Believing God

 I am convinced that many people don't really understand what the Bible means by believing in God. I think this even goes for people who think they are Christians, but they have not really been saved and changed. The confusion is caused by our English language, not by the Bible. In English the word "believe" can mean to believe something in our head, to have intellectual assent to something. It never means that in the Bible, though.

Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham later, was the Father of the faithful. God spoke to him about having a son, even though his wife was older, and they had not had any children. (Genesis 15:6) "Abram believed God, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith." This verse shows us the real meaning of believing God. It is having faith in God, not just believing facts about Him in our heads.

So then, what is faith? Faith is trusting in someone or something. When we believe God in the Biblical meaning of the word, we put our trust in Him and in what He has said. Then, when God sees that faith He responds by giving us the gift of salvation. However, we have to trust Him in such a way that we quit trusting ourselves, and we depend on God in every area of our lives. This faith must come from the heart, and it must last all of our lives.

Many people believe that all they need to do is to believe in their head that Jesus died and rose again for their sins, so they pray a one time prayer saying they believe that. They believe they are saved, but they have not put their trust in God, so there is no change in their life. That is not saving faith. Abram believed God, and he kept trusting God for 25 years until his son was finally born when Abram was 100 years old. Now, that is real saving faith. God knew his heart from the beginning and saved Abram because of his faith. He will do the same for you, if you will trust in Jesus the same way. 

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 18-20.