Salvation Summaries

In the Bible, there are two types of beliefs. There is a general belief and a saving belief. A general belief does not save a person from (the penalty of) their sins; a saving belief does. I am afraid that there are many people who think they are a Christian based upon having a general belief in God or Jesus, but are not saved because they lack a saving belief. What is the difference? Let’s find out.

Definition of believe and how it is used today

If you look up the word believe in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, it is defined as: 1) to consider to be true or honest, 2) to accept the word or evidence of, 3) to hold as an opinion, 4) to have a firm or wholehearted religious conviction or persuasion: to regard the existence of God as a fact, 5) to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something. The primary synonyms are to accept, understand and take.

Notice that all of these definitions involve the mind and include considering or accepting something as factual or true. Definitions 4 and 5 mention conviction, and 4 mentions heart (wholehearted) but none prompt the person to act upon what he or she considers to be true.

Some commentaries and Bible dictionaries refer to this (type of) believe as “intellectual assent.” According to AI, intellectual assent means “agreeing with something in your mind, acknowledging its truth, but without necessarily feeling strongly about it or acting on it. It is mental agreement (a cognitive acceptance of a statement or idea as true), not necessarily accompanied by emotion or action, and a prerequisite for faith but not sufficient for it.” Let me repeat that last part. It is a “prerequisite for faith but not sufficient for it.”

As we will see in a minute, believe as used in the Bible – and especially in the key salvation verses of John 3:16 in the New Testament and Genesis 15:6 (where Abraham believes God and it is credited to him as righteousness) in the Old – means more than intellectual assent and how Merriam-Webster defines it today.

Meaning of believe as used in the Old and New Testament

So, let’s start with the word “believe” in the Old Testament, and then we’ll move to the New.

According to the Expository Dictionary of Bible words, the word “believe” in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word ‘aman. Per this dictionary, the predominant usage of ‘aman “testifies to the use of belief in an active sense, incorporating the elements of faith and trust.” It adds that believe, faith and trust are virtually interchangeable. Also, with regard to Genesis 15:6 specifically, where Abraham believed God, his belief “indicated a wholehearted commitment to, and trust in, the person of God.”

Thus, we see that “believe” in the Old Testament means more than simply accepting something as true or factual. Rather, its meaning is elevated to trusting in something and having faith in it, and with regard to Abraham’s belief, it also includes a wholehearted commitment to God.

Turning to the New Testament, if you look up the word “believe,” it is the Greek word “pisteuo” (4100).

According to the Expository Dictionary, “The verb pisteuo occurs around 250 times with the underlying meaning ‘believe.’ Included in this usage is the very significant nuance of ‘have faith, put one’s trust in’ the person of Christ, as the means by which God applies salvation to his people.”

So again, believe in the New Testament also entails trust and putting faith in God, specifically Jesus.

Faith is interchangeable with believe

Since we just learned that the Bible’s view of believe is essentially the same as faith, let’s quickly look up the meaning of faith in a few sources to see if it sheds more light on what believe really means.

Using the same Expository Dictionary, faith is pistis in the Greek (4102), which means “belief, trust and conviction in the person of God and Christ as the only means of salvation, forgiveness of sins, and guarantee of eternal life. In most cases, the meanings of belief and faith are interchangeable.”

According to the Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, faith is “trust in the person of Jesus, the truth of His teaching, and the redemptive work He accomplished at Calvary, and, as a result, a total submission to Him and His message…” It goes on to say that “Faith is not to be confused with a mere intellectual assent to the doctrinal teachings of Christianity, though that is obviously necessary. It includes a radical and total commitment to Him as the Lord of one’s life.“

With regard to faith in the Old Testament, Zondervan says, “faith is never mere assent to a set of doctrines or outward acceptance of the Law, but utter confidence in the faithfulness of God and a consequent loving obedience to His will.”

This dictionary’s definition of faith adds a lot more to our definition of believe, as it includes submission to God and His message, a radical and total commitment to Jesus, and a loving obedience to God’s will.

Let’s look up faith in one last source, and see what it says.

According to the World’s Bible Dictionary, “the noun faith and the verb believe are different parts of the same word. Although faith involves belief, by far the most important characteristic of faith is reliance or trust.” It goes on to say that “the faith by which people receive salvation is not merely an acknowledgement of certain facts (though this is necessary, since the believer must know who and what he is trusting in). Rather it is a belief by which a person commits himself wholly to Christ in complete dependence…it is trusting in a person, Jesus Christ.” It then adds “A professed faith that does not produce a change for the better in a person’s behavior is not true faith; it is not a faith that leads to salvation. Those who have genuine faith will give clear proof of it by their good conduct.”

This source sheds even more, and maybe controversial to some, light on what faith, and by extension believe, means. In addition to trust, it includes a corresponding commitment to Jesus and dependence upon Him that leads to better conduct.

This last definition makes sense, because elsewhere in the Bible we see that repentance is also required for salvation, and if so, repentance and believe or faith must be related. We know that repentance includes a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. Thus, both repentance and believe or faith involve not only the mind – to accept something as true or factual – but also the will to act upon that belief.

Summary

From using various Bible dictionaries and online sources, we learned that the word “believe” in the Bible means much more than how we interpret and use the word today (and outside of the Bible).

Believe is essentially the same as faith. It is not only intellectual assent that something is true or factual, but also includes trust in, dependence upon, submission to and a commitment (to Jesus with respect to John 3:16), all of which leads to changed behavior.

Thus, if a person’s belief or faith in Jesus includes trusting in Him completely for their salvation; if it includes submitting to Him, depending upon Him and committing oneself to doing His will not his/her will; and if this belief has resulted in (or will lead to) at least some change in behavior, then that’s a strong indication that that person has a saving rather than general belief, and is a Christian.

However, if a person’s belief in Jesus does not include trusting in Him completely for their salvation; if that person does not depend upon Jesus nor has submitted to Him nor committed to following Him in any way; and if their way of life has not changed after believing in Jesus, then that’s a strong indication that that person has a general rather than saving belief, and is not a Christian.

So, dear reader, which type of belief do you have?

Prayer

Dear God,

For years I have considered myself to be a Christian, but now I realize that I likely am not. I believe in Jesus – that He is the Son of God, and that He died to save us from our sins. However, I’ve not completely trusted in Him to do just that for me. I’ve not submitted my life to Him, I’ve not committed to follow anything that He has commanded. I’ve continued to live my life the way I want to, without regard for what He may want. Because of this, my way of life has never changed since believing in Him.

Oh Lord, please forgive me. I repent of my sins and my sinful way of life. Right now I submit myself to you and commit to following You – doing Your will, not mine. To aid me in this, I will read in your Word and either attend church or listen to sermons online. I look forward to seeing how you will change me – my thoughts and desires and actions – as I follow You as my Lord. Thank you for saving me.