I'm reading through Mark. Chapter 11 today led to the following, almost mathematical, progression.
Mark 11 says "Have faith in God." Hebrews 11 tells us:
FAITH = the assurance of things hoped for
and
FAITH = the conviction of things not seen.
This is interesting to me. What is belief? How is belief different than faith? It seems to me that the following is pretty accurate, though I find no Hebrews 11 equivalent for belief
BELIEF = professed acceptance of a truth claim (or set of truth claims)
So, if I believe in God, I accept that God IS. If I believe in the God of the Bible, I accept as true that God IS, and God is as he is presented in Scripture. If I believe in Jesus, I accept the claims about him. If I believe Jesus (not "in"), I accept what he has said as true.
Faith seems to add two dimensions (at least) to belief. First is a forward element; "things hoped for." "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it." This is an equivalent statement to "assurance of things hoped for." The second component is trust - a movement from head to heart; conviction. Belief becomes conviction and the result is not just a verbal expression or mental acceptance of a truth proposition, but behaving naturally as if it is true and will continue to be true.
So the following could be constructed at the risk of over simplification.
HOPE (belief) - begets - FAITH (assurance, conviction)
FAITH - begets – LOVE
Or as Henry Blackaby says, we see God at work and accredit it to God, so we join him in his work (follow his commands and direction) because we trust in his faithfulness, and when we again see that faithfulness and goodness, our relationship deepens with Him...we fall ever more in love with God.
Mark 11 says "Have faith in God." Hebrews 11 tells us:
FAITH = the assurance of things hoped for
and
FAITH = the conviction of things not seen.
This is interesting to me. What is belief? How is belief different than faith? It seems to me that the following is pretty accurate, though I find no Hebrews 11 equivalent for belief
BELIEF = professed acceptance of a truth claim (or set of truth claims)
So, if I believe in God, I accept that God IS. If I believe in the God of the Bible, I accept as true that God IS, and God is as he is presented in Scripture. If I believe in Jesus, I accept the claims about him. If I believe Jesus (not "in"), I accept what he has said as true.
Faith seems to add two dimensions (at least) to belief. First is a forward element; "things hoped for." "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it." This is an equivalent statement to "assurance of things hoped for." The second component is trust - a movement from head to heart; conviction. Belief becomes conviction and the result is not just a verbal expression or mental acceptance of a truth proposition, but behaving naturally as if it is true and will continue to be true.
So the following could be constructed at the risk of over simplification.
HOPE (belief) - begets - FAITH (assurance, conviction)
FAITH - begets – LOVE
Or as Henry Blackaby says, we see God at work and accredit it to God, so we join him in his work (follow his commands and direction) because we trust in his faithfulness, and when we again see that faithfulness and goodness, our relationship deepens with Him...we fall ever more in love with God.
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