We live in a “Christian Nation”.  I have heard this statement thousands of times.  Christianity is the most adherents at 31% of the world population. Many of these people say with confidence, that they ‘believe’ in God. Many of these same people think that this is enough to guarantee that their sins are forgiven and gain them admission to Heaven. However, is this simple ‘belief’ in God enough? Is this ‘belief’ the same as the ‘faith’ spoken of in the Bible? I wanted to share a few thoughts.

True faith is more than simply ‘believing’

Faith absolutely includes an element of belief. But they are not the same.  As I used to tell my kids, “if they are not spelled the same they are not the same.”  A belief in something or someone is required before faith can be manifested. I believe that Grand Canyon is still deep, even though I am not on its edge right now.  I can believe in things that do not affect my life.  I don’t have to worry about the depth of the Grand Canyon grabbing me up as I set at my desk. I can believe in things that do not affect my life. I can live my life without this great hole in the ground because of my belief.  So also you may well believe in God but if that belief does not directly affect your life it is not faith.  It will not save you, it will not justify you, it will not bring God’s favor on you.

To have faith is to put trust in that someone or something.  And who or what you place your trusting faith in is what has far-reaching, even super-natural, eternal, effect.

Story here:  A pastor and his wife was scheduled to attend a very large denominational meeting on the other side of the nation.  Pastor’s wife had never been on a plane before and was very frightened.   She believed that airplanes can fly.  She was terrified. Her husband trying to console her quoted scripture, you know the Bible says, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the world.”  After a moment of thought she replied, “LO I will be with you.”

We can well say that I believe a plane can take me from here to there, but if I’m afraid to get on it, I reveal that I have no ‘faith’ in that plane. Also, if I do not get on the plane, I have no reason to expect it to take me anywhere. I must exercise my ‘faith’ in that plane, by boarding it, if I am to receive the benefits it offers.

Faith results in changed actions

I am not one to judge anyone’s faith or belief.  Never-the-less I have personally seen those who claim to be followers of Christ but their lifestyle remained the same.  They still

I have heard of, and have known, some people who claim to be followers of Christ; however, their lifestyle remained the same after they became Christians as it was before they became Christians. They still lived the same way, talked the same way, and had the same mindset as they did when they were living in rebellion to God. Were they exercising true faith? Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15), meaning that our actions will reveal the change our heart has gone through when we became His true followers. Conversely, if our lives do not exhibit a change of allegiance from self to Jesus, we have good reason to doubt our salvation is real at all. John writes, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (I John 2:3). True faith is evidenced by a change in the way we act.

Faith results in changed priorities

If anything in our lives is more important than God, our priorities are misplaced and we should examine ourselves to see if we have truly given our lives to Christ. If our lives are focused more on our jobs, our favorite sports team, the next new technological toy, our love life, or anything else that diverts the center of our attention away from God, we should question the validity, or at least the maturity, of our faith.

Conclusion

The mindset of belief can well be simply a passive mental acceptance that amounts to nothing.  Belief must affect your life. Simply to say “I believe in God” means very little if it is merely coming from the lips and not from the heart. People can, and do, say that they ‘believe’ in God, but their lives never change at all. However, when one has true faith in God, one’s life cannot help but reveal this truth. True faith, dependence/reliance/trust, in God reveals itself in our actions, our thought life, and our priorities. If we claim we are Christians, but this is not the attitude of our hearts, it would be wise to ask God to search our hearts, cleanse us, mold us into the people that He wants us to be, and strengthen our faith.

What do you think.  Leave a comment.