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There are more than 14,000 meanings for the 500 most commonly used words. With so many meanings for so few words, there is a lot of opportunity for miscommunication.
It is therefore important when we seek to communicate with others that all parties involved are on the same page.
This is particularly important when talking about the essence of the salvation message. Religious words like “faith” and “believe” can mean many things to many people, so we must be able to clearly explain them in the context of salvation.
The first option for the word believe defines it as intellectual assent to a set of facts. The second option calls not only for intellectual assent but also for a personal acceptance of the truth.
1. Intellectual Acknowledgment
In common usage, the sentence “I believe in tornadoes” means that we acknowledge intellectually that tornadoes exist. If we say we believe in George Washington or Susan B. Anthony, we acknowledge intellectually that they existed.
But James tells us that this kind of belief is not enough. The demons have this type of belief (James 2:19). They recognize the existence of Christ and all the works he performed, but this belief does not save them.
In the New Testament, the term believe means far more than intellectual assent. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.”
A biblical belief not only involves intellectual assent but also personal acceptance. It is not just believing in Christ’s existence; it is believing in Christ. Biblical belief, then, is more than an acknowledgment of Christ’s existence and death.
It requires trusting oneself to Jesus. Believing in Christ means personally receiving Christ’s payment for his sin. This means a change in attitude so that he no longer relies on his own efforts to obtain salvation but trusts in Jesus Christ alone as his only hope of reconciliation with God.
During the Middle Ages, three words were used to describe the different levels of belief: noticia (notice) — observe the facts objectively; assentia (assent) — acknowledge this truth intellectually; and fiducia (faith) — receive the solution personally.
Let’s apply these words to the gospel message.
On the first level, we notice the facts to be believed. We are sinners, and the penalty for our sin is death and separation from God. On the cross, Christ paid the penalty for our sins and made the gift of eternal life available to us.
On the second level, we not only notice the facts but also acknowledge their truth intellectually. Up to this point we still just believe in Christ’s existence.
For us to believe in Christ, we need to move on to our third concept, fiducia. We must now place our trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of our personal sins.
When we go to level three, we have received the free gift of salvation from Christ, but not before. Salvation comes not from intellectual assent, but from a belief that personally receives Christ’s offer.
2. Personal Acceptance
As we saw in our examination of John 1:12, believe equals receive. The concept of receiving Christ is consistent with several other passages in Scripture.
Now I make known to you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand (1 Corinthians 15:1).
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures(1 Corinthians 15:3).
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him (Colossians 2:6).
And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:10).
The notion that biblical belief equals receiving Christ is further substantiated by the way salvation is described as a gift in several passages (Romans 5:17; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Inherent in the idea of a gift is that it must be received from the giver, and this is true of the gift of salvation. Biblically, believing and receiving are synonymous, and John 1:12 uses both terms with the clear intent of equating the two actions.
Imagine parents who want to give a gift to their young son. As they hold it in their hands, their son gazes at it, overwhelmed by his parents’ love, and profusely thanks them for the gift. Yet the gift remains in the parents’ hands.
What’s the problem? The son has done everything but receive the gift by reaching out and appropriating it from his parents. So, it is with the gift of salvation — God extends his gift, and every individual must personally receive it from him.
A person can doubt Christ and his credentials, or he can believe that Christ was who he said he was. But until he claims Christ’s offer for himself, he is no better off than the person who doesn’t believe at all.
A man and a woman came before a clergyman to be married. The clergyman asked the bride, “Will you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“Oh,” she answered, “He’s really handsome, isn’t he?” So, the clergyman tried again, “Will you take this man as your husband?” “Oh, I think he’s so nice,” she replied, and then added, “I think he’ll be a wonderful husband and provider.”
It’s obvious here that the bride needs to say, “I do.” Until she does, the groom is not her husband. She must accept him, just as each person must go beyond mere acknowledgment of Jesus Christ.
Each individual must receive Christ not just as the Savior of the world but as his or her personal Savior.
Picture a man who falls from a cliff. As he plunges down, he reaches out and grabs a small limb. He hangs on, looks up, and sees the sheer precipice above.
He looks down and sees jagged peaks reaching up for his straining body and begins to despair. Suddenly, he sees an angel above him and begins to scream, “Save me!”
“Do you believe I can save you?” the angel asks. The man sees the strong wings, the mighty arms. He says, “Yes, I believe you can save me.”
“Do you believe I will save you?”
The man sees the compassionate, merciful face. “Yes, yes, I believe!” He cries.
