Two Kinds of Belief
John 1:43-51
Illustration
by Roger Lovette

Martin Luther