may not act upon that belief and remove himself from harm. In that case, we all know what will happen. It is possible to believe something to be true but yet not act upon its truth.A second example is of a person who is sick and will die if the right medicine isnt administered. If that medicine is available, the patient may believe that the medicine will save, him, but he must also act and take the medicine to be healed. There has to be an act to decide to take the medicine. The same holds true in the spiritual realm. The medicine of salvation has been provided in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. One can be saved if one responds in faith to Christs invitation to believe on Him.The story was told of a missionary who was translating the Bible into the language of a certain tribe. He couldnt seem to find just the right word to describe what it means to believe on Christ. One day, as he was struggling to translate John 3:16, a man appeared at this door to talk about this new faith with the missionary. As they talked, the missionary asked his new convert what he thought was the best way to translate the word believe into his own language. The man thought for a moment and said: I think the best way to describe the word believe would be to say, to sit down. Puzzled, the missionary asked him to explain. He replied, you are sitting on a chair. Therefore, you must believe the chair will hold you. The missionary translator caught his meaning and quickly translated John 3:16 as follows: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever sits down on (believes on) Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.[John 3:16. The New International Version]Isnt that the true meaning of faith, to place the weight of our souls eternal destiny upon Christ? In other words, true faith relies upon the promise of Christ that He will save us if we entrust our soul to Him. Just as a drowning man needs to ent...
