John 11:24-26, Easy Believism

John 11:24-26, “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

The Lord's words were very plain and simple to Martha. Her brother Lazarus had just died. Many guests had arrived for the funeral. Family and friends wept that Lazarus was dead. Jesus also wept, not that His friend was gone, but because the people all doubted Him. Jesus engages in conversation with Martha, trying to open her eyes to THE TRUTH that He is the Giver of life to all who trust in Him. Anyone who believes in Jesus, putting their confidence in Him as their personal Savior, instantly receives eternal life and is alive in Christ. 1st Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Dear friend, Jesus not only gives eternal life, HE IS ETERNAL LIFE. 1st John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” I feel so sorry for all the people in the world who reject the only begotten Son of God. If you research the religious beliefs of the world's most famous and wealthy people, you'll find that very few of them claim to be a Christian. 

Many false teachers today complicate the Gospel. They make fun of Gospel preachers like Dr. Jack Hyles and myself, who preach the simple truth that salvation is BY FAITH ALONE. 

Proponents of the Lordship Salvation use degrading terms like “easy believism” and “greasy grace” or “cheap grace.” My fine non-feathered friend, the King James Bible says it is easy to be saved. I triple-dog dare you to show me anywhere in the Bible where someone found it difficult to be saved. The Samaritan woman at the well to whom Christ witnessed in John chapter 4 simply believed and was saved. When the Apostle Peter preached the Good News of Jesus crucified, buried and risen to Cornelius and his friends in Acts chapter 10, Cornelius simply believed and was immediately saved (Acts 10:43-44).

The Gospel of John has been called “God's Gospel Tract,” because it was specifically written to show the reader how to be saved. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” In the Gospel of John we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times, showing us that we are saved by simply believing on the name of Jesus. In John chapters 19 and 20 we read about Jesus' death on the cross for our sins, and His subsequent burial (to officiate that He was in fact dead), and His miraculous physical resurrection three days later. This is 'THE GOSPEL' according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6. 

Faith plus the Gospel equals eternal life. Hebrews 4:2, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” The children of Israel in the Wilderness heard Moses preach the Gospel, but they did not get saved because of their lack of faith. Likewise, the Gospel is being preached all around the world today, but few people are receiving it. Time is of the essence dear reader. Have you been born again? Have you ever come to a time in your life where you realized that you were a lost sinner? Did you realize that there is a penalty for your sins, burning in the fires of Hell forever and ever without hope or relief? Did you realize that Jesus paid your debt of sin on the cross, making a way of escape through His precious blood? And did you appropriate that blood by putting your confidence, your trust, in Christ's sacrifice on the cross? If you haven't done that, then you need to get saved now.

John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” If you have heard the Gospel preached, but you reject it, God's wrath is upon you dear reader. Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” We are living in a generation of fools, many of whom blaspheme the holy name of God, desecrate sacred things, and profane the holy. Marriage is no longer held as sacred (Hebrews 13:4). The infallibility of God's Word is no longer held as sacred (Psalms 138:2; 12:7-8; 119:140). Right doctrine matters!

One day in eternity, billions of people are going to be hating themselves immensely, when they fully realize just how foolish they were, rejecting God's free gift of eternal life. 2nd Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” God doesn't want anyone to perish in their sins and spend eternity burning in Hell (2nd Peter 3:9; Revelation 20:15). So many people today profess to be agnostic (not sure if there is a God). It seems to be the safe route to take if you don't want to be labeled by anyone. Not me friend, I believe in God. I believe in His only begotten Son, Jesus. I am relying on Jesus alone for eternal life, wholly resting in the blood that He shed for my sins in the cross of Calvary. 

The sanctified life that I try to live because I love God (John 14:15), has absolutely NOTHING to do with my salvation (Romans 4:4-6). My only hope for forgiveness of sins and eternal life is in Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross, and His triumphant resurrection from the dead, and not in the least way because of my works, merit, turning from sin, water baptism, dedication, labors or faithfully running the Christian race. You may do all these things and yet never have been born-again at all (as the fools in Matthew 7:21-23 learned the hard way). They went to Hell forever! They failed to do the Father's will, which is to wholly rest in Jesus' name (John 6:40). Men complicate everything, but God made the Gospel very, very, very simple.

Some people say they are agnostic. Good night man, open your eyes! Psalms 19:1-3 says the heaven's (i.e., sun, moon, planets and stars) declare the glory of God. Dear reader, being agnostic effectively puts you into the same boat as atheists, because either way you are not saved. 1st John 2:22-23, “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” Why would anyone want to risk going to Hell to burn forever? Not me buddy! If I weren't a Christian, I'd become one immediately, just to have FIRE INSURANCE. That is why Pastor Jack Hyles got saved at age 11 in his backyard in Texas. Jack Hyles didn't want to go to Hell, and neither do I, and neither do you I assure you friend.

Jesus told Martha that if she simply believed in Him, she would have eternal life. John 11:24-26, “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Friend, Jesus wasn't telling Martha that someday in the future she would be resurrected, He meant right now, right here! The very moment that you place your faith in Christ, God reads your mind, and He declares you freely justified!!! 

Literally, God declares you justified, JUST-IF-I'D never sinned at all. No believer has a criminal record in Heaven. Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” The second you get saved, God sees you as holy, sinless and perfect as His Son Jesus. This is one's POSITION in Christ, which is forever settled at the time of justification. How we choose to live after that is a different matter of sanctification, which is one's CONDITION in Christ. Many believer's lives are in poor CONDITION on earth, but God's grace doth much more abound (Romans 5:20), so that our POSITION can never be jeopardized. We have God's promise of eternal life by faith alone (Titus 1:2; Philippians 3:9).