What is faith?
According to the dictionary, faith and belief look quite alike. If they are almost identical, why then do we need two different words?
This could be total non-sense because I am not an English Native Speaker. But it is just an idea.
Belief, as all we can see, came from BELIEVE. So if we believe in God, we have a belief on Him. That is easy. When we have belief, WE believe.
Then how about faith? I don’t know where this word came from, but I know another word which came from the faith: faithful.
When we say ‘this guy is so faithful to his wife,’ does this mean he believe his wife? No, but the opposite.
Now, I think faith and belief are basically same but the direction or the flow of the trust is reversed. Then what?
This is the conclusion:
If we have belief, then we believe God. The trust flows from us to Him.
If we have faith, then God believes us. The trust flows from Him to us. If we have faith, God can trust us, believe us that whatever He asks we would fulfil it. When we have real faith, then God can trust us, and then He can give us His precious mission or task.
Now, all Christians have belief because we need to believe to be a Christian. But all the Christians have faith? I don’t think so.
I can say I have belief for sure. But if God asks me whether I have faith, I hope to say yes but… Someday I pray I can say YES boldly.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” – Heb 11.1.
Faith is believing in something that does not exist — yet!
The resurrection is a good example OF this. If you do not believe it before it happens, you are lost.
The answer to prayer is a second example. James wrote that prayer is useless without belief that God will answer you.
“Even the demons believe and tremble.”
They have faith that they are condemned.
As a Bible translator, I have prayed for literally thousands of answers hoped for and unseen.
But I knew from the start that God would reveal the answer to me,
Comment by Sid Williams — June 6, 2011 @ 4:52 pm