Inadequate faith vs. Real Faith

The NT gospel message affirms that believing in Jesus is not just believing that He exists, yet these verses use the same Greek word that means to believe or to trust:

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (James 2:19)

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:23–25)

And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ (Mark 11:31)

If believing in Jesus means to whole-heartedly trust my life to Him, the different ways this word is used (there are more than 100 of them) shows the importance of context when interpreting Scripture. First of all, the demons believed — meaning they knew the truth about Jesus. This is part of faith, but does not mean that the demons trusted Him to save them or to change their lives.

Those at the feast saw His miracles and believed He was what His name means. “Jesus” is the Greek transliteration of Joshua, meaning “Yahweh saves” yet Jesus did not believe or trust them for He knew their hearts. Their belief was not personal? Perhaps not, but it was insufficient.

The third verse is a good question. If I know Jesus is who He says He is, and can save me from my sin, that knowledge is inadequate. I knew this for years but was not saved. This is because saving faith is not mine to conjure up; it is a gift from God:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Yes, faith is described that to draw near to God, we must “believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6) but that is about drawing near. The ‘believing, trusting’ kind of faith is like this:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

This is that inner knowing that what we cannot see is true — why? Because God says so. This is not assumption, nor is it a deep desire for what I want to be true. It is a gift from God about what He says and what He will do, a revelation that assures, a knowing about something even if it does not make sense or seem reasonable at the time.

This is why the belief of the demons was in adequate. God did not give them assurance of their salvation because it was not going to happen. No wonder they shuddered!

This is why faith because of signs is inadequate. It is a belief on proof, not on things unseen. This is also why Jesus did not entrust Himself to them. Their ‘faith’ would always be by sight rather than trusting Him when they could not see what He was doing or would do, faith no matter what.

In context, those who would not believe were more worried about what people thought of them than they were interested in admitting and submitting to the authority of Jesus. That is not true belief either.

Today’s reading asks why we can trust ourselves to other people, but not Jesus? Trusting others is temporary, based on seeing why they are reliable, and gets pulled back when they do the unexpected or the undesired. Trusting Jesus is for eternity, and for ‘no matter what’ He brings into our lives. Trusting Jesus is not the same kind of belief as it is to trust another person.

PRAY: Lord Jesus, I’m overwhelmed that You granted me the gift of faith. It has taken me many years to see the precious value of this gift and the gift of Your own self that I might live it out. Grant me even greater faith in You so that no matter what each day brings, I will embrace it as Your plan for my life and for Your glory. Amen.