1. "Believe" and "have faith" are two ways to translate a single Greek word. The word is a form of "convince," and means "to be convinced."  (that is, you are convinced by someone or something).

2. Faith is more than knowledge: faith means we know, accept, and trust. James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that – and shudder." THAT AND IN.  (Capital letters on this page indicate an illustration you can use -- click on the underlined capital letters to see it.)

3. We trust in objects that are appropriate to give us what we need. It is appropriate to trust in a chair to rest in, but for getting to heaven, Jesus is the only appropriate object to trust in. More on Jesus

4. Sometimes people say "I not interested in talking about faith because I am not religious." We can help them by saying that everyone has faith. TAP WATER.  You may not be able to prove to someone else why you believe, but you do have reasons.  It may be faith, but it is not blind faith..

5.  Faith is contrasted with sight in 2 Corinthians 5:7 "We walk by faith, not by sight."    If you see something, you don't need faith; faith is there for the things you cannot see. 

6. Some people say, "I don't have a strong enough faith." It will not help them to say "try harder." To help them, put their attention on how strong the object of their faith is. ICE SKATING.

7. Some say, "I want to have faith, but I can't do it." It will not help them to say "make yourself have faith." AIRPORT TAX. As we come to know someone, we discover that we begin to trust in them.   In ordinary life, I tell someone the good points of a person, and this results in my listener trusting that person.  In the Bible, I tell someone about Jesus, and in this way I provide the data needed if my listener is to come to trust Jesus.   This "data" about "who Jesus is" and "what he did" is called "the gospel."  That is why the Bible says that the "gospel" is the message that saves people.  Romans 1:16 says "the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believes."

8. How do we find out whether someone has faith? We accept them according to their words (according to their confession of faith). BANK TELLER

9. Faith is SHOWN by obedience, similar to this verse about love: 1 John 5:3 "This is love for god -- to obey his commands).  Some say, "I obey all the Lord's commands, so therefore I am accepted by God." It is actually the opposite, for "faith" is contrasted with "works" in Ephesians 2:8-9 "By grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, NOT OF WORKS. God accepts us first, because we trust Jesus. Our obedience is the way that we show our relationship. CHORES FOR WIFE. When we do not obey, we have another way to show our relationship --- by asking for forgiveness.  Note the difference between point 8 and point 9.  We do not judge someone by their obedience: someone may have faith, but not obey in a given instance.

10. "Faith" is the word for our relationship to God. Galatians 2:20 "The life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me."

11. This faith-relationship is created by the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 12:3 "No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit." We cannot make people have faith: we have a small role. Our role is to share the gospel.

12. In this faith-relationship, we depend on Jesus for acceptance by God. (In other words, we do not depend on "self" or on other gods). Romans 5:1 "Now that we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Justify means "although we are guilty, God calls us innocent.")

1. One evidence that the Holy Spirit has put us into a faith-relationship with God is that we are willing to repent of our sins.

2. Jesus has already paid for our sins, so there is no reason to delay repenting. Our forgiveness is already assured. 1 John1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins."

3. Two wrong views that we should avoid:

A. Some say, "I repented but later I sinned again, so therefore I did not truly repent." This is not true. Overcoming habitual sins is sometimes a long process. (Repenting is a part of that process, but it may require many days of repenting and asking for help).

B. Some say, "It doesn't matter if I sin, because God is forgiving." This statement shows that the person does not understand repenting. Repenting involves sorrow over sins.

4. The balance between the two extremes seen above is clarified in the Greek word for repenting: CHANGE + MIND. It happens in the mind: therefore it is different from behavior change. It truly is a change, though. We change the way we think about our sins. In the past, we were not serious about our sins. Now we look at our sins from God's viewpoint: God hates our sins.

1. If someone already believes, they will want to be baptized, since their Lord Jesus says "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… " (Matthew 28:19).

2. Because of baptism, the believer can rely on the promises of baptism, such as: He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. (Mark 16:16); Sins are washed away (Acts 22:16); being united with Christ (Galatians 3:27)

3. In regard to babies, Jesus says "Let the little ones come to me, do not forbid them, for of such is the Kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:14.) Baptism is the biblical way to bring babies to Jesus. In Jesus, they have forgiveness and a relationship to God. Titus 3:5-7: "He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us generously through Jesus Christ our savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs of eternal life."  More on Baptism

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