Biblical Faith and Trust: Why Belief Alone Isn’t Enough

Editor’s note – Gail Thomson tackles a confusion many Christians carry without naming it: we quietly treat faith as either a matter of airtight proof or a leap taken with eyes closed, and either extreme leaves people stranded. Some churches discourage honest questions; some unbelievers wait for a feeling that never arrives, as though God owes them a shortcut around their own minds. Gail Thomson walks through Hebrews, Romans, and John to show that Biblical faith has always held belief and trust together – convinced of what is true, and surrendered to the One who is. We’re running this piece because that distinction matters for anyone who has ever been told to ‘just believe.’

Rational Faith, Irrational Faith

I enjoy Christian apologetics — the discipline of defending the faith using evidence and rational arguments. I do not believe that Christianity requires “blind faith”, or that the God of the Bible expects anyone to believe in Him with no evidence.

Yet there is another aspect of faith that I have personally experienced, which may be seen as “irrational” by those looking on from outside. This kind of faith puts absolute trust in God, even if we don’t see the results of that trust for many years, or even until death.

What happens when we view faith as either rational or irrational?

These seemingly different conceptions of faith are a source of confusion among believers and unbelievers alike. When faith is understood purely in the “irrational” or “spiritual” sense among Christians, we may resist the rational apologetics approach. When anyone dares to ask a logical question about Christianity (e.g., How do we know that the Bible is true?), they are told that they must “just have faith” and stop asking questions. Some who grew up in church may leave Christianity as a result of this attitude — if no one is willing to answer their questions rationally, then perhaps there are no answers, and Christianity is false.

Among unbelievers, some may think of faith as a mystical gift from God, which they have yet to receive. If they don’t receive the gift, then God didn’t give it to them, and He is ultimately responsible for their unbelief. They are waiting for God to bypass their brains and somehow make them believe. Until He does that, they will remain as they are.

On the other end of the spectrum, when faith is seen as a purely rational set of arguments that “prove” the existence of God, the validity of the Bible, or the resurrection of Jesus Christ, other problems arise. What if the evidence falls short of watertight proof? The Christian who ventures into apologetics waters without a firm spiritual anchor may be cast adrift by intellectual arguments by intelligent people.

The unbeliever who takes the “rational” approach may set the bar for evidence so high as to be unobtainable by any worldview. Almost nothing besides pure mathematics operates on absolute “proof”. If this is the bar, then most of science will have to be thrown out, because every theory has a few holes, and every hypothesis has one or more competing hypotheses. Theories can be “strong” in the sense of being supported by multiple lines of evidence, but they can never be “proven”.

In the same way, we have multiple lines of evidence for what Stephen Meyer calls The God Hypothesis (in his book by that name). But for every argument there is a counter-argument, and one ultimately needs to decide for yourself which of the competing hypotheses are most compelling. Even if one is intellectually convinced by the evidence for God, the closest it will get you is theism — believing that there is a God. This is not what Christians call saving faith. (You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! James 2:19).

Editor’s note – That image of being ‘cast adrift by intellectual arguments’ is worth taking seriously. Apologetics is a good gift, but it was never meant to carry the weight that only trust in God can bear. A faith built only on winning arguments will eventually meet a sharper arguer, and it needs a deeper anchor than cleverness to survive that day.

Biblical faith — not either/or but both

How do we get off the horns of this dilemma? We need a fuller understanding of what faith means, which involves bringing both parts together.

The first step is to use simpler, less religious-sounding language. In everyday life, we have things that we believe to be true and things (or people) that we trust. In our relationships, these two things go hand-in-hand. When you meet someone for the first time, they may tell you a series of facts about themselves — where they are from, what they do for a living, who their friends are, etc. Most of the time, we believe these statements are true. If we later find evidence that they are not true, we may adjust our beliefs.

