Believe in the Word

By Russell McKee

Have you ever tried to believe God for something and it just will not work out? God just does not seem to be listening to you no matter how much you believe. You try to stand on God's promises but you also have thoughts like Maybe I have not straightened my life out enough, or it just does not work for me, or God just does not like me. I believe every Christian has battled with these or similar thoughts and feelings. This book was written to help teach what true Christian belief is and how we walk in it. It will show you where our belief is countered and how to avoid the pitfalls of unbelief.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781636306599

Book preview

Chapter 1

Belief and Faith

Let us start and understand what the biblical word believe means and how it is similar but different to the biblical word for faith.

These two words can confuse us. We hear things said like we need to build up our faith or pray to God for more faith. But are these biblical?

The Greek word pisteuó translates to believe, entrust.

Pisteuo is used 244 times in the New Testament.

It comes from the Greek word to have faith. It means not just to believe, but also to be persuaded of; hence, to place confidence in, to trust, and signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon not mere credence, hence it is translated. Commit unto, commit to one’s trust, be committed unto, etc. (The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible).

I like to think of it as Commit to trust to the point of following with one hundred percent obedience. The biblical word translated believe is not just a surface belief. For example: I may believe my football team is going to win the Superbowl and I may wager a lot of money on it, rather I am foolish or have that depth of confidence. But chances are, I will not believe to the extent that I will bet my life on it (unless I am a fool). I will not change every aspect of my life to conform to this belief. However, our belief in God should do just that. I commit to His trust (not mine) every aspect of my being. Of course, the stakes on a football game are not nearly as high as what is at stake with eternal life. It is sad, but some people believe in their football team more than the Word of God.

The Greek word for faith is Pistis. It is a noun (person, place, or thing) rather than a verb. Where believe is an action (verb) by us, faith is what we have (a good thing) from God. If we already have faith from God, why do we pray to get more of it?

So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)

Even a little faith has great power. I like these definitions of faith found on the Bible HUB Helps word-studies on-line.

Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102/pistis (faith) for the believer is "God’s divine persuasion"—and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence) yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 John 5:4).

Faith (4102/pistis) is also used collectively—of all the times God has revealed (given the persuasion of) His will, which includes the full revelation of Scripture (Jude 3). Indeed, God the Lord guarantees that all of this revelation will come to pass! Compare Mt 5:18 with 2 Tim 3:16.

The root of 4102/pistis (faith) is 3982/peithô (to persuade, be persuaded) which supplies the core-meaning of faith ("divine persuasion"). It is God’s warranty that guarantees the fulfillment of the revelation He births within the receptive believer (cf. 1 John 5:4 with Heb. 11:1).

When I combine this with Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

I come up with this: faith is spiritual, it comes from God through divine persuasion guaranteeing the fulfillment of the revelation birthed in the believer (as we believe faith comes or flows). The actual substance of that revelation that lies in a confident expectation that what is not seen in the natural right now will come to pass rather in the spirit or in the natural, or both. It activates through our belief.

The difference is believing (though needed for faith to be appropriated or applied) is what we do to activate faith. In other words, faith follows what you believe, just like emotions follow your circumstances in the flesh or what you believe in God’s Word. Have you heard the expression, What is your faith in? This could mean naturally or spiritually. Your belief in any area of life will dictate where your faith is applied, whether in a person, place, or thing. Secular example (analogy): if I