Are You a Believ-er?

This post is along the same lines of my previous one (“Are You Spiritual?”). This time, when I ask ‘are you a believer?’ my focus is on what it really means to ‘believe.’ And again, it’s a question that I definitely have to face myself.

For an awfully long time I think I’ve mainly thought of ‘believing’ in terms of thinking the right thoughts about God and the Gospel, or agreeing with the right doctrines about the way of salvation, etc. Now again, it’s absolutely true that that saving faith includes knowing and agreeing with Biblical truth, centered in the content of the Gospel (see, for example, 1 Cor. 15:1-5; Rom.10:17, and contrast that with Gal.1:6ff.). But Biblical theologians have always insisted that true and saving faith includes an essential third ingredient – trust…personal trust...that is, trust between persons: me trusting God.

In other words, it’s not enough for me to know that God offers, through the Gospel, forgiveness and life and peace and sonship – all because of the saving work of Christ. It’s not even enough for me to agree that this is in fact, what God offers and promises. What’s also essential is that I really and truly trust Him to do all the good that the Gospel offers for ME too – that Jesus will be such a great Savior in MY life, as well as in the lives of others.

This kind of trust – this confidence that the grace and goodness of God are as much for me as they are for others – is a response to God’s Word to me. True faith means trusting that God is just as good and wise and powerful towards me, working always for my good (Romans 8:28), as the Bible describes Him to be.

For me, being this kind of believ-er, this kind of trust-er in God, is trickier than it might seem. It’s one thing for me to claim that I trust in God to do me good on judgment day, saving me from the wrath to come. (After all, how can that ‘trust’/belief really be tested?) But what about my trusting in the goodness of God for what he’s doing in my life TODAY? What about trusting in his love, wisdom and power towards me in what his Providence has purposed/permitted for me today?

That kind of real-life, real-world, existential/experiential trusting (or not trusting) actually IS testable (cp. Deut. 8:1-5). And the crucial indicators are my words (Matt.12:34-37), attitudes (Ps. 42:5) and deeds (Jas.2:14-26). If I’m really trusting in God today, confident that he’s my loving Father who graciously delights in me and is orchestrating all things for my true good (that is, of making me like his Son [Rom.8:28-29; Heb.12:4-13], then I will respond to other people and to circumstances in ways that manifest that trust (think again of the fruit of the Spirit, and of attitudes of gratitude, contentment, and words of praise to God and appreciation towards others).

But of course the opposite is also true. I know my faith – my trusting and believing – has failed or faltered when I respond to life (people, problems, problem people!) with words of complaint and criticism, attitudes of anger and resentment, and actions of disobedience that show that I feel like, since God can’t be trusted, I'd better take matters into my own hands!

So, back to the question? “Are you a believer?” Are you a trust-er in God?