Spread the love

Believing Is Not Faith

We attended the CMA Ohio State Rally this past weekend and had an awesome time in fellowship and renewing relationships. It was great to see our old friends and meet new ones as well. I really enjoyed the messages our National Evangelist shared and the special insights the Open Doors Ministry Partner shared with us. 

The culmination of the “RFS Pink Challenge” resulted in my hair being pink for the day, even though it was intended to be that way a bit longer. I’m not sure if it was the dye, the weather, or the condition of my hair that caused the short term of the pink staying in. I do know some people had way too much fun making my hair pink for as long as it lasted. All for a good cause, supporting RFS.

Our title is “Believing Is Not Faith” and some might be confused by that statement. What it comes down to is this: we may believe an item will do a certain thing or allow us to accomplish a certain thing, but that is not what our faith is in. We may believe our doctor can help us when we are ill but our faith is not in that doctor; we may believe a chair will hold us up but our faith is not in that chair; we may believe our vehicle will start but our faith is not in that vehicle.

Believe is to accept something as true or feel sure of the truth of, or accept the statement of someone as true, or hold something as an opinion, or to think or suppose. You might say it this way, the policeman believed John’s story or, the policeman didn’t believe Sue or didn’t want to know or, the policeman believed we had already met. (Look out for that last one)

Faith, on the other hand, is to have complete trust or confidence in someone or something; strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion; the Christian faith; a strongly held belief or theory. I like how the Bible describes faith in Hebrews 11:1,2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” NASB

To get the full understanding make sure you see it says “faith is the assurance of”. It’s not a, I think so or I believe so or probably, but it is the “assurance of” meaning it is a positive declaration intended to give confidence. In other words, it is true. 

Faith is “the conviction of” meaning it has the quality of showing that one is firmly convinced of what one believes or says. In other words, what the Bible says about God, Creation and Jesus is all truth.

I may not have been there when the Heavens and earth were made, nor when the animals and man were made, nor when Jesus was born, nor when Jesus was crucified, nor when Jesus rose from the dead, nor was I there when Jesus ascended into Heaven, but, I have faith, that what is recorded in the Bible is truth beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

 

GR (Jerry) Niver

CMA Ohio State Coordinator

Comments are closed.