Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)
This verse is about our belief or faith. We are told in Ephesians 2:8, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves…” There is nothing we can do to earn this salvation except to accept the grace of God through his Son.
To understand more about faith we can go to the great faith chapter of the New Testament. In chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews faith is defined for us as, being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1) In this chapter we are reminded of many Old Testament people (e.g. Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses) who exhibited great faith in God during their lives without receiving immediate great reward.
But, Hebrews concludes with these words, These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
So, we believers are to continue in the one true faith in every circumstance with the sure knowledge that all people of this faith, no matter when they lived on earth, are now complete in Christ Jesus. This is truly good news!
