Believe Script

Belief is important when it comes to your doctor. Belief is vital at the grocery store. Belief is the foundation for marriage. Belief in God is just as vital.

Is belief in God necessary? What is Belief in God? What is NOT belief? Where does it come from?  Where is it going? Can it make life better?

The answers are just ahead.

Intro

What you call belief, and what I call belief might be different things. So, WE must start with a definition.

New Testament-type belief comes from the Greek word Pistis (n) or Pisteuo (v). The meanings range from persuasion, moral conviction, assurance. In a single word: trust.

When we believe in God or Jesus, we trust him to do the impossible things necessary for salvation – namely forgiving us for our sins and opposition to him.

Trust implies action. When someone trusts you with personal information, say about their health, you keep their trust by taking measures to protect their health information from easy access by others.

Trust implies effort.

Sadly, many think they have faith in God, but they are confusing it with an agreement to facts. For example. They SAY they believe in Jesus. But their lives show no trust in his commands. Jesus tells us to avoid hypocrisy. But these so-called believers look religious but keep lying, cheating, and hating.

They are AGREEING that Jesus existed. They are agreeing he is the leader of a religion. But their ACTIONS do not show it. There is no effort, no changes. This is NOT belief.

Here is my favorite test for faith or belief. If I burst into your home or apartment and scream, “Your place is on fire!”. I will know INSTANTLY if you believe me, if you trust me, or not. If you sit there, you do not believe. But if you spring off the couch and run toward the door, your ACTIONS tell me you BELIEVE ME.

What is the distinguishing characteristic? Your actions.

So, belief = trust + action. That is God’s definition of faith or belief.

Now, let’s tweak our understanding of God’s usage. He often used the verb, believe or believing, in a continual sense. Many, Many times in the New Testament, the word “believe” means to start believing and keep on believing. Once you trust God, you keep on trusting God, and trusting God, and trusting God forever.

Is continual action-based belief in God really necessary? God thinks so. He wrote, Hebrews 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who SEEK him.”  Did you hear the “impossible” part? Did you hear what believers do? They “draw near” and they “seek him”.

And Jesus said, “Mark 16:16  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Where does this kind of belief with its trust + action, come from?

To answer this is easy. Let’s go back to the fire story. Why did you trust me when I screamed at you? Was it because you have found I always tell the truth? Is it because you know that when I get super excited something must happen? Is it because you know my history as a first responder? Because you know that I personally care about you and your family?

Anyone one of these should be good enough, but taken as a collection, you believed me. You trusted me and acted. You believed!

This kind of religious belief with its trust + action comes from experiencing Jesus. Does Jesus always tell you the truth? Does Jesus care about you personally? Does he care about the poor? The sick? The incurable? What does he think about the down-and-out, those with no future? What does think about rejected people?

When you examine him, who he is, what he does, what he says, how much he cares, then you will either trust him or not. You will either reject him totally, or you can begin to trust him. And you will start making changes in yourself.

That’s the action God hopes for! And this belief in Jesus will lead to more action.

Since you trust him, you will start taking action on things like, how you value others, and how you evaluate them (Matt 7). You will use your influence to help others (Matt 5:13-16). You will practice humility (Matt 5:3). You will become more merciful (Matt 5:7). You will purify your heart. (Matt:5:8). Instead of burning bridges in anger you will BUILD bridges and be kind (Matt 5:21-24).

Simply said, you will start being like Jesus.

Action-filled Belief in Jesus can lead you to a fullness of life that is unimaginable, with peace, and a purpose for everything good, and a hope of living and living and living.

If you want this kind of belief, and we hope you do, you can start it yourself. Or you can contact us and we will help you through the entire process. Give us a call or send a text right now. We could do texting, calls, online visits, or a discussion using Google Meet like we do with others in distant parts of the world.

You are very important to us. So please watch the other videos in this series. See the list down in Additional Resources. Anything we can do to help you, just reach out.

Thanks for watching. We hope to see you again tomorrow. Until then, goodbye for now.