Faith Is More Than Believing the Word
What do you think of when you hear the word faith? Trust may come to mind; it is a good synonym because it implies a course of action. Faith never lies dormant; it requires a response. "By faith Noah…prepared an ark for the saving of his household" (Heb. 11:7).
"By faith Abraham obeyed…" (v. 8). "By faith Moses chose "to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (11:24-25). "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down" (v. 30).
Faith is that which causes people to make right decisions and take right actions on behalf of God. What if such behavior seems greatly unfavorable to God's follower? He pursues the proper course anyway, trusting that God will fulfill His word.
How did Noah know that the Flood would occur, since the entire matter involved "things not yet seen" (Heb. 11:7)? Why did Abraham leave Ur—"not knowing where he was going" (v. 8)? On what basis did Moses decide to "suffer affliction with the people of God" (v. 25)? Why did Israel march around the walls of Jericho for seven days (v. 30)?
The answer to these questions is that they all knew God; they knew that God keeps His Word. They trusted Him to bring about and do all that He said He would. Where was the proof? Where was the evidence? "Faith is the evidence" (v. 1). When someone keeps His Word 100% of the time, it is obvious that He can be trusted, which is all the evidence that is needed.
Together the noun faith and the verb believe occur nearly 500 times in the New Testament. We have seen a brief sampling of how the words are used in the Bible, but unfortunately many people have adopted a different definition of them. Consider what is probably the most popular verse of all (it even shows up at football games)—John 3:16. When we get to the part that reads "whosoever believes in Him," what is the definition of believe?
Perhaps the majority of people view it as "mental agreement." Due to false, unbiblical notions of salvation, some have been led to wrongly conclude that entertaining positive thoughts about Jesus in their minds will somehow result in eternal life. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus descended from heaven and became flesh (John 1:14), spent His earthly ministry teaching people how to live and to please God, insisted that His disciples "continue" in His Word (John 8:31-32), gave Himself up for our sins, suffered excruciatingly on the cross (one of the most painful deaths ever devised by man), "poured out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12), was buried, and raised up the third day. He did not just agree that these were good ideas—He did them. Faith acts. And if we desire salvation, we must likewise be obedient.