Saving Faith Includes Trust

Section 6: Salvation – Part 1

Week 3: Conversion – Turning to Christ in Faith

Day 3: Saving Faith Includes Trust

John 3:1-23

People need to hear the gospel so they can come to faith. But what is faith? From a biblical perspective, it’s important to understand that faith involves more than believing certain facts. Trust is an essential element.

We use to have a basset hound named Colbi. She was very sweet, but she was also a lot of work. She had a habit of waking up at 3:00 a.m., wanting to go outside to “do her business.” It drove me crazy. Every night I was hopeful that would be the night the madness stopped. Even so, I still left my socks in the living room. What does that have to do with anything you’re wondering? I don’t like to sleep with my socks on. Don’t know why… I just don’t. So every night before bed, I take them off. But when Colbi needed to go out, I put my socks and shoes on. No sense pulling out a new pair of socks, so I left the old pair on the couch.  When Colbi got up, they were right there for that tiresome trek into the backyard.

Knowing all of that, if I told you I believed tonight was the night the madness was going to stop, but I left my socks on the couch, would you say I truly believed it? Probably not. If I really believed in Colbi’s ability to make it through the night, that belief would express itself in trust. Continuing to leave the socks on the couch was a sign I didn’t really believe in her because it was a sign I didn’t trust her.

Faith in Christ is similar.  It’s not simply a matter believing things about him. It’s a matter of believing in him. And that involves trust. When we put our faith in Christ, we make a conscious decision to rely on what he has done to save us rather than ourselves.

Challenge:

Read John 3:16.

Reflection Questions: 

Why does John say, “believe in him” rather than “believe him”? How does believing in someone relate to relying on them? As believers, what do we rely on Jesus for?