Believers

Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago • Presented 2 years ago

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Those who have faith in God. After Pentecost, the term came to be used specifically to refer to Christians, that is, to those who believe and trust in God, as he has made himself known through Jesus Christ. The NT stresses that Jesus Christ brings the faith of OT believers to perfection and to its proper fulfilment.

Notes

Transcript

Believers as those who have faith in God

1 Kings 18:3–4 NLT

So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devoted follower of the Lord. Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave and supplied them with food and water.)

See also Jn 4:39–42; Ac 16:15; Jas 2:1

OT believers looked forward to the NT faith

Salvation is God’s gift to us because Jesus died for us on the cross. Discipleship is our gift to Him as we take up our cross, die to self, and follow the Lord in everything.

Warren W. Wiersbe

Hebrews 11:13 NLT

All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.

The church is referred to as the believers

Acts 5:12 NLT

The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade.

See also Ac 1:15; Ac 2:44; Ac 4:32; Ac 9:41; 1 Ti 4:12

In the early church a distinction was sometimes made between Jewish and Gentile believers

Acts 15:23 NLT

This is the letter they took with them: “This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!

See also Ac 10:45; Ac 11:1–3; Ac 15:5; Ac 21:20–25

The term believer is synonymous with Christian

1 Corinthians 7:12–13 NLT

Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him.

See also Ac 15:2; Ac 16:1; 1 Co 6:5; 1 Co 14:22; 2 Co 6:14–15; 1 Th 1:7; 1 Ti 5:16

Believers are members of God’s family

Galatians 6:10 NLT

Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.