In the New Testament, the word BELIEVE is often interchangeable with the word FAITH. However, in essence, we have found some distinction in the spiritual application of these words.
In this piece, we will deep dive into this distinction and shed more light on the subject of faith.
In many of the miracles of Jesus, he often asked if they believed. If they did and got their miracle, he often described it as faith. What then is faith, the bible in Hebrews 11: 1 teaches that “… faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” – KJV. In other words, faith makes alive what we have hoped for or believed.
By definition, to believe means to accept something as true. It means to acknowledge and trust. However, faith is not just an acknowledgment or trust, it is a corresponding action that stems from your belief.
In James 2:19, the Bible says; You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder”. Do Demons believe?, resounding yes, but that’s how far they can go. Even though they believe that there is one God and even acknowledged Jesus as the Son of the Most High God in Luke 8: 28, they do not have faith in him.
The Bible says in Romans 10: 9 -10 that; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
It is with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. If the verse stopped at believing unto righteousness, we would have assumed that believing was enough to be saved, but there was a corresponding action. He says you have to declare with your mouth what you have believed.
In James 2: 19 which we read, it says demons believe. However, we know that they did/do not have a corresponding action in faith. And so, the demon in Luke 8: 28 could not call Jesus Lord. He referred to him as a son of God. 1 Corinthians 12: 3 says; “…that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, except by the Holy Ghost”. Furthermore, in 1 John 4: 3, we are told that; “…every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God”
Therefore, we see that faith is a corresponding action; in the case of salvation, is the confession of Jesus with the mouth. Believing is not enough because even demons and unbelievers “believe”. Your faith is your corresponding action.
James says, ‘…shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. – James 2: 19. This tells us that faith is action-based. Faith is a step further after believing. Faith is active, it requires action. Faith is not knowledge, it is how you react to what you know and acknowledge. There are two matters to discuss here. First – Reaction; we can look at this as taking action in response to knowledge. The second thing is knowledge; which means that faith cannot stand on its own, faith is built on belief.
Abraham is one of the fathers of faith in the bible. When called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, he obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:1 & 9.
He left his sense of identity, and all that he ever knew to go to a land God was going to show him.
Faith is not getting God to do what he has not planned to do, it is interacting with what God has already done. God has already made provisions for all that we will ever need in Christ Jesus. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
1 Peter 2:3.
Many only speak about faith when they have needs. This is okay but it is not the ultimate plan of God for Christians. Our faith should be in response to what God has already done.
The proof that we have faith is not in the new car or house that we get. It is that we act on the word of God. We pray because the bible admonishes us to do so and love others because God is love.
