The Doctrine of Belief

Introduction Our lives are filled with events that require responses from us. These responses start inside of us—our thoughts and feelings—and are affected by our relationships with God. When these events are difficult, they can either become problems for us or opportunities to grow closer to God. Even good events can drive us away from God if we become more self-focused and self-sufficient in the good times. How does God want us to respond to these events? What is the best way for us to respond so that we don’t miss the blessing or the lesson? The answer is to believe in the God who is infinitely involved in these events. In fact, God is using these events to accomplish some great purpose. So, how are we to respond? What does believing in God mean? How do we start if we do not know God? I have been in churches all my life, listening to many sermons and teachings, and one of the main difficulties in communicating truth is our vocabulary. We use terms that we do not understand, which presents a confusing Gospel message. The Holy Spirit has intervened to aid in the understanding of the truth, but I would like to clarify the message by more accurately defining the meaning of believing in God. Since faith and trust are often used as synonyms for believing, we will define these concepts as well. Most churchgoing people label themselves to identify a particular doctrinal position they hold to and the group they belong to. We call ourselves Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics, and Episcopalians. The label Christian was originally a derogatory name (“little Christs”) until it was adopted by the church in Antioch. Other early Christian names include the Way, brethren, disciples, saints, the elect, beloved, the faithful, children, and believers. But all who are part of the bride of Christ must be believers. What does it mean to be a believer? How do we believe? If we don’t understand what we are trying to do, how can we obey the command to believe? If we have a wrong understanding, we can confuse ourselves and—even worse—confuse others. Since we are commanded to believe, we need to get it right, especially when believing is the path to righteousness. Abraham did something—he believed. God declared him righteous, and that declaration was related to Abraham’s action. What did he do—and when did he do it? How did Abraham’s action result in Abraham’s relationship with God? We want to answer these questions so that we can be like Abraham, the “father of our faith.” Abraham’s faith grew because Abraham believed in God. In Romans, the great statement of the doctrine of salvation, the apostle Paul expresses his desire to meet the Roman church so that he can give to them and receive from them spiritual gifts. These spiritual gifts would make them stronger so that their faith would continue to be proclaimed throughout the world. This faith that Paul wanted to strengthen in the Roman church is first experienced in the Gospel. And so, Paul states that he is not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Paul goes on to say that the revelation of the righteousness of God comes to those who believe. The righteousness of God encompasses God’s entire being—not just His actions. God’s person, power, purposes, and priorities are perfect. God needs to give us understanding for us to begin to grasp His righteousness. This faith must come from God. The understanding of the righteousness of God and salvation are given to those who believe. Salvation comes when we first believe in the faith God has revealed to all people. The understanding of the righteousness of God is received by the Christian like repeated doses of faith upon faith. Apparently, there are separate infusions of faith from the beginning, salvation, all the way to glorification, encompassing the whole process of sanctification in between. This “faith upon faith” is the same word picture that John gives us where we receive grace upon grace. Both are dependent upon the Christian believing. Notice that the tense of the verb “believes” in Romans 1:16 is not past and finished. It is active. It is present and continuing. Believing is the key that opens the door to receiving salvation.