Page 48 - Biblical Counseling I Textbook

Study Section 8: Understanding Faith

8.1 Connect

A lot of people think that if you have faith, you basically take a leap in the dark. You don’t really
know what might happen, but you just “go for it.” Is that biblical faith? Others think that if you
have enough faith, you can cause anything to happen. After all, they say that the Bibles says that
“if you have faith, you can move mountains!” A few years ago, I knew of a family whose father
died. The family took his body and put him in a warm pool of water and everyone in the family got
in the pool with their dead father. They began to pray that his life would come back into him. They prayed for
hours, believing that God would raise him from the dead. But finally, they were exhausted, and the father was
still dead. Their pastor concluded that the family just did not have enough faith to raise their father from the
dead.

Is that what faith is? There seems to be a lot of confusion about what the word, and what the application of
faith in our lives really means. Today we want to investigate what faith or belief really is, and how we can
become strong in faith in our lives daily. Let’s dig in….

8.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to define faith and where it comes from.

2. The student should be able to define grace and how it differs from mercy.

3. The student should be able to explain what legalism is and why it is so dangerous in the life of one being
counseled.

8.3 Understanding Faith

What is faith or belief and what’s the difference?

On one hand, there is no difference between faith and belief. The two terms are often used
interchangeably. The Gospel of John was written so that “you may believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
The Gospel of John does not even use the word faith, although the concept of faith is thoroughly woven into
John. Throughout Scripture, there is no distinction between faith and belief.

On the other hand, in popular English usage, the word faith often has a deeper meaning. Belief often refers to an
intellectual acceptance of facts. If you ask the average person on the street if he believes in Alexander the Great
or Abraham Lincoln, he would probably interpret the question to mean, “Do you believe that such a person
existed?” Most, no doubt, would answer in the affirmative. However, faith, in modern usage, has the added idea
of trust and commitment.

Many people believe that Alexander the Great existed. When he was alive, many had faith in him as well,
trusting him to protect them, lead them into battle, and expand the Greek Empire. However, it would be safe to
assume that no one alive today is trusting him to do anything for them. They believe in his existence, but they

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