The truth or falsity of these statements will matter to the extent that we need to trust the person in question. If a first-time acquaintance chooses to lie about where they are from, and I never see them again, their lie makes very little difference. If a close friend or spouse lies about something — even something small — it can seriously damage a relationship.

This is how belief relates to trust. When we know that we can believe everything that a person says about themselfor others, we are more likely to trust them. If I believe that my friend never gossips, I will be more likely to trust them with personal information. Yet having a set of facts about a person does not mean I have a trusting relationship with them. People who follow the lives of celebrities will know a lot about them that they believe is true. Yet they cannot claim to have a trusting relationship with them.

The second step on our journey is to relate everyday concepts of belief and trust to faith, as described in the Bible. Sometimes, the words believe and trust are used in the Bible, while other times the concepts of either or both of these are in view when using the word faith.

The most famous passage on faith found in the Bible is Hebrews chapter 11. This is often called the “Hall of Faith“, which describes many of the people living prior to Jesus who had faith in God. In the very first verses of that chapter, we see both kinds of faith (belief and trust) present:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:1–2, evidence mine)

First, faith is portrayed as looking into the future — things “hoped for” that will come. This is about trusting God for our future, which may often seem irrational to the unbeliever. Second, it is looking into the past regarding the creation of the universe by the word of God. This is about believing that God is the Creator, which is based on evidence (Creation is a major topic of apologetics).

Later in the same chapter, the author revisits the same two ideas:

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

These are two things that we need to believe about God, like the stranger who meets you and tells you things about their lives. God has told us in His word that He exists, that He is the Creator, and that He will reward those who diligently seek Him.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13).

The people in the Hall of Faith endured many hardships while on earth, to the extent that people in their lives would have thought that they were insane. Why did Abraham willingly offer his only son, Isaac, as an offering to God? Why did the Israelites march around Jericho blowing trumpets? Why did prophets like Elijah and Jeremiah keep preaching even when they were threatened with death or imprisoned? These acts of faith were based on trust in God — that He would reward them for their sacrifices.

The same two aspects of faith are presented by Paul.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. (Romans 1:16–19)

This faith emphasises believing things about God (the belief part) and then living by those beliefs (the trust part). Those who do not believe, according to Paul, are “suppressing the truth” — they are refusing to consider the evidence that God has given them for His existence. Later in that chapter, he talks about Creation as the evidence that all people have access to that points them in the direction of God.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about faith in the sense of trusting God for the future.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6–8).

The absolute confidence that Christians have that they are going to Heaven when they die is difficult (if not impossible) for the unbeliever to fathom. How can we be so sure? How do we even know that there is an afterlife? It is the kind of faith that goes beyond rational arguments.

Editor’s note – Paul’s confidence about being ‘present with the Lord’ is a good test case for the whole piece. No one can run an experiment on Heaven. That confidence rests entirely on trusting the character of the God who made the promise, which is exactly the kind of faith no apologetics argument can manufacture on its own.

Finally, we get an extremely evidence-based idea of saving faith in John’s Gospel, after Jesus presents Himself to Thomas for inspection.

Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:29–31)

Thomas had doubted that Jesus really rose from the dead, understandably. Instead of someone telling him that he should “just have faith”, Jesus appeared to him in person. Thomas then believed 100% that Jesus was alive! Jesus then says that many will believe without personally seeing Him, and John follows this up by saying that he wrote his gospel for such people (including us). The eyewitness accounts recorded in the gospels and the responses of Thomas, Paul and James the brother of Jesus (all sceptics to some extent) are important pieces of evidence for the resurrection.

Editor’s note – Notice what Jesus does with Thomas: He doesn’t scold him for doubting, He shows up. That ought to shape how we treat our own questions and other people’s. Doubt met with evidence and presence looks very different from doubt met with a shrug.

Living out Biblical faith

What does this dual definition of faith look like in practice? Some may approach Christianity using the “rational” route of asking questions and receiving good answers, until they decide that this is true. Once they believe a set of facts — that there is a God, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died on the cross and rose again on the third day — they need to decide whether they will take that belief to the next level. That level is trust, or saving faith.

