Dear divine daredevils!
Welcome back to our Christian Life Hacks series! Today, we’re taking a thrilling rollercoaster ride through the world of faith, diving headfirst into the difference between mere belief in God and genuine faith that transforms us. Grab your safety harness and buckle up, because we’re going to explore the faith of demons! cue dramatic music and spooky laughter
In James 2:19, we read, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” James serves up an unsettling truth with a side of spiritual goosebumps: even demons believe in God, but they don’t follow Him. They have sound doctrine, yet they’re not on the right side of the spiritual battle. Jonathan Edwards pointed out that they even have the right behavior “shudder”, but it doesn’t count. So, what sets our faith apart from mere belief in God?
Picture this: someone pompously declaring, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Well, James ain’t having any of that! He’d quickly reply, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds” (James 2:18). There aren’t head-Christians and hand-Christians. Genuine faith and godly actions go together like body and spirit – you can’t have one without the other.
You might be patting yourself on the back, thinking, “Well, I know my theology. I’ve got that covered.” But hold on a holy minute! Even demons have “good theology,” even they shudder at the thought of God. Our faith shouldn’t just be about collecting theological gold stars or affirming the right doctrines. It should transform us, leading to godly actions that set us apart from the demon-believing crowd.
So, divine daredevils, let’s dive into some self-reflection with a hearty dose of humor: What sets your faith apart from mere belief in God?
I think a good measure of what sets our faith apart from mere belief in God is where we spend our time and money. When our faith is strong then we will be willing to invest into God’s Kingdom and when we invest our time and our money I think this sets our faith apart. Like Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
From Kathy: What sets me apart from the devils belief is that God is my Father and Jesus is my Savior. I trust and rely on the Trinity for my life to be transformed. I look forward to my eternal life in heaven with the triune God one day. I desire to live like Jesus did on this earth. Devil’s goal is to turn people away from God and disobey Him but our goal is to Love God and love others by sharing Christ’s love for the lost to be saved.
(from Maury)
I most certainly want to say good morning to our group and I love this question because it completely makes sense in my love spiritually and physically and mental. Our Lord give me my blessings and I could cry, kick, and punch all I want from this my heart is being cleansed out by his love and certain things are being put back in my life by his hand I would have gave up so long ago but the fact of the matter is I’ve been seeing these blessings And opportunities since before my recovery and the only possible reasonable explanation is, that there is no scientific explanation or hypothesis. The reason I am alive save and here today so if I went around the world saying who is God but not doing the deeds I wouldn’t have never been a story of my life. Also since God almighty is in the sky watching me seeing what’s in my heart me bless me my friendships relationships the church that’s helped so much just understanding something in other words the little bit of Joy that’s feeling my heart is more than enough answer that I need fix my life
I think what sets someone’s faith apart from just mere belief of God is in the way they live their lives, what they value, and how they spend their resources (time and money). Mere belief does not change you but having strong faith transforms you, in your actions and in your heart.
“What sets our faith apart from mere belief in God?” I think a big difference between faith in God as opposed to belief in God is our relationship on this matter. The demon’s belief in God is no different than our own, but our relationship with God in comparison is very different. I think once we start putting faith in God is when we start wanting to develop a relationship with Him, which then affects how we live since we want to live and abide by Him. If we know there’s a God but we do nothing to address Him or change how we live then we become no better than the demons, who at least have an understanding of where they stand in relation to God. In fact, we’d be worse than the demons as at least they know to fear Him. So, to let my belief in God not be counted as a “belief”, but to be truly faithful in God, I pray that my relationship with Him will continue to grow and that I do not become complacent.