The Dangers of a Half-Faith

Since our church computers had issues recording my sermon (again!), I’m blogging the content of my sermon so that church members and friends can access the message if they missed it.  Usually messages are on our church soundcloud page, but not if the message doesn’t record!

The Dangers of a Half-Faith (John 2:23-25) 

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Encountering Jesus' Knowledge of the Heart

1. Remember that John is the Gospel of belief.  He wrote so that people who read would come to life when they see this Jesus for who He really is.  John’s thesis in 20:31 is that these things are written that people would believe and have life in Jesus’ name.  The most important question one could ever answer is “Who is Jesus and what do I believe about Him?”

2. The “belief”, which John is writing to foster, is no less than a saving trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Matthew Henry wrote that to believe “is to commit ourselves to Christ and to His guidance.”  This point is important because the people to which this passage is referring had seen Jesus’ signs and miracles (2:23), but their faith was apparently not believable to Jesus, and thus he wasn’t buying their discipleship.  Apparently they didn’t have true faith.

3.  It appears that they had a half-faith.  They “believed in his name” (2:23), which means they recognized His authority, which is good.  But this doesn’t go far enough.  Though they are really convinced of His authority, they won't yet trust their lives to Him.

4. You can’t fool Christ a half-faith, if this is what you possess (2:24-25).  Here we see Jesus with access to the hearts of these people – he sees them and knows them inside and out.  This is a testament to His divinity.  Solomon had said that God alone sees all hearts (1 Kn. 8:39), and the Proverbs say that God tests the hearts of men (Prov. 21:2).  Thus for John to say that Jesus had this same knowledge is to say that He’s divine, with divine omniscience.  The next several encounters in with Jesus in John’s narrative – with Nicodemus, the woman at the well, and the Roman official – all show that He knew their hearts.

We’ll be content to harbor a half-commitment to Christ, fooling ourselves and others about our commitment to Him.  But He sees the heart.  This is why the people who thought they were “in” because they did good works are not allowed into heaven, because Christ never knew them (Matt. 7:21-23): They thought they knew Him, but He said no.  What they knew was a half-Christ; not the living and risen real Christ.

5. The dangers of a half faith:

-No joy.  Jesus came to give His followers a joy that a the world can’t touch, because it is based on His person and work who is sitting in heaven presently, and their reward is there with Him (1 Pet. 1:8, Phil. 4:4).  But if you are only halfway committed to Him, it’s because your heart is attached to worldly things, and your joy will fluctuate depending on the stability of said things.

-No stability.  Many fall away and make shipwreck of their faith (cf. Heb. 6:4-6, 1 Tim. 1, etc.)  The reason is because they’re half-committed to Christ and haven’t yet been brought to inner transformation which the Spirit alone can do. 

-No freedom.  David Foster Wallace, the deceased (from suicide) atheistic college professor, famously said, “Everyone worships.  The only choice we have is what we worship.”  All of our lives are lived in worship of things, people, places, etc.  And it is slavery.  Christ and Christ alone is truly worthy of worship, so if we worship Him, like Thomas did (Jn. 20:28), we’ll flourish because He is worthy, and we’re created to enjoy worshiping Him.

-No heaven.  Simply put, if Christ isn’t your life now, He won’t be your eternal life then.

6. Seeing signs doesn’t necessarily lead to faith.  Many think that if they could just see a sign from God they’ll believe, or that if their atheistic loved one would see a sign, they’d believe.  But the people from John 2 didn’t.  And Nicodemus, having recognized Jesus’ authority because of His signs, as far as Jesus was concerned, still wasn’t reborn, and thus couldn’t enter Christ’s Kingdom (3:1-8).  See Jesus’ parable about Lazarus and the rich man.  Abraham tells the rich man in hell that if his non-believing brothers didn’t believe the Scriptures, even a resurrection wouldn’t convince them (Lk. 16:18-31).

Application

7.  So how do we overcome this propensity to half-faith?  Simply put, in two words: Follow Jesus.  The Gospels are written to bring us into Christian discipleship, which J.I. Packer has defined as a belief and behavior commitment to the Person and work of Jesus Christ: Belief, meaning that what His Word says about who He is and what he came to do is true; behavior, meaning that what His Word says about how we are to live in this time is where the buck stops.

His promise is that if we’ll keep His Word – following Him – He and His Father will come and make their home with us (see Jn. 14:23).  That is, if we’ll follow Him, He’ll live with us. 

-Your house may have changed around the holidays when it filled with people, from a quiet little cottage to a hustling and bustling social hub (ala, the Griswold’s house on Christmas Vacation).  So Jesus wants to change our “house” by living in it Himself.  And He will, if we’ll follow Him.

We are only truly Christians if He says we are – not if we say we are, but if He says we are.  We are Christians if He lives with us and in us.

8. A side note: Just because Jesus can see hearts doesn’t mean we can.  We need to see apples in order to tell if a tree is an apple tree.  But Jesus already sees the roots.  So don’t treat people like you see their hearts when you can only see the fruit.  Be kind, patient, loving, especially if they’re a professing believer.  And strive to get this balance right.

9. Finally, when you walk with Him, you’ll realize that all your worship and faith is imperfect.  You realize how you fail Him, how you can’t measure up to Him and how you’re unworthy of His presence.  But then it becomes good news that He came and lived on earth precisely because you and I fail God.  Christ lived because we were dead (Eph. 2:1-4).  And he rose again to then give us His obedience and righteousness through His Spirit.  When we see our failings, we then hope in Him, and a resurrection of the soul happens, where we plug into His power alone, and we truly begin to have a real and living faith.

So let’s all press in deeper with Jesus, until we truly believe.  “Let us press on to know the Lord” (Hos. 6:3).  There is no better use of our energies and time.  He’ll come and live with us.