Does It Really Matter What You Believe?

The simple answer to this question is, yes it does.  To clarify the answer, it matters if you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and receive the gift of immortality and salvation to eternal life.  Immortality and salvation is a gift from God, given to us freely.  We cannot earn it.  But, there is one important thing that people forget.  God does not force us to take this gift.  We can accept the gift or we can refuse the gift.  If you do not care about this gift, then the answer to the question is that it really doesn’t matter what you believe.  You can believe whatever your heart desires.

                Using the Bible as a basis for this discussion, it tells us that that those who want to know and have a relationship with God should hold on to beliefs that are based on His laws and not compromise.  “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4, emphasis added).

                Why should what we believe be important to us?  It is because what we do in life and what decisions we make are ultimately based in a large part on what we believe.  If our decisions are based on God's laws, then we can resist the pressures to conform to the standards and values the world imposes on us. We can live in the world, yet not take part in its sins. We can avoid the breaking of God's laws that so often takes place in society.

                “But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, KJV).  Jesus is saying that what we believe, and ultimately what we do is determined by what we think.  What we think should come from the words that “proceed out of God’s mouth”.

                There is a thought process that supports the idea that there is no absolute truth when believing in Jesus Christ, thus, the act of believing is all there is.  The theory is that "there is no objective standard by which truth may be determined, so that truth varies with individuals and circumstances" (David Elton Trueblood, Philosophy of Religion, p. 348).

                So, does it really matter what we believe?  The idea of finding the truth or real meaning to life escapes some people’s minds.  People spend their lives developing their idea of truth.  It does not matter if you are sixteen years old or sixty years old.  Up until that point in time you have spent 100% of your life developing your idea of truth and put up walls resisting any thought that would change that idea.  As you get older, most people spend what they feel is a lot of time, energy, and, (for some), money in formulating their thoughts and ideas on truth and it is only natural to defend what you developed over the years.

                People have always valued their act of belief more than the object of their belief.  William James lived from January 11, 1842 until August 26, 1910 and was an American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician. He was the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.  He stated, "Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact”.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ William James”).

                Is this statement true, especially when we are discussing Biblical truths?  The belief in something will not make it true.  You can believe that an object is something that it is not.  You can believe it with all your heart and soul, but that will not make your belief fact, outside of your own mind.

                The truth of a belief is determined by all of the facts supporting that belief or disproving that belief.  The only alternative to this is closing your mind to ideas that are new to you and this could ultimately lead to your eternal destruction.

                Belief is not determined by the strength of one’s faith.  There are many who get seriously injured and/or die every year because of their faith in something.  Teenagers are prime examples of the support for this idea.  They develop a belief or an idea to do something.  Their parents, because of their experiences in life, tell them it is wrong and could get them in trouble or in some cases injured, or even killed.  Teens commonly think they know everything and therefore what they believe overrides any warnings or threats that their parents give them.  When things go horribly wrong, which they usually do, the teenagers and, or friends and family in the case of a death, now try to answer the question, “Why?”.

                The Bible also emphasizes the fact that it is vital what one believes.  Jesus says that we “... are from beneath” but He is “...from above: (we) are of this world; (but He is) not of this world.” (John 8:23, KJV).  Jesus went on to say, “I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.” (John 8:26, KJV).

                Jesus said in chapter three of the gospel of John that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36, KJV).  Most Bible translations interpret the first half of the verse and the second half of the verse to mean the same thing, but they do not.

                In the first part of the verse, the phrase “He that believeth” deals strictly with “belief” alone.  It means “to think, to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit or to place confidence in” something.  The phrase in the second part of the scripture comes from a different Greek word which carries the meaning of refusing belief and obedience and not to complying with something.  That is, not obeying and complying with everything that Jesus testified to.  A person is not allowed to pick and choose what they want to or do not want to believe.

                The scriptures do not place the weight on the act of belief.  It places it on the object of the belief.  It is not your act of faith but who and what your faith is based on.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6, NLT).

                “People today believe whatever they wish to believe, but this will lead to their ultimate destruction. Let's look at an example from biblical history. One of the darkest periods in the history of Israel occurred in the time of the kings. During this time, there was a contest between the Lord God and Baal, a highly regarded cult deity. An altar of wood was built, with pieces of an oxen laid upon it as a sacrifice. The god who answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice would be acknowledged as the true god in Israel. Baal went first.

                If anyone could start a fire from the sky, it was Baal – the great nature god who controlled the weather (i.e., rain, thunderstorms, lightning). The priests of Baal paraded around the altar all morning and until late afternoon, beseeching Baal to respond. These false priests jumped all over the altar, cut themselves with swords, danced into a frenzy, raved and pleaded all day. No one can say they were not sincere, or did not believe. Yet, nothing happened.

                After they were finished and the altar was rebuilt, the Lord God answered with fire from heaven and consumed the altar and sacrifice. The false prophets of Baal were then slain.

                If sincerity and belief saved, then these prophets should have been spared. But sincerity and belief are not enough. These prophets had their trust in the wrong object. They had never chosen to investigate the truth. (emphasis added).  God requires man to put his faith in Jesus Christ; nothing less will satisfy either them or Him.” (http://www.bethinking.org/is-christianity-the-only-way/q-does-it-really-matter-what-i-believe).

                There are many people who go to their deaths believing something that had overwhelming facts that go against that belief.  History is full of people who died needlessly because of this.  The reason this is brought up here is because of the topic of this article concerning Biblical truths. 

                This statement is a two edged sword.  All but one of the apostles were put to death because of what they believed.  In the context of this discussion then, it matters which edge of the sword you are cutting with.  Are you cutting with the edge of the sword based largely on what comes out of the mouths of men?  I am talking about beliefs taken out context and not supported by other scriptures, or are disproved by other scriptures in the Bible.  Or; do you base your beliefs on what comes out of the mouth of God?  The word of God is the Bible, plain and simple.  The facts that you base your beliefs on need to be supported by “every word of God”, every word found in the Bible.  Your belief when it comes to God can be based on no more nor no less.