“For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved”. Romans 10:10
Many Christians use belief and faith interchangeably, yet they differ. Faith is trusting the things we believe about God and living our life based on them.
Have you ever been invited to go skydiving, or have you done it? It is possible to learn and believe that the parachute is safe and will function as designed. You can see videos of people jumping out of planes and believe that the chute is designed to bring you slowly and safely to earth. With minimum research, you can believe that a parachute is an excellent tool to jump out of an airplane plane and survive.
How do you know when you have faith in the parachute? WHEN YOU JUMP. When you leave the plane. The parachutist’s faith is put into action when they trust their chute and step out of the plane.
To increase your faith in a parachute, you can do a few things to make you more aware of the chute’s function. You could take a class on parachutes. You could visit a parachute depot and meet the people who make them. You can learn about how they are maintained and inspected. You can watch and be trained on how to pack a chute and talk with people who have parachuted before. These activities will strengthen your trust in the parachute.
Knowing what you believe about God is essential to trust Him; to having faith. Christians believe many things, including:
Christians believe in the Bible: We believe God inspired the Bible, which contains all the teachings we need to know to live the life God desires.
Christians believe in One God Who Created the Universe: We believe that creation is a result of His will and that He created everything in the world. We also believe He is actively involved in our lives and hears and answers our prayers.
Christians believe in Jesus Christ: We believe Jesus is our Saviour and Redeemer, and He died on the cross to pay for our sins. We believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that He is alive today. We believe that through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life.
Christians believe in the Holy Spirit: We believe He is the one who convicts us of our sin and leads us to repentance and that He helps us grow in our faith and to live a holy life.
Christian faith is based on what we believe and trust about God and our faith becomes real when we have confidence in what God has promised. In this newsletter, we have identified ways to increase our faith, but like the parachutist, our faith is not tested and strengthened until we step out of the plane, out of our comfort zone and trust what we believe.