(Hebrews 11:6) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Belief is the foundation of every religion, including Christianity. They are called our religious beliefs. The Bible calls us believers.
Believe: to accept as true or real. Have faith in a person or thing; trust. To think or suppose.
Things fall into the realm of belief when you accept them as true even though you don’t have analytical, physical proof for them.
Can you prove the existence of God? Not in a scientific experiment. We can relate our experiences as evidence, or we can argue the existence of God philosophically; but when it comes down to it, you can’t prove God, you have to believe in Him.
It is not necessary to believe in things for which you have proof – those things you would know. I don’t have to believe my hair is brown (well, a mixture of gray and brown).
(John 20:24–29) 24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Relationship between belief and faith
In many ways, belief and faith are synonyms. You cannot have faith without believing. But can you believe without having faith? That depends on your definition of faith.
Faith is an active form of belief. Or putting it another way, faith is acting on what you believe. It is possible to believe something without acting on it, therefore in this definition it is possible to believe without having faith.
(James 2:19) You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
The demons “believe” in God, i.e., that He exists. Do they have faith in Him? No.
Here’s an illustration:
A man staggers into a room and collapses. A doctor present examines him and says he is in a state of extreme dehydration. Water is brought to him, and the question is asked, “Do you believe that if you drink this water you will gain strength and live?” The man could express his belief in the statement, but unless he acts on it and drinks the water, he could still die of dehydration, even though he believes.
(James 2:17) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
If you read the passage in James 2:18-24, it contrasts the person that says they have faith, but they have no works or corresponding actions, with someone who does have the corresponding actions. Their faith is “dead”, which means inoperative and ineffective. This person was believing without acting.
Everybody believes something. If you believe contrary to the Word of God, it is called unbelief, but it is still believing. Even atheists believe. In fact, it takes a lot of faith to be an atheist.
Even worry and anxiety is believing something; it is caused by believing in the bad things that could happen.
It is necessary not only that you believe, but that you believe the right thing.
Believing with the Heart
(Romans 10:6–10) 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
What is the heart?
Certainly not the physical blood pump in your chest. People used to attribute emotions to the liver. The “heart” means the center, the very core of your being.
(1 Thessalonians 5:23) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are created in the image of God. John 4:4 says that God is a Spirit. We are also spirit beings.
(1 Peter 3:4) rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
There are many that say the heart is the spirit man, that they are one and the same thing. When we were born again, it was our spirit that was re-created in the image of God, holy, blameless, and irreproachable in His sight (Colossians 1:22). But Hebrews 3:12 warns us to beware against having an evil heart of unbelief. How could we have a heart that is holy, blameless, and irreproachable, and evil at the same time?
A key can be found in Hebrews 4:12:
(Hebrews 4:12) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
It speaks of the division between soul and spirit. The soul is our psychological part (Greek word is psuche from where the word psychology comes from) and consists of our mind or intellect, will, and emotions. Our consciousness is actually in our souls, not our spirits. We are more aware of physical things than spiritual things; we have to train ourselves to listen to the voice of our spirits.
We are a three part being, spirit, soul, and body, and there is a boundary between body and soul, and a boundary between soul and spirit. Think of it as concentric circles. On the outside is the body, and contained within the body is the soul, and contained within the soul is the spirit.
At each boundary is a communication interface. The way our body “speaks” to our mind is via the five senses. The part of the soul that is “closest” or most influenced by the physical body is our emotions. Then we go through the intellect, and the part of soul that is closest to the spirit is our will. (For more on the structure of man, see Man in 3D.
These boundaries are not sharp divisions, but are sort of blended together.
I believe the heart – the core of our being – is this division, or boundary – between the soul and the spirit. It includes the spirit, but also has elements of the soul in it. 1 Peter 3:4 equated the spirit with the “hidden man of the heart”. Another way of wording this would be “the hidden man contained within the heart”. That is the spirit. But the heart also has some elements of the soul, such as the will.
Believing is a function of the spirit and the “deep” part of your soul. That’s why people who are not born again have trouble accepting the things in the Bible.
