1. Belief is the heartfelt knowing or persuasion that you have, of Christ and His teaching, after you hear the Word of God (Ephesians 1:13, John 17:8, Romans 10:9-10). Therefore, belief is internal.
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Belief comes when you hear the Word (John 20:31, Romans 10:14).
2. Faith, as James says, is the action that you take on the basis of what you believe in your heart. Therefore, faith is external—the outworking of belief. So we read, “I will show you my faith by my works ” (James 2:18).
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Without faith it's impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)
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Faith brings the boldness to speak and work miracles (Mark 11:22-24, Matthew 17:20-21).
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Faith allows believers to accomplish all kinds of great works for the kingdom (Hebrews 11:32-38).
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Growing faith also grows a person's spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6, Romans 5:2).
*Faith—along with patience and love—is in the top three most important qualities for a believer to have (1 Corinthians 13:13, 1 Thess. 1:3, Hebrews 6:12).
3. Summary: As part of being saved, we come to believe in Jesus (Romans 4:5,24)--that He is the Son of God who died and rose again (1 John 5:5) and that His Word is true (John 17:8). However, we also have to have faith, which is shown by the action that we take to repent and obey the Word.
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As an example, Abraham believed God in that he was fully persuaded that what God said would come to pass (Romans 4:18-22). He showed faith when he took action, in response, to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Hebrews 11:17-19).
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Because he believed in God's Word, he took action in faith.
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4. Believers need to grow in belief and faith. The more you hear and believe the Word, the more action (faith) you will take. And the more action you take, the more your belief will strengthen, which creates more faith/action...
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Belief/faith grow (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 10:15).
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1. You can grow your belief/faith by reading the Word and then taking action in any areathe Word talks about (Romans 10:17, James 1:22-25, 2:17-18,26).
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However, taking the actions that are the hardest or most intimidating are the actions that will grow you the most (fear shows lack of faith [Mark 4:40]). Overcome fear and you will see greater faith.
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2. Pray and focus in prayer (Jude 20-21). A diligent prayer life both shows and builds faith.
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Also practice listening to the Spirit in quiet time, and then obeying what lines up with the Word. Ask others with wisdom and discernment to help you know what to take action on.
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3. Grow patience through hardship (James 1:3-5, 1 Thess. 3:10, 1 Peter 5:10). Growing patience will also grow your faith.