Just believe? Not so fast.

Before I became a Christian at age 20, many of my Christian friends tried to convert me by quoting John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” They would then implore me to “just believe.”

My response was always something along the lines of, “If Jesus wants me to believe, why doesn’t he come and show himself to me, and then I would believe.”

That response revealed my ignorance, as well as that of my Christian friends who didn’t know how to counter such a response.

My response reflected two flaws in my thinking. First, the Bible is pretty clear that we are simply not able to handle a full revelation of God’s power and glory. The uniform reaction of people when merely exposed to an angelic revelation is fear—or perhaps more accurately, terror. And thus, the first thing angels always say when appearing to someone is, “Do not be afraid.” When God actually displayed his power and glory at Mount Sinai, the Israelites could not handle it. They “trembled”[1] and pleaded with Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but do not have God speak to us, or we will die!”[2]

But the second flaw in my response was more fundamental and far more important—God wants more than mere “belief” from us. He wants us to live like we believe it. I can say that I believe airplane travel is safe, but will I get on board that airplane? I can say that I believe bungee cords will keep me from crashing into the ground below, but will I jump?

That’s what James was trying to tell us when he wrote, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”[3]

English is the problem. The original Greek in the New Testament is the word pistis, or its verb form pisteuô, which means much more than mere “belief.” It is closer to our word, “trust,” but means even more than that. I believe the English word that comes closest is “surrender.” God wants us to surrender our lives and our will, in the belief that he knows and wants what is best for us. That is what Jesus did in Gethsemane: “not My will, but Yours be done.”[4]  

Of course, our natural impulse is to do what we want to do, even if it’s contrary to what God wants. That’s called sin. But the idea that Christians are free to do that with impunity also has a name—antinomianism. And it’s not biblical. Jesus must have been familiar with people who thought that way, because I can almost hear the frustration in his voice when he said, “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”[5]

So let’s all try to do things God’s way, starting with the two greatest commandments: love God and love others. By the way, that kind of love is not a feeling. Read more here.

If you would like to explore this topic in greater depth, I invite you to read Chapter 4 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “For God So Loved . . . Well, Wait a Minute.” You can read an excerpt from it on this website by clicking here, or by going to Don’s Books at the link above.

[1] Exodus 19:16 and 20:18

[2] Exodus 20:19

[3] James 2:19

[4] Luke 22:42

[5] Luke 6:46