I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith ‘I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”-James 2:17-18

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” -Ephesians 2:8-9

 Belief is not enough

I used to pray, each night for faith
Because I didn’t know what else to do.
But when I didn’t get an answer,
I thought it proved This “God thing” untrue.

I had always assumed He could answer,
But I wondered if He would answer me.
And when I didn’t hear Him speak
I decided I did not believe.

Through the years and along the journey
I began to understand God more and more
I discovered belief is a simple choice we make
Faith, a relationship we choose to explore.

But then I learned I need more than belief
Because even demons believe God is divine.
God wants more from His children than just belief,
He wants our words and good deeds to align

Beliefs, like feelings, can change day to day,
Making them unworthy to navigate.
If we follow them they may lead to danger
 But to walk in faith is to always be safe.

Today, I know God leads me in many ways
And it’s up to me to follow His direction.
Knowing that when I follow Him,
He extends His grace and protection.

I no longer need to fear unworthiness
Nor be afraid because I am flawed.
For I know when Christ redeemed me,
I became a righteous child of God.

Now I’m free to have hope and faith
And it gives me the courage to believe;
To believe the blood of Christ makes me worthy
To deserve every blessing I receive.

I still pray each night for faith,
And for an open heart to believe.
And, I pray, He will use me to bless others
To receive the faith I’ve received.
©Linda Troxell 11/25/2020

Do you ever find that the difference between faith and belief can be confusing? Many of us have. Words are very important to me. In fact, you could say I am something of a logophile. So, often, I contemplate the meaning of words to an extent that others probably don’t. In considering the meanings of faith and belief, it’s very difficult to tease out the difference as the two words are interrelated.

Faith, of course, has a component of belief inherent in its meaning but belief does not tell the whole story of faith. The most important difference is that belief indicates simple acceptance or agreement to a fact.

Whereas, faith indicates belief plus trust that gives one the confidence and motivation to act on that belief, whether it’s been “proven” or not. Certainly, faith cannot exist without belief. However, to believe does not require faith.

Many who are not Christian believe in a God who formed the universe. Some even believe in His son who died on the cross. But they don’t have the faith that these things have any meaning in their lives. To believe merely means that we have accept something as fact.

As James tells us in James 2:19, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder” Merely believing there is a God who sacrificed His son has little impact on our lives.  

However, if we take that belief and supercharge it with the trust that our God sent His Son to die for us so we could have eternal life that is something on a higher level. That is the faith that allows us to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

It is then that we have a rebirth in the Spirit. At our rebirth we receive forgiveness of sin, justification before God, and a new heart that is open to God’s love. The Bible says it like this, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26  

Faith cannot live in a hard and hateful heart. But once we have a new heart in place, God can give us faith. Faith is not something we find, or something we build; it isn’t even something we can work for. Faith is a gift from God put into our new heart of flesh as His way of bringing about our salvation.

It is faith that allows us to believe that God is who He says He is, that the Bible is His Word, and that it is inerrant truth. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” -Ephesians 2:8-9

Faith is what makes it possible for Christians to believe that God will keep every promise we read in the Bible. Because we believe these things, some non-Christian’s say faith is simply irrational or nonsense. However, faith is neither irrational nor nonsense.

Faith is a God-given gift that makes it possible for us to believe the things we cannot see. Moreover, it makes it possible for us to believe God’s word even if what we see is contrary to it; because faith allows us to vanquish unbelief. Faith is also what motivates us to do the good works God wants from us.

The faith we were given at our rebirth is all the faith we will ever need. We need do nothing, indeed we can do nothing, to increase it. However, as we grow in Christ, our faith does change. It becomes stronger, deeper and more reliable, even as its foundation remains the same.

It does not, however, do this on its own. If we ignore our faith and use it only when we are in trouble, it will not be faithful. If we leave our faith unused and unattended, we cannot expect it to be accessible when we need it.

Faith requires Commitment and like every commitment it takes work. It’s important that we know that our faith, if properly maintained, can stand up to doubts and questions. It is when we neglect it or ignore it that it tends to fail us.

Most of us, of course, use our faith regularly. Without faith, we would do nothing that has to do with God. Including believing there is a God. We use faith every time we interact with God.

Praying requires faith, and why we would not go to church if we didn’t have faith. We are even exercising our faith when we say those quick, “Thank you, God.” prayers we say throughout most days.

It is important to exercise our faith in these ways because faith requires attention and it needs to be nurtured.

We nurture our faith by regularly doing things that strengthen it. Things that quite frankly, we should be doing anyway. All praying strengthens our faith. Reading the Word of God strengthens faith and in turn that faith allows us to trust that the Word of God is the truth.

All exposure to God’s word will strengthen and deepen the faith God gave us.

Hearing the gospel in church with our brothers and sisters strengthens our faith making it more resilient. While our faith has no need to grow, we can grow in our faith by exercising it and opening our hearts and our minds to the truth.

The more time we spend in the truth that is in God’s word, in prayer, and in hearing the gospel, the more stable our faith becomes. And through that faith we gain confidence in who we are in Christ.

