What is Faith?
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.—James 2:26 NIV
What’s the difference between faith and belief? Can you have belief without faith? Can you have faith without belief?
In the book of James Chapter 2 verses 14-26—God gives examples of how people throughout the Bible used their faith. How faith without deeds is dead. Faith is an ‘action’ word meaning: if you don’t follow up your ‘belief in… (the desired accomplishment)’ —with action, you lack faith.
If you believe you’re a good baseball player but never pick up a bat and ball, you don’t have the faith necessary to be —a good baseball player. If you believe you could be a rock climber but never attempt to climb a rock, there is no faith. Or perhaps you’re passionate about being a good piano player someday but your fingers never strike a key on the keyboard—you don’t have the faith to be a piano player.
Having all the belief in the world but never acting upon it, faith just isn’t there. So you can, have belief and not have faith.
Can you have faith, and not have belief?
There’s an old expression that says: fake it till you make it. Let’s play this out in a baseball analogy…
Lil Johnny never received encouragement for being a baseball player. He was on the team but rarely played any games because he lacked confidence and skill. But when Lil Johnny was at home watching a Major-League Baseball Game on TV, deep in his heart he wanted to be a good ballplayer.
Lil Johnny would practice each day as hard as he could. He started reading books about successful players overcoming challenges and becoming great—causing him to work even harder. When Lil Johnny was asked if he believed he was a good player, he’d laugh and say: ‘no’ …but deep in his heart, something was changing.
Soon Lil Johnny started improving—and his coach began playing him more. His confidence started growing which caused him to work even harder. Towards the end of the season, Lil Johnny’s name was listed on the starting lineup and everyone recognized how good he’d become. Lil Johnny started believing he was a good baseball player—and his actions proved it.
What occurred first in this analogy, faith or belief?
If faith without ‘works’ is dead and Lil Johnny started working harder to become a good ballplayer even though he clearly wasn’t one at the time. Then faith came before belief. The work came before the belief. You can say the desire caused the work which created the faith that helped him to believe.
If “faith without deeds is dead” then our ‘God-inspired’ actions prove our faith in God. Hebrews 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.”
Do you have faith in God? Do you believe in who God says He is? Are your actions, words, and deeds proving as much? Many people believe in God and call themselves Christians but their deeds don’t reflect their beliefs. If you believe in God—if your desire is to serve God then pray and ask Him to show you His mission for your life. Ask God to give you the desire to truly serve Him. Your life and the lives of others will be impacted.
So how do we apply belief and faith to our lives?
The Bible says it’s impossible to please God without faith. Reach out to God and ask Him to soften your heart. Many of our hearts have been hardened by our lack of action toward the things God’s called us to do. We have grown to love the things of this world instead of the things important to God—namely Him and each other.
Decide to take action on your belief. Fake it till you make it. You won’t recognize your life if you do—and the world needs to see our faith in action.
Listed below are several articles I’ve written pertaining to our God. Click on a link to read one. When you’re finished, just click the link at the end of the article to return to this page to read another.
Please Enjoy!
Make Each Day Your Masterpiece
What is Faith? – See above