This is not just about intellectually agreeing to a set of facts — a purely “rational” experience. This is about acting upon that belief and surrendering to God; specifically acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour. In this moment, profound spiritual things happen, of which the new believer may be more or less aware. God takes their sin and nails it to the cross with His Son. He then gives the believer His Son’s righteousness in return. This is salvation through faith.

Many others come to Christianity in a spiritual way — meeting God in a deep place in their heart, where they surrender to Him and trust in Him as their Savior. Yet this way of salvation is not devoid of the “rational” aspect of faith. A child who trusts implicitly in the Lord when they are young (as I did) must still be taught the core beliefs of Christianity, about who God is and what Jesus did on the cross.

Once saved, the healthy Christian life continues to involve both aspects of faith. When we read and study the Bible, we often use intellectual methods and tools like commentaries to investigate the context of the passage and how it fits into history. These are rational pursuits that strengthen our understanding of God, His ways and His work. Neglecting this aspect of faith can leave you vulnerable to false teaching — if you cannot (or will not) test the logic and doctrine of the preacher or book you are reading, you are more likely to fall for it.

Yet neglecting the trust part of faith is equally deadly (if not more so). Christians are often called by God to do seemingly irrational things. “Go to that place.” “Talk to that person about Jesus.” “Do not worry about money — trust Me.” “Leave your successful job or business and become a missionary.” “Smuggle Bibles into a hostile country.” “Pray for the person who is making your life difficult at work.” These are the kinds of instructions that the Holy Spirit gives to Christians — calling us to trust and obey even when it makes no sense.

Editor’s note – The list of ‘irrational’ instructions Gail Thomson names – leave the job, talk to the stranger, pray for the difficult coworker – are the ordinary shape obedience takes for most believers. None of them require a vision or a voice from Heaven. They just require trusting that God meant what He said, and then moving before the outcome is certain.

Living this life of faith is to join the Hall of Faith in Hebrews, where people did many “irrational” things because God gave them instructions to do so. If we refuse to listen to these promptings because they don’t make sense, we are living in faithless disobedience to God. This will have a deadening effect — our Christianity becomes a matter of going through the motions. Attending church, tithing, reading the Bible and prayer — all good things in themselves — become habitual and boring rather than joyful and exciting.

Conclusion

Biblical faith walks on two legs: belief and trust. While one of these may come after the other in our initial conversion, both are essential to our continued health as individual Christians and as the Church. To the unbeliever looking in, our reasons for believing should make sense, even though trusting God with our whole lives does not.

If the God of the universe truly exists, He created us and is worthy of our worship on that basis alone. If this is the God of the Bible, then He has offered us reconciliation to Himself through His Son and a loving relationship with Him that will never end. If one believes those facts, then taking the next step to trust God is the most rational decision you will ever make.

As a child of God who walks by faith, not by sight, I am willing to do things that make no sense for His glory. If that means giving up money and possessions, moving to a new place, or striking up a conversation about Jesus with a complete stranger, then so be it. If my short little life is working an eternal weight of glory through doing irrational things, then the most sensible thing I can say is: “Here I am Lord, send me.”

A Word from the Editor
Hebrews 11 doesn’t celebrate people who had every question answered before they moved. It celebrates people who believed enough about God to act as though He’d keep His word, and then found out He did. That’s the faith BCW wants to model: convictions we can defend with evidence, and a trust we’re willing to act on before we see the outcome. If you’ve been told to stop asking questions, keep asking them – a faith that can’t survive scrutiny was never going to survive much else either. If you’ve been waiting for a feeling before you’ll obey, stop waiting. “The just shall live by faith,” not by certainty manufactured in advance. Here I am, Lord – send me, too.

Editor Comment: Gail Thomson's clear-eyed case for holding belief and trust together is a timely corrective for a church that often settles for one or the other.

This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.