I would even be comfortable giving that to Daniel and picking it up tomorrow.
But that would be a certain amount of trust that I'm putting in Daniel, wouldn't it?
I'm entrusting something.
That's what it means to commit something.
Like when Paul says that he's committing Phoebe unto them.
He's commending Phoebe unto them rather, I should say.
But to commit something to someone is to entrust it to them for safe keeping, for them to hold
onto it.
And so Paul is saying I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day.
Just like if I gave my wallet to Daniel, I said, hey, I'm going to get that from you
tomorrow.
Okay?
Well here's the thing with God.
We're committing unto him our soul.
We're committing unto him our eternal destiny.
We're committing unto him our salvation and that requires us trusting him that he is going
to do what he has said he would do.
That is what it means to trust Christ.
Now here's an example of people not trusting in Christ, okay?
Look at verse number 3 of John chapter 7.
His brethren, these are Jesus' physical half-brothers, the children of Joseph and Mary, his brethren
therefore said unto him, depart hence and go into Judea that thy disciples also may
see the works that thou doest.
For there is no man that doeth anything in secret and he himself seeketh to be known
openly.
If thou do these things, show thyself to the world, watch verse 5, for neither did his
brethren believe in him.
Now the reason that I show you this verse is because a lot of people when they hear
the term believe in, they think it just means you believe that he exists.
Now let me ask you this.
Did Jesus' physical brothers think that he existed or know that he existed or believe
that he existed or do you think that they're deaf?
I don't even think Jesus is a real person.
They live with him.
They grew up with him.
But yet his brethren didn't believe in him.
Why?
Because believe in doesn't mean you're saying it exists.
It means that you're trusting in and his brethren are not trusting in him.
They're not relying on him for salvation.
They don't believe that he's the son of God.
They believe he exists and that's why a lot of people will take out of context in James
chapter 2 where it says thou believeth that there's one God, thou doest well, the devils
also believe in tremble and people will say, well the devils believe in Jesus.
Oh, you don't believe in Jesus enough, it's the devils believe.
Hold on a second.
It says thou believeth that there's one God, thou doest well, the devils also believe in
tremble.
Does the Bible say the devils believe in Jesus?
Can somebody show me in the Bible where it says the devils believe in Jesus?
It doesn't say that.
It says the devils believe that God exists.
The devil believes that there's one God.
He's not trusting and relying on Jesus.
That's ridiculous.
Okay.
So we don't want to misunderstand that.
It's not enough to believe that God exists.
Oh, I believe in God so I'm going to heaven.
Well, what do you mean by that?
Because if you just believe God exists, that's not enough.
If you just believe Jesus existed, that's not enough.
You believe the historical facts about Jesus or believe that he lived and walked Galilee
and died on the cross, that's not enough.
You have to trust Jesus, believing in Jesus, trusting in Jesus as your Savior.