(1 Corinthians 2:9–14) 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The things of God are spiritually discerned. The natural, non born again person does not have the capacity to understand and believe spiritual things. He can gain capacity by hearing and receiving the word of God (Romans 10:17). Even Christians will have difficulty understanding spiritual things if they use natural means.
It is “natural” for a born again person to believe. He or she is a believer.
(2 Corinthians 4:13) And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak…
We have the same spirit of faith – i.e., it is part of our spiritual nature. Notice 2 Corinthians 4:4: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of those that do not believe…”
(Hebrews 10:39) But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
Heart Faith vs. Head Faith
Believe (Vine’s Expository Dictionary): to be persuaded of, and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, and not mere credence.
The Amplified Bible routinely renders believe as to trust in, rely on, and adhere to.
Biblical belief goes beyond mere acceptance that a statement is true. There are many people in this nation that say they believe in God and even that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of mankind. But they have not made the commitment of being born again. Biblical belief involves a commitment of yourself to the thing believed.
Mental Assent
“Mental assent” is a termed coined to mean that someone will agree to the truth of a statement, e.g., “Yes I believe that is true”, but won’t do anything about it. On the surface it sounds good: “Yes, I believe God’s word”; but it will not be sustained under pressure.
How do you know what you believe in your heart and what is in your head? Listen to what your mouth says when you are under pressure.
(Matthew 12:34) Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Out of the abundance, or overflow, of that which is in the majority of what fills the heart the mouth will speak.
(Proverbs 23:7) For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
(Matthew 12:35) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
So how do things get into your heart (especially good things)?
(Matthew 6:19–21) 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Your heart will fill up with the things you focus on and devote your time to the most (at this point we can say “Amen!” or “Oh, me!”).
Purify Your Heart
Matthew 12:35 talks about having an evil treasure in your heart. Hebrews 3:12 talks about having an evil heart of unbelief. James 4:8 tells us to “purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
So how do you purify, or cleanse, your heart? How do you get the garbage out?
(Acts 15:9) …and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Faith will be involved with purifying your heart. That is no surprise; faith is involved in everything we should do spiritually, beginning with salvation. The just/righteous shall live by faith.
(Proverbs 4:20–23) 20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
The word keep as used in the Bible means to guard or protect. We need to guard what goes into our hearts. What we expose ourselves to will have an effect on us. There are some things we should limit our exposure to, and there are some things we should cut out entirely.
(Mark 4:18-19) 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
This is part of the passage on the parable of the sower. The sower sows the word (Mark 4:14), a seed that is planted in our heart, which is represented by the ground. Vs. 18 and 19 talk about weeds and thorns choking out the Word so that it becomes unfruitful (for more on the parable of the sower, see Faith Comes By Hearing).
So the Word of God is like a seed that is planted in our hearts by hearing it. But where do weeds come from? They come from seeds also, and they are planted in our hearts the same way as the Word of God – by hearing, but by hearing the word of the world and of Satan.
If we live in this world, it is inevitable that we will be exposed to things that can plant weeds in our heart. But as the weeds can choke out the Word, we can also get to a place where the Word chokes out the weeds.
What will dominate – the weeds or the Word? That depends on what you feed the most. Fortunately for us, the Word of God is much more powerful than the word of the world. We may not be able to spend more time chronologically in the Word as opposed to going about our daily business, but if it is quality time in the Word and prayer, it will get the job done.
Mark 4:30-32 30 Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?
31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth;
32 but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
Use Your Mouth to Your Advantage
There is a direct connection between faith, what you believe, and what you say. We’ve already explored the connection that what you say is an indication of what you believe, but we can also use what we say to have an effect on what we believe.
Let’s say you read something in the Bible that you want to believe, but you know your faith really isn’t there yet. Every one of us has areas like this. How can we build our faith and belief for that thing? Start talking it.
People that are always complaining about their lack of faith will never have any. Start saying to yourself – out loud, so you can hear it with your ears – “I am a believer. I believe what I read in God’s word. When I hear the word, it causes faith to rise in my heart. It feeds my spirit, and causes it to grow strong. I am strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”
“God speaks to me, and I hear His voice. I am His sheep, and His sheep know His voice, and will not follow the voice of strangers.”
“I am what God says I am. I have what God says I have. I can do what God says I can do.”
