Resources/Articles
Is This What I Believe?
When someone asks to be baptized, I ask, “WHY?” The most common response is, “So I can get to heaven,” or “I don’t want to go to hell,” or “I need to live better.” All of those answers are great. None of them are wrong objectives. If those answers lead someone to baptism, what will cause them to remain a Christian? Will the answer be the same? Should their FAITH not be what motivates them to continue to abide with God?
Is your faith an assurance or persuasion of your own? Is the body of beliefs, your standard of spiritual truth, and the faith you hold dear based on your own understanding of God and His word? Is “your faith” based on someone else’s understanding of God and His word? There is difference.
Note this example... Joash was the tenth king to sit on the throne of David. He reigned for 40 years in Jerusalem and his life was marked by several important characteristics. He was a child of providence. He was providentially saved from the murderous rampage of his grandmother Athaliah (2 Chronicles 22:10-11). He was the only male descendant of David left alive. This would allow the continuation of the Davidic bloodline though which the Christ would come. He was raised by godly “parents” (guardians), his uncle Jehoida, the high priest, and his wife Jehoshabeath, inside the “house of God” (2 Chronicles 22:11-12). In this house, Joash would understand the importance of loving God and His law. Hence, Joash restored godly order to the temple and priesthood as king of Judah in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 24:4-15). Further in the text, you read where Josash was spiritually hollow. When Jehoida, Joash’s adoptive father and spiritual mentor, “grew old...and died” (2 Chronicles 24:15), Joash was persuaded by the princes of Judah to serve idols (vv. 17-19). Joash was a person of faith as long as Jehoida lived. It appeared as though Joash had someone else’s faith, for he quickly dparted from following God to idols at the persuasion of others. If this is true of Joash, could it be true of you? Why do you believe what you believe? Is your faith your own? Is the assurance of what you believe as deep and lasting as the person from whom you learned it?
Is your faith based upon a traditionally accepted church belief? People like this have a faith based solely on what is taught by the church they attend. Whatever their church believes to be right, wrong, true, or false, they believe it is. What this person does in life matches only their church’s doctrines. This implies the possibility of taking the same person, putting him/her in any church, and they would be comfortable, because they will adopt what a church believes. Consider studying 1 Timothy 3:15 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The inspired writings of God are the standard for individual and congregational beliefs and practices, not what is traditionally accepted.
Is your faith based upon individual loyalty? By this, we mean you faith is practiced out of personal loyalty to the one who converted you to what you believe. Your faith is based upon what this person thinks or how this person behaves. It was the dilemma described in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. The church at Corinth divided along lines of personal loyalty. They had a “favorite” person, one they admired most. Paul did not ask for that in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. Neither should we. Let your faith rest in God, not the teacher of God.
Carefully consider this: If your “faith” is established in either a traditionally accepted church belief or individual loyalty in someone who converted you, then the blessings from that faith are not yours either. Blessings like God’s comfort are not yours. Psalm 23 is a great passage of comfort to a troubled heart. The promises hinge upon “The Lord is MY shepherd,” not my church’s, my family’s, my preacher’s, but mine. If your faith is not in the Lord, He is not your shepherd (v. 1). Your soul will not be restored (v. 3). The Lord is not with you (v. 4). Your cup is empty (v. 5). You will not dwell in the house of the Lord forever (v. 6). This is just a simple example of how making your faith your own is a very serious matter.
Having a faith which truly says “What I believe” comes from personal reading and abiding by the Bible (Romans 10:17). Repeatedly being taught by it will teach you one thing - FAITH.
Pray for more faith. Mark 9 is a story of a desperate father bringing his demon-possessed son to Jesus for healing. The apostles were not able to remedy the problem (v. 18). Once Jesus came to this man, Jesus wanted to know how long this had been happening. The father told him and asked for compassion. Jesus said, “All things are possible to him that believeth” (v. 23). The father admitted he needed faith, for he had doubt and unbelief in his mind (v. 24). We can pray for all kinds of things, but add to it praying for more faith. Our God is good, and He will respond to those who come asking for more faith.
We receive faith through experiencing trials. Read 1 Peter 1:6-7. Trials give proof of your faith. Trials burn off what keeps you from believing. Trials are not our “comfort zone.” They are tests. They determine if “what I believe” really is “what I believe.” They test a faith’s validity, strength, and durability. We will want these trials to go away, but God says they prove our faith. This way you know if your faith is yours or if it is made up.
One great example of “what I believe” is when you share your faith. The blind man in John 9 illustrates this point. When first questioned about his healing, and who it was who healed him, he said, “He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I see” (v. 15). Later, he said, “He is a prophet” (v. 17). With more questions from others, the man said, “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing” (v. 33). He was thrown out of the synagogue by the Pharisees. He came face-to-face with the one who healed him. He was asked, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” This man wanted to know “who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?” Jesus said, “He it is that speaketh with thee.” The man immediately responded, “Lord, I believe” (vv. 35-40). The more this man shared his faith, the more his faith became his own. This becomes true for us the more we “contend for the faith once delivered” (Jude 3). Sharing your faith can make you a disciple of Christ for life.
Where is your faith?