Knowing who we are in Christ then, leads us to become motivated by what it means to be a Christian. This should all culminate in the desire to do what Jesus commanded us to do, to tell others the good news

And, according to James, it should motivate us to get up and do good works. James is adamant about faith producing good works. He said that faith without works is dead. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds”. James 2:17-18

James was making the point that having faith without doing what God asks of us is of no use to anyone.  He tells us that we need to take care of the needy, such as the widows and orphans and we need to help our brothers and sisters in Christ when they need support.

I think this is something about which we all agree. And so, we have to wonder about the veracity of a rebirth and a new heart that does not motivate the one saved to do good works.   

Something I think is overlooked in most discussions of doing good works is the need to include ourselves in those works. Some of us believe that self-denial equals piousness.

But I believe there is nothing pious about denying ourselves if the only reason for the denial is our belief that it honors God and makes us better Christians.

We, like others, are made in the image of God.  And, like others, we deserve kindness and love.  We deserve it from our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we deserve it from ourselves.

I cannot believe that God is honored nor that we are better Chrisitians when we deny ourselves only because we believe it honors Him.

As new Christians, we tend to focus our new found faith in confidence that our prayers are heard and answered. Faith affords us the motivation to ask God for what we want and the confidence to believe that it will be granted to us in accordance with His will.

 As we grow in Christ, and our faith becomes more stable, we gain a deeper understanding of God, and we become confident that we are never alone.

With this new understanding our focus changes, and because we know that God is always with us, we begin to have a new confidence in ourselves and our abilities. Knowing God is with us gives us a feeling of safety we can get no other way.

This, then, brings us to a new understanding of what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. We become willing to walk into the unknown trusting that God will take care of us. And we begin to understand that God has always been in control, that any control we thought we had was an illusion.

At its most basic, walking in faith is trusting God completely no matter the circumstance. Accepting what he is asking of us and/or what He is giving us or not giving us without attempting to manipulate our reality in order to feel in control.

It is believing that regardless of what seems to be happening, what is really happening is that God is taking care of us and keeping us safe. 

God has given us many promises in His word. He has promised to fight for us if we are still, in Exodus; In Isaiah, He promises strength to the weary and power to the weak. In Malachi, He even promises if we tithe we will have so many blessings that we will not have room for them.  As Christians, our faith allows us confidence to believe these promises.

We still know that there will be times of pain, even devastation, in our lives, but we will not be alone. We are comforted knowing that through our faith we are consecrated to God as His children whom He will never forsake.

We know it because God tells us in Joshua 1:9 “Have I not  commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  

Faith and belief on the surface seem to be synonymous. But, in fact, they are very different. It can be difficult to differentiate the two because semantically their definitions are so similar.

However, as anyone who has had the experience of a belief crossing over the line to become faith can tell you, there is no mistaking the difference once we have had that experience.

I am not ashamed to admit that I struggle with my faith. It requires lots of attention, lots of nurturing, and lots of maintenance and it requires continual commitment.

When I allow myself, for more than a few minutes, to look at or hear things that contradict my faith, things with “proof” contrary to what the Bible tells me, I feel my faith start to crumble.

When that happens I have a choice to make. Will I continue to look at or listen to what is threatening my faith or do I remain true to my commitment and shut it down quick?

Make no mistake, even though faith is a God given gift for us saved Christians, it isn’t a receive it and forget it kind of gift. This is a gift for which we need to keep on giving. We have to give it nurture, and strengthen it if we want it to be there and to be strong when we need it.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, We are thankful that you made us new creations in Christ. Thankful for the new heart of flesh with which you replaced our heart of stone so that we could receive the gift of faith. All of the gifts we receive from you are important, God. But without faith we could not believe the other gifts you’ve given us. We know that makes keeping our faith strong perhaps the most important job we have as your children. So, Lord, we ask you to help us to do all the things we need to do that keep our faith strong. Help us Lord to read your word daily. Help us to spend time with other believers, to do good works and to worship you at every chance we get. We need our faith in you and in your word as truth in order to do the things you have asked of us. Without faith we cannot believe your promises, or discern your voice from that of the enemy. Without faith we cannot take the gospel to others or give them the chance to receive their gift of faith. We ask you Lord to help us to spend as much time in truth as is possible. Help us to read your word and to go to church and worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Help us to pray for others as well as ourselves and Lord, help us to remember our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. We each long to live a life pleasing to you and so please, Lord, help keep us motivated to do the works our new heart urges us to do.  We ask this in the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Points to Ponder and Perhaps to Write About

We all have things in which we have faith and other things in which we only believe. Do you know the difference? Can you make a short list of some things in each category?

In which category did you put Jesus?  Why?

If you are a Christian and you have been saved, do you sometimes struggle with your faith? If you do, what do you do to shore up your faith when you identify the beginning of doubt? Make a list of things you do to strengthen your faith.

Can you identify a time your faith was threatened by something you were doing? If you can, write a few sentences about how you ended what was threatening to your faith. If can’t identify a time something you were doing threatened your faith, write a few sentences about what you think might threaten your faith.