Believe!

John 3:16 (GWT)

¹⁶ God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.

The English language is very weak concerning the definition of the word ‘believe’.  For example, we can 'believe' in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, but belief can have varying degrees of trust with nothing to back it up or identify that our belief is nothing more than a preference which can be shaken or changed in a moment’s notice.  However, the belief that is defined in the bible is not that type of belief.

Strong’s Greek Lexicon of the bible defines ‘belief’ as (peitho)  pi'-tho a primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy, reflexively or passively, to assent, to rely (by inward certainty):--agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be confident, obey, persuade, trust, yield.

So, if we are to take Strong’s definition of ‘believe’ to mean:

-trust in, rely on, put full confidence in, to fully yield to, and to fully obey-  it gives a much broader meaning and perspective to the word ‘believe’.  But this perspective can be no more than a preference (or a choice).  How do we get to the deeper meaning of the word believe?

John 14:1 (NASB)

¹ “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

Many years ago a preacher in Los Angeles gave a brief description of belief in God which has stayed with me for many years.  He said…”Hang your body on God’s word”, that of course would be the ultimate expression of ‘believe’.  This statement has within it the essence of enduring trust to the very end.  It also gives one a mental picture of the type of belief that Jesus had concerning His mission here on earth, He literally “hung His body on God’s word”.  This level of belief is called a conviction.

The difference between a preference (a choice) and a conviction is subtle, that subtilty is not fully identified in the English definition of the word 'believe', but, it is identified in the Greek language in which the New Testament was written.  The defining words -trust in, rely on, put full confidence in, to fully yield to, and to fully obey- concerning belief, speak more of conviction than preference. 

My wife and I attended several homeschool conferences when our children were younger.  We believed that homeschooling our children was right thing to do.  We also believed it was essentially our responsibility according to God’s word to teach our children the biblical principles of education and not the responsibility of the State. 

Proverbs 22:6 (NIRV)

⁶ Train a child in the way he should go.

    When he is old, he will not turn away from it.

Our decision to train up our children this way became difficult for us as a family. We struggled financially, emotionally, as well as spiritually just to make this commitment to homeschooling work.  The reason I am mentioning this story is because our ‘belief’ was a choice to homeschool our children, it was a preference and not a conviction.  That was at the heart of our struggle.

To help understand the difference, here is a short definition from David C. Gibbs Jr. from the Christian Law Association who spoke at one of the homeschool conferences we attended regarding this topic.  He stated the following:

“A preference is a very strong belief, held with great strength. You can give your entire life in a full-time way to the service of the preference, and can also give your entire material wealth in the name of the belief. You can also energetically proselytize others to your preference. You can also want to teach this belief to your children… A preference is a strong belief, but a belief that you will change under the right circumstances. Circumstances such as:

1) peer pressure; (if your beliefs are such that other people stand with you before you will stand, your beliefs are preferences, not convictions,)

2) family pressure,

3) lawsuits,

4) jail,

5) threat of death;  (would you die for your beliefs?)

A conviction is a belief that you will not change. Why? A man believes that his God requires it of him.   A conviction is not something that you discover; it is something that you purpose in your heart. Convictions on the inside will always show up on the outside, in a person’s lifestyle. To violate a conviction would be a sin."

Daniel 1:8 (DARBY)

⁸ And Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not pollute himself with the king's delicate food, nor with the wine which he drank; and he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not have to pollute himself.

The word ‘Believe’ encompasses both preference and conviction.

Scripture declares that anyone who comes to Christ and believes is a Child of God, and is fully accepted into God's family.  They are given the position as an adopted son or daughter because of the Crosswork of Jesus.  That never changes; it is the fundamental fact of the Gospel of Christ.

Our part in believing is to ‘trust in, rely on, put full confidence in, to fully yield to, and to fully obey’ Christ and the finished Crosswork as full payment for our sin and our inability to please God and fulfill His requirements by our own efforts.

This is starting place where the preference of Belief in Christ makes its journey within our hearts and minds to eventually become a fully settled conviction.

'Believe' as it turns out is a very big word.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIRV)

⁶ Without faith it isn’t possible to please God. Those who come to God must believe that he exists. And they must believe that he rewards those who look to him.

↓ Click Here to listen to the song

I Believe In Jesus

(Marc Nelson)

I believe in Jesus

I believe He is the Son of God

I believe He died and rose again

I believe He paid for us all

And I believe He’s here now

(I believe that He’s here)

Standing in our midst

Here with the power to heal now

(With the power to heal)

And the grace to forgive

I believe in You Lord

I believe You are the Son of God

I believe You died and rose again

I believe You paid for us all

And I believe You’re here now

(I believe that You’re here)

Standing in our midst

Here with the power to heal now

(With the power to heal)

And the grace to forgive

Copyright © 1987 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

The music above is copyrighted by the respective artists, and is demonstrated here for educational purposes only.

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