“Then,” says the angel, “let go!”
Still clinging, the man yells, “Is there anybody else up there?”
You may believe that Jesus can save you, but it is not enough. You may be confident that he will save you. That’s also necessary, but it is not a real belief.
To trust in Jesus Christ is to let go of every other confidence, of every other trust, and of every other security, and to cast yourself on him as your only hope of salvation.
Charles Blondin, a Frenchman, was one of the world’s finest tightrope walkers. In 1860, he successfully crossed the treacherous river above Niagara Falls (approximately a 1,000-foot span, 160 feet above the raging waters) on a tightrope.
He then turned to the gathered crowd that was awestruck by this incredible feat and asked how many believed he could traverse the tightrope a second time pushing a wheelbarrow.
The enthusiastic crowd cheered, affirming their belief in Blondin. Blondin succeeded, and then addressed the crowd again, “Does anyone believe enough in me to get in the wheelbarrow and cross Niagara Falls with me?”
No one volunteered! Finally, Blondin’s manager climbed on Blondin’s back, and they crossed the great chasm together. Christ said that there is a great chasm between man and God, and the only way to get from one side to the other is through him.
Sometimes it helps to use a frivolous illustration to get the point across. For example, there is a story about a man who was afflicted with an acute pain in his right side. The doctor’s diagnosis was appendicitis, and so the patient needed an emergency appendectomy.
The patient was skeptical of the doctor’s abilities, so he asked the doctor if he had any proof to support his diagnosis. It just so happened that the doctor was having a reunion of all his past appendectomy patients.
The nurse wheeled the sick man down the corridor in front of the doctor’s previous patients, and all of them enthusiastically testified that the doctor had successfully cured them of the same kind of pain by performing appendectomies.
“Okay,” the man said, “I believe, Doctor, that you are capable of removing my appendix and eliminating the pain.”
“Fine,” the doctor replied. “Now please sign this consent form right here.”
“Oh, no, you’re not going to cut me open!”
The patient’s belief was not true belief if he didn’t allow the doctor to operate. We can believe that Christ diagnosed our problem correctly, and we can even believe that he has a 100% cure rate, but if we don’t allow him to operate on us, our belief is not a saving one.
When we tell others about Christ, it is important that we clearly communicate the biblical concept of belief. One of the easiest ways Satan can keep people from trusting Christ is to have God’s servants distort this concept. We should watch two things very carefully here:
The first is doubt. Some feel they can’t decide for Christ until all their doubts are removed. It is imperative that we dispel this roadblock to Christ. Faith is not the absence of doubt; it is a decision based on the evidence at hand.
A person can have some doubts about doing something and still make the decision to do it. Suppose two men have equal doubts about the safety of flying. A special opportunity arises for both men, but it means they must fly.
Both continue to have their doubts, but one man decides to get on the plane while the other stays behind. So, it is with Christianity. Doubt doesn’t have to inhibit a person from receiving Christ. It is a matter of choice. A step taken despite doubts.
The second thing we need to watch is commitment. Some people have hesitated to receive Christ as their Savior because they felt that a promise to subject every area of their lives to the control of God forever had to go hand in hand with the decision.
Why Does This Matter?
It is true that biblical belief requires commitment, but this is not so much a commitment to what we are going to do in the future as it is a commitment to what Jesus Christ has done in the past.
In many cases, an understanding of total commitment to the Lordship of Christ is not achieved until sometime after salvation. It is an unfortunate reality that many Christians acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and Master but still try to run their own lives.
To “believe in Christ” is to understand who Jesus Christ is and what he did for you, to agree with God that you need him alone as your substitute for your sin, and to invite him to personally enter your life (John 5:24).
For further discussion, join Dr. Boa’s weekly live interactive webinar, Think on These Things
For further reading:
The Voyage of Life and the Course of Empire
Can We Be Sure of Our Salvation?
Is it Okay for Christians to Believe in Miracles?
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/andyluismdo96
Kenneth Boa equips people to love well (being), learn well (knowing), and live well (doing). He is a writer, teacher, speaker, and mentor and is the President of Reflections Ministries, The Museum of Created Beauty, and Trinity House Publishers.
Publications by Dr. Boa include Conformed to His Image, Handbook to Prayer, Handbook to Leadership, Faith Has Its Reasons, Rewriting Your Broken Story, Life in the Presence of God, Leverage, and Recalibrate Your Life.
Dr. Boa holds a B.S. from Case Institute of Technology, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Ph.D. from New York University, and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in England.
