Inside Out: A 40 Day Journey to Transforming Your Heartنموونە

Unbelieving Heart --> Believing Heart

What we believe in our hearts matters. For our hearts to be healthy, we must know what we believe, why we believe it, and that it is a correct belief according to the Bible. Just because we sincerely believe something doesn't mean it's true. Kids sincerely believe in Santa, but it doesn't mean the man at the mall is truly him. Saying we believe in God, or even saying we believe in Jesus, doesn't necessarily lead to salvation.

Many self-acclaimed evangelical Christians now have an unbiblical belief of who Jesus is because relativism and universalism are infiltrating their theology. In a survey taken in 2020 by The State of Theology Group, 52% of Americans believe Jesus was a great teacher but not God. Thirty percent of evangelicals agreed. Twenty-five percent of evangelicals also are not confident that Jesus' resurrection was a real historical event (State of American Theology Study, 2014). Forty-six percent of evangelicals agree that God accepts all religions' worship (Lifeway Research, 2016). Sixty-five percent of "Christians" believe there are multiple paths to Heaven (US Religious Landscape Study, 2014). Sixty-nine percent of churchgoers believe that everyone will go to Heaven (Baylor Religion Survey, 2014). Fifty percent of Americans believe Jesus sinned (Barna Group, 2015). Seventy-seven percent of Americans believe personal salvation results from good works (Lifeway Research, 2016). Have our hearts fallen into these false views about Jesus and salvation? Hebrews 3:12 warns us about this, "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God." Believing in false theology will slowly cause us to fall away from the one true God.

Our culture wants us to believe that everyone with "a good heart" will go to Heaven. But haven't we already read in great detail that our hearts are evil and no one is good? No one deserves Heaven. Our good intentions are not enough because sin must be paid for. We cannot allow wrong theology to be rooted in our hearts, nor can we dismiss what the Bible teaches. We are warned about this in Luke 8:12-13, "The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away."

What we believe about Jesus in our hearts matter. What the Bible says about Jesus is what is true. Jesus is God. Jesus never sinned. Jesus could have never been our perfect sacrifice on the cross if He had sinned even once. Jesus did rise from the dead. His resurrection confirms He is God and has power over death, sin, and Satan. God does not accept worship from any religion because He demands that we have no other gods before Him. Not everyone will go to Heaven. There is only one way to get to Heaven, by believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jesus being our Lord means we surrender our lives to Him and desire to follow Him in what He asks us to do. We understand that it is not our good works that save us, but nor are we saved if our lives do not have surrendered hearts toward Him. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast."

Our salvation comes by confessing that Jesus is our Lord. We vow to submit and follow what He says according to the Bible. It is also crucial that we believe Jesus rose from the dead because His resurrection is proof He is God. When our hearts believe these truths, we are justified before God. Justified means our sins are cover by Christ's atoning sacrifice, and we are seen as righteous before God. "Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved" (Romans 10:9-10).

John 7:38 says, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" When we believe what the Bible says about Jesus, our hearts will flow with life from the inside out, and we will experience the joy of our salvation!

Take a Moment:

• Are there any points mentioned above in which you have unbelief?

• How can studying who Jesus is in the Bible help you have your heart rooted in proper theology?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. Thank You that He was sinless and rose from the dead, conquering sin, Satan, and death. Please help me to never cheapen Jesus' sacrifice by believing wrong theology. May I remember that it is by grace I am saved, not by my good deeds. Show me where my beliefs may not be following Scripture so that my heart can believe what is right and true. Amen.