Everyone believes in something. It’s intrinsic to our own humanity.
So the issue is not really, “Do we believe?” The issue is, “What do we believe?”
In Psalm 78, Asaph recounted the many amazing ways God showed up for His people and the multitude of times God’s people witnessed the power of God at work on their behalf, yet they consistently turned their back on God and walked in unbelief.
Psalm 78:32 says,
“In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.”
The “this” in all of THIS, refers to all the ways God showed up, supplied their needs, delivered them from their enemies, and blessed them beyond measure. Yet… that verse goes on to say, they kept sinning... in spite of His wonders, they did NOT believe.
Unbelief is much more about an unwillingness to surrender to what the heart knows to be true yet the will chooses to deny.
People often say they don’t believe in God but it is a refusal to accept what their God-given conscience has already revealed.
It’s, as A.W. Tozer says, putting ones trust in dying men instead of the Living God.
Almost everyone has struggled at one point or another with unbelief. The lost…and even the saved.
In fact, Psalm 78:32 was directed at the children of God who struggled with believing God even though they had seen the power of God at work on their behalf.
So, let’s look at the necessity of belief in 3 specific areas but before we do, it’s important that we define belief biblically.
Belief and Faith are from the same Greek word which means to “cling to, adhere to, rely upon, fidelity to”
It’s not just a mental agreement but a heart surrender to what you say you believe in.
With that understanding, let’s look at 3 areas where belief in necessary. Keep in mind that there are more, but today, we are only going to look at 3.
Belief is necessary for the lost to be saved ~
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it isthe gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)
No one is saved apart from faith in Christ. In order to be saved, we must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father to pay for our sins, and that He was crucified, died, buried, and rose again for our justification.
Basically, we must have faith that the biblical account of the Gospel is true and because it is true, we are called to respond to the truth of Scripture. Trust Jesus as our Savior and Lord (surrendering to what we believe to be true) – or choose to continue to walk in unbelief.
God’s love for us is beyond our understanding and definitely beyond what we deserve. But He sent His Son to save us from our sins because of His great relentless love.
He has done everything necessary for us to be saved and willingly sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for our souls.
To reject Jesus is to reject God’s love.
And, at their own expense, people do it every day. They reject Jesus because they love darkness rather than light and because they want a God they can explain and put in a box of their own limited understand.
Belief is necessary to be saved. If you haven’t believed (clung to, adhered to, relied up, become devoted to) in Christ as your Lord and Savior yet, please give your life to Him today.
Belief is necessary for the believer to see God do specific things in our lives ~
“23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24 (NKJV)
Throughout God’s Word we are called to believe God means what He says. That He is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.
But like the children of Israel, we often see God do the miraculous and quickly forget His goodness and begin walking in unbelief.
May we be children of consistent faith who believe God regardless of our circumstances.
God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want Him to… the way we think He should. But that doesn’t make Him any less God… it’s just a reminder that we aren’t God and He is and that our ability to know and understand is limited.
God is not limited in any way by anything. And even when God does what we don’t understand, He still remains God and we still remain in need of Him.
So trust Him even when you don’t understand. We’re human. Flawed. Limited. He’s not.
Belief is necessary to walk in victory and obedience ~
We can’t walk in obedience or victory unless we learn what it means to truly walk by faith.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us…
“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.”
Believing that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do is the key to obedience and victory.
We won’t consistently and willingly obey that which we do not trust. We can’t have victory over that which we do not surrender in faith.
Hebrews 11:8 goes on to say…
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
Abraham had the heart to obey God because He believed by faith that God was God. He was victorious in his journey because he trusted the Lord every step of the way.
Remember, the terms belief and faith mean to cling to, adhere to, depend up, trust, be devoted to.
If you want to walk in victory over your sin and over your self… and if you want to know what it means to live the abundant life Jesus died to give you, then you have to believe God with the kind of faith that is surrendered to the One you say you believe.
In this journey called life, it’s easy to allow our faith to be perverted… twisted… misdirected.
But God calls us to a steadfast faith that doesn’t waver with our circumstances because the roots of our faith should run deep and wide and be founded and grounded in the Word of God.
Today, if you’re struggling in your faith, please let go of thinking you know better than God what is best for you. He’s your Creator and in omniscient. You’re neither.
If you’re waiting for God to show you a sign… He already did. It was the cross. Won’t you trust the One who loves you so much that He gave His Son for to save your soul today? It’s the most important decision you will ever make in your life.