Previously I wrote an article titled “Redefining Church” (November 2) where I looked at the origin of the word church in its original cultural context to see if we could discover a layer of new insight hidden under layers of meaning added over the many centuries since the Bible was written.
This is often how language works. Over time usage and meaning changes. Just like someone restoring an old car which has been repainted many times will need to carefully strip back layers if they want to discover the original colour, when we read the Bible, it is important for our understanding of the text to sometimes strip back layers of meaning added over time in order to bring out the original colour and context of meaning and bring it back to light.
One such important word is central to our faith. In fact, it is that word: faith or belief.
For so many of us the word faith can be used to describe a religion someone belongs to, ie “that person belongs to the Adventist faith” or simply a system of beliefs/practices, ie “that person has the same faith”. The word belief is another word which is used to describe a set of statements which someone agrees with, ie “I won’t work on Sabbath because it is against my beliefs.”
These definitions often play themselves out in our discussions as Christians and Adventists when discussing how someone is saved. Someone will often quote the famous Scripture passage John 3:16—that someone only needs to believe—but then someone will respond, that is not enough, you also need works because as James says, “faith without works is dead” and “even the demons believe” yet they are not saved.
The problem is this argument misses an important facet of what this word meant in its original context. We need to redefine and rediscover these words—not through the lens of 2000 years of Christian history, but with the culture, language and time in which they were written.
The first point to note is that the biblical words faith and believe in the NT are the same word. One is simply the noun and the other the verb of the same word. In Greek they are the following words,
Faith: pistis (noun)
Believe: pisteuo (verb)
Another way to put it, faith is the quality of a person who believes, ie they have faith/belief. Wherever you see the word faith, you could easily replace it with the word belief. To believe is the action of employing or acting on that belief.
Often when we think about what it means to believe, we simply think of agreeing with something or thinking something is true. For example, “I believe Michael Jordan is the best basketball player that has ever lived.”
This example is not what the word really means though, as that is just an opinion. There is no real concrete action or implication of that belief in my life.
To have faith or believe something means that something is unequivocally true and, further, that this truth is a guide to my entire life and determines my actions.
A good example of this is to say “I believe (or have faith) that the sun is hot and can damage my skin if I spend too long in the sun during summer without protection.”
This is not just an opinion but a fact based on experience and my belief is shown in how I behave. If I said I believed that but went out in the direct sun for extended periods without any protection and kept getting badly burnt, you would question if I really believed it at all.
This is why the writer of Hebrews defines faith as:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, NASB95).
Most translations of this verse are problematic because they weaken the meaning of some of the words. The word assurance really means substance or the very tangible reality of something and the word conviction actually means evidence. A better way to translate it would be:
“Now faith is the [very reality] of things hoped for, the [evidence] of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, my words in brackets).
The writer of Hebrews is saying that faith is not just an opinion about a topic, it is the lived experience of a reality that guides your life and actions.
So coming back to the point which James makes in talking about faith. He is simply stating the reality of what faith is, not giving a new definition. Faith results in works or actions because it is the very framework of how you know and understand the world to be and the basis for how you determine what you do.
If I believe the sun can cause damage, I will do something to protect myself from it. If I don’t protect myself, I don’t really believe it at all; I am lying to myself.
There is a fundamental difference to believing a fact about someone and believing in them. For example, I could say that I believe someone is the head elder of the church—this is simply agreeing with a fact about them. It would mean something else entirely for me to say that I believe IN my head elder. That belief would indicate that I would place my trust in that person in the way I interact with them.
There is a fundamental difference between what James in 2:19 says and what John says in 3:16.
Let’s compare the two:
“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:19, NASB95).
““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NASB95).
James says they believe that God is one, ie that God exists. That is completely different to believing IN God and IN His Son. What is implicit in John 3:16 in believing in Jesus? We believe God loves us enough to sacrifice His own Son for us, to redeem us and give us eternal life and to restore His image in us.
Believing IN = Trusting IN, having Faith IN.
Is it enough to believe in Jesus? Is it enough to believe in God? Well, when we understand the full meaning of these words and what it means to have faith and trust in God and all He is and all He has said—we will base all of our decisions and actions on this belief and commit to enter into a partnership with Him for Him to restore His image in us.
In John 6, Jesus has interaction with those who He had fed miraculously. This is what they ask Him and how He answers: “Therefore they said to Him, ’What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ’This is the work of God, that you believe IN Him whom He has sent.’” (John 6:28,29, NASB95, emphasis added)
And further He says to them: “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40, NASB95).
Believing IN Jesus takes on new meaning when we understand that the word “believe” does not just mean an agreeance with some abstract concept. When we understand that it is an entire, complete trust in who someone is to the point you will base your entire life on what they say and who they are. It becomes something that requires significant effort for us to do. It means to follow Jesus with everything we are and impacts every decision and action. As Jesus told us, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24, NASB95).
So as John wrote, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NASB95).
And I believe it. Will you?
Matthew Hunter is a pastor at College Park and Birdwood Adventist churches in South Australia.
