Son of God

There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
–Acts 4:12

John said, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). How are we saved? It’s not just by belief that somehow everything is going to turn out okay. Faith requires an object, and that’s why John specified the object of belief: “Those who believe in the name of the Son of God.” Our faith is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Our faith is only as reliable as the object of our faith. Our salvation doesn’t depend on how much faith we have, it depends on the object of our faith. Let me illustrate that for you. Imagine I have a chair. I could look at that chair and make all kinds of professions of faith about the durability of that chair. I could say, “This chair is well-built. It is capable of supporting me.” I could say that without actually sitting in the chair. As much as I profess faith in that chair to be able to hold me, for me to really believe that chair can support me, I have to put my whole weight in the chair. It is only when I sit down and rest completely in the chair that the chair, rather than my own effort, is supporting me. It is the same way with salvation. To believe in Jesus for salvation means to put your whole weight on Him, to trust completely in Jesus and not yourself for your salvation.

One time I was giving this illustration in my first church in Eastland. On our platform we had some huge wooden chairs. As I was making the point that faith is only as reliable as the object of our faith, I began to sit in one of those chairs. As soon as I sat down, I heard this cracking–and the entire chair collapsed. Trust me, they never forgot that illustration! Our faith is only as reliable as the object of our faith. That is what John was saying. We have to believe in an object–and that object is a person, the Son of God.

By the way, notice the emphasis on “the name of the Son of God.” In Acts 4, Peter and the apostles were healing people in the name of Jesus Christ, and the Jewish authorities were furious. They arrested them and said, “That name of Jesus is offensive to us. You can heal if you want to, just don’t use the name of Jesus.” How many people today say, “You can pray, just don’t pray in Jesus’s name. That is offensive”? Notice how Peter responded: “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead–by this name this man stands here before you in good health. . . . And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved’” (vv. 10, 12).

There is no allowance in Scripture that there will be anyone in heaven who has not trusted in the name of Jesus Christ. Don’t wimp out and be politically correct. Tell people the name by which they can come to God. It is the name of Jesus Christ.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Eternally Secure” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2014.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.