Believe in Christ and you will be saved. That’s true, as long as we understand what it means to believe in Christ. After all, everyone in this passage believed in Jesus in one way or another.

Think about the unclean spirits, the demons mentioned in Mark 3:11. After all, they knew good and well that Jesus was in fact the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity. But just knowing Who Jesus is doesn’t mean the demons were saved. And the only reason they fell down before Him was because they were overwhelmed by His power – not because they were willing subjects of His Kingdom.

And think about the multitudes that flocked around Jesus. They certainly believed in Jesus’ power to heal them. But they weren’t any more obedient to Jesus than the demons were: that’s why Jesus had to get in a boat and move away from the crowd standing on the shore in order to teach them. They didn’t really want to hear what He had to say: they just wanted to touch Him and receive a physical blessing.

And what about Jesus’ hand-picked disciples? Yes, they eventually came to understand that Jesus was in fact the Messiah God had promised to His people. But none of them were willing to follow a Messiah whose mission was to die for His people. One of them even went so far as to betray Him (Mark 3:19).

No, acknowledging Jesus’ power while continuing to rebel against His authority isn’t believing in Him. And just admitting that Jesus has power so that you can wheedle some healing or political power out of Him isn’t believing in Him either.

So, what does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means bowing the knee before His sovereign majesty, accepting His gracious pardon, turning away from our rebellion and living as His loyal and grateful subjects. It means trusting Him not only to forgive us, but to give us the blessings He thinks we need according to His timetable. In short, it means transferring our trust from ourselves to Jesus.

So, do you believe in Jesus?

Mark 3:7-20 (NASB)

7 And Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea,
8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.
9 And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the multitude, in order that they might not crowd Him;
10 for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed about Him in order to touch Him.
11 And whenever the unclean spirits beheld Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, saying, “You are the Son of God!”
12 And He earnestly warned them not to make Him known.
13 And He went up to the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him.
14 And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach,
15 and to have authority to cast out the demons.
16 And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),
17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder “);
18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot;
19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
20 And He came home, and the multitude gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.