STUDY TIP: Watch Faith Part 1, Faith Part 2, Faith Part 3 for videos about faith, grace and hope.

BELIEF, TRUST, FAITH and HOPE
Belief, trust and faith are common religious words that are so similar that they are used interchangeably.  Here is a short list of things that people say about their beliefs and what they mean:

Of course this is only a small, generalized sample of the things that people say and believe. But it is, nonetheless, representative of how people talk and think about their beliefs.

When we consider how these words are used in the English language, we see that they are often used as synonyms for each other.

• • • • Believe/trust
      • Believe/faith
      • Trust/hope
      • Trust/faith
      • Hope/believe

In English, these words are commonly used in the context of the future in phrases such as:

• • • • I believe that rain will come.
      • I don’t believe that rain will come.
      • I have faith that I will get a job.
      • I don’t have faith that he/she will do the right thing.
      • I do have faith that he/she will do the right thing.
      • I hope rain comes.
      • I hope that I will get a job.
      • I trust that I will get the money I need.
      • I trust him/her to do the right thing.
      • I have faith in him/her.
      • I trust my car.
      • I believe that I can do this thing.
      • I trust my ability to do this thing.

Common usage of these words carries over into religion where we again see that these words are always used in the context of a target event or person such as:

• • • My faith will get me through the trial.
    • I believe that God will get me through this trial.
    • I trust that God will provide the money I need.
    • I trust Jesus for my salvation.
    • I believe that Jesus died for my sins.
    • I put my trust in the healing power of Jesus’ blood.
    • I believe that God created the world and everything in it.
    • I believe that God will answer my prayers.
    • I believe that God can do miracles.
    • I have faith in God.
    • I put my hope in Jesus.
    • I put my hope in God.

It is not surprising that religious people use these words in religion the same way that they use them in everyday conversation. It is important to notice that usage of these words in daily life and in religion is always focused on the future. Sadly, none of man’s usage of faith, believe, hope and trust agrees with the way God uses these words. God uses these words to represent present realities — not with respect to events that may, or may not, happen at some unknown future time. This is consistent with God’s constant focus on today.

STUDY TIP: See IT IS ALL ABOUT TODAY.

 Confusion about how to understand the meanings of words is just another example of the fact that God’s ways are not man’s ways. The way man uses them is an example of walking by sight — not by faith. Man’s use of the words is always in the context of the future. God is always focused on today.

If we really want to understand God and the Bible, we need to understand how God wants us to understand these words. These understandings are discussed in Faith, Grace, Mercy, Peace, Love, Heart, Glory, Blessing, Hope, Joy, Truth, where we learn that the Bible always points to God’s spoken word. They are also discussed in God’s Spoken Word where we see a long list of bible words that symbolically refer to God’s word. And they are discussed in It’s All About Today, where we see that God want us to focus our faith, belief and trust on hearing his voice today — not on the future.

Belief, faith, trust and hope are words often used in Judaism and Christianity, but they are used in religion the same way they are used in everyday language (i.e. with respect to the future events.) This is the wrong way to interpret these words. The correct way to interpret these words is with respect to God’s spoken word. Even love, which we think we understand because we use it so often, points to God’s word.