Belief or Faith
Belief or faith
is a fundamental concept of Christianity. The essence of faith is mental agreement with a
proposition. A message is
proclaimed and evidence is given.
Then there is a call for agreement. The gospel message calls for people to make a
decision concerning the identity and authority of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 16:16, Jesus described
the church and said its very foundation would be the confession that
Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of God”. Despite demographic differences
that may exist between Christians, they all believe the gospel message
proclaimed by the apostles concerning Jesus, salvation, sound doctrine
and His church.
It is obvious that there are several components
required for belief. First,
the message must be heard by a person with the capacity to understand;
this would not include infants.
There must be a teacher, which is why the Bible speaks so highly
of those that are willing to share their faith (Romans 10:15). There must be a consistent
message, which is from the Word of God. And, there must be evidence that is capable of
convincing the interested and impartial mind (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is not blind, but rather
based on the evidences presented and reasoned together. All of these ingredients are
required to produce Bible faith.
Finally, good
faith has a result on the believer.
If you truly believe something it will cause you to take
action. James said faith
without action is dead (James 2:17). Even the demons have faith; but it is bad faith. You can know if faith is good
based on its fruits. Faith
should cause an initial hearer to obediently come to God to accept His
grace on His terms. From this
beginning, for the Christian, real faith will produce a lifetime emphasis
on serving our Lord.
Church Office:
803-548-7762 Update Line: 803-548-5521
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