Is Faith and Belief the same?

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Dec 9, 2011
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#1
Before JESUS died on the cross HE told many that HE healed that by the way were still under law that It was their faith that healed them.

was the word ”faith”at this time mean the same thing as equal to believing.How does a person believe and not have faith.🙂
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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#2
Depends on context.

How does a person believe and not have faith.🙂
Perhaps belief could be considered a prerequisite to faith?

James
2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

This is an example of both dead belief and dead faith.
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
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#3
Mark 10
49¶And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50¶And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51¶And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52¶And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
 
Jan 12, 2019
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#4
Before JESUS died on the cross HE told many that HE healed that by the way were still under law that It was their faith that healed them.

was the word ”faith”at this time mean the same thing as equal to believing.How does a person believe and not have faith.🙂
Before the righteousness of God apart from works came thru Paul (Romans 4:5), works are required to show faith in God.

Using Hebrews 11 as examples,

If Noah believe God that there will be a flood, but did not build an ark, will God see that as faith?

If Abraham believed God but did not leave the land he came from in genesis 12, would God see that as faith?

And in the age to come, during the tribulation, if you believe in Jesus but took the mark of the beast, can that belief save you? (James 2)
 

Ogom

Active member
Aug 22, 2020
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ogom.co
#5
Before the righteousness of God apart from works came thru Paul (Romans 4:5), works are required to show faith in God.

Using Hebrews 11 as examples,

If Noah believe God that there will be a flood, but did not build an ark, will God see that as faith?

If Abraham believed God but did not leave the land he came from in genesis 12, would God see that as faith?

And in the age to come, during the tribulation, if you believe in Jesus but took the mark of the beast, can that belief save you? (James 2)
your actions show your truth or your false. God already knows our heart, He has no need to see action, but our action good or bad are due to heart condition and the truth of who we really follow: God or sin, or both. we not follow God we are lacking in faith and need to ask for more faith and repent of sin.
 
Jan 12, 2019
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#6
your actions show your truth or your false. God already knows our heart, He has no need to see action, but our action good or bad are due to heart condition and the truth of who we really follow: God or sin, or both. we not follow God we are lacking in faith and need to ask for more faith and repent of sin.
So you believe Noah need not have even built the ark, For his family and himself to be saved?

He just needed to believe God that a flood is coming and God will save him?
 
Dec 9, 2011
13,716
1,723
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#7
Mark 10
49¶And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50¶And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51¶And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52¶And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
The man here was under law so then did faith and believing mean the same.The reason I ask Is because I'm trying to find out what Is the difference between faith and mere believing?
 

Ogom

Active member
Aug 22, 2020
385
100
43
ogom.co
#8
So you believe Noah need not have even built the ark, For his family and himself to be saved?

He just needed to believe God that a flood is coming and God will save him?

God has no need for a great big boat. He will survive either way. we on the other hand are dying, Dying in our sins each day that we sin. we need a boat. we need more faith. we need to build our Faith.
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,696
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#9
So you believe Noah need not have even built the ark, For his family and himself to be saved?

He just needed to believe God that a flood is coming and God will save him?
Noah was saved in the eternal sense before he even began to build. This is why he was chosen to build.
 
Dec 9, 2011
13,716
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#10
Before the righteousness of God apart from works came thru Paul (Romans 4:5), works are required to show faith in God.

Using Hebrews 11 as examples,

If Noah believe God that there will be a flood, but did not build an ark, will God see that as faith?

If Abraham believed God but did not leave the land he came from in genesis 12, would God see that as faith?

And in the age to come, during the tribulation, if you believe in Jesus but took the mark of the beast, can that belief save you? (James 2)
So then faith would be an outward demonstration that the person believes by works.🙂So then what Is "mere belief"?
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#11
The man here was under law so then did faith and believing mean the same.The reason I ask Is because I'm trying to find out what Is the difference between faith and mere believing?
Faith = pistis
Believe = pistis
1¶Now faith ( Pistis) is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ( Hebrews 11 )


52¶And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith( pistis) hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
The etymology of the word is ' love 'i think interestingly enough.

But I think 'trust / conviction is a good definition?
 

Ogom

Active member
Aug 22, 2020
385
100
43
ogom.co
#12
God has no need for a great big boat. He will survive either way. we on the other hand are dying, Dying in our sins each day that we sin. we need a boat. we need more faith. we need to build our Faith.

“For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.” (1John 5.4).
 
Jan 12, 2019
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#13
Noah was saved in the eternal sense before he even began to build. This is why he was chosen to build.
Do you think he could have exercised the choice not to build the ark?
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
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#14
what Is the difference between faith and mere believing?
You answered your own question right there; mere believing. We believe and then receive by faith. We must go beyond basic belief. In some contexts, "believing" refers to both basic belief and the placing of faith upon it.
 

throughfaith

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2020
10,467
1,593
113
#15
So then faith would be an outward demonstration that the person believes by works.🙂So then what Is "mere belief"?
Not sure of the first part you say ,but
Mere pistis ?Mere trust ? mere conviction? Believing in vain maybe ? This is a great topic though . Happy to dig in on this...
 
Jan 12, 2019
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#16
So then faith would be an outward demonstration that the person believes by works.🙂So then what Is "mere belief"?
But now, in the current church age we are in, Romans 4:5 is the clearest verse that tells us that mere belief can be the faith that saves us, because Christ has done all the work required at the cross.

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

James had no revelation of this when he wrote James 2, but he didn't need to, the Holy Spirit placed his letter after the church age, for the nation Israel as doctrine during the Tribulation, where they needed works together with believing, in order to be saved in the end.
 

mailmandan

Senior Member
Apr 7, 2014
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#17
Noah was saved in the eternal sense before he even began to build. This is why he was chosen to build.
Amen! Noah had already "found grace" (Genesis 6:8) was "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5) and "walked with God" BEFORE he built the ark. Building the ark was a DEMONSTRATION of his faith and not the origin of it. Building the ark saved Noah and his family (physically) from drowning (Hebrews 11:7).
 

mailmandan

Senior Member
Apr 7, 2014
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#18
You answered your own question right there; mere believing. We believe and then receive by faith. We must go beyond basic belief. In some contexts, "believing" refers to both basic belief and the placing of faith upon it.
Amen! In James 2:19, we see that the demons believe "mental assent" (basic belief) that "there is one God," but they do not believe in/have faith in/trust in/reliance in Jesus Christ for salvation. In other words, they do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) and are not saved. Believing in our head is not the same as believing in our heart. (Romans 10:9,10)
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#19
I can believe someone can do it, not have faith at all.

a good example,

a man ties a tight rope a cross the Niagara Falls from the US to Canada.

he take a wheelbarrow, and walks it across that rope, a crowd gathers, and the man asked if they though he could take a person across it. No one really believed he could, so he puts in enough rock to make I the same weight as an average man, and walks it across a few times, he gets a rounding applause, so the man asked again, if anyone believed he could take a man across, they all excitedly say yes, they all BELIEVE he could do it

then he asked for volunteers silence, why? They all believed he could do it, so why would they not all do it? Because they did not have faith he would succeed, so they chose to deny his offer.

the same happens with Jesus offer of salvation,
many believe in him, (see James) but when it comes right down to it, and time to make a decision, they do not have faith in Jesus so although they may claim they have faith, their really do not, and their actions prove their lack of faith (actually it should be lack of action)

since their faith is dead, their lack of actions will support their lack of faith