January 31/Weekend

Written by Bill Grandi on January 31st, 2020

My title for this devotion is Tandem vs Solo.

I read something this morning that struck me. I must admit that even though I know this, I’ve never quite articulated it this way:

Belief and faith are almost interchangeable words, and make sense to deal with them together. Belief is about truths of which we are persuaded or confident. Faith goes further because it implies action, putting what we believe into action. (“A Good Old Age-Prime-p.23)

How simple is that? So simple yet almost missed. And here is how it rolls out:

  1. First, it is important to know what we believe. There are essentials of the Gospel-the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. God is Almighty, the Creator of the universe. Jesus is God’s only Son, born of a virgin, born fully God and fully man. The Holy Spirit is the 3rd member of the Trinity, Christ in us. Sin is the disease that we all have. The physical death of Jesus on the cross and His physical resurrection save us from sin’s punishment. All men must come in faith to Christ, believing the above truths to receive salvation.
  2. Second, faith is action. Believing the message above requires action. We need to repent of our sins and come to Christ in faith. We must accept the truth of the cross and its need for blood to be shed. Hebrews tells us “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” (9:22)

Simple. Easy. Plain. Belief and faith are best seen in tandem. It is like you can’t have one without the other. So many say they believe but are unwilling to take the step of faith. And why take the step of faith if you don’t/won’t/can’t believe the truths of the Scripture? Belief alone is not enough. It is essential to put “feet” to that faith.

“Lord, I know there’s more to say about this. I know this is basic. But I have to remind myself of Your death and how just believing it is not enough. Help me not just to believe those truths but also to act on them.”

 

3 Comments so far ↓

  1. I hadn’t really thought about the intersection of belief and faith in quite this way, Bill, and it is truly enlightening! We truly can’t have one without the other. Lord, help us to grow in both.
    Blessings!

  2. Ryan S. says:

    Faith/Belief

    I can definitely see how you can’t have one without the other.

    Without faith, do you really believe?
    And without belief, there is no faith.

    Catch 22 of sorts.

  3. floyd says:

    Well said. It’s like compassion and mercy. Compassion is the feeling and mercy is the action. Good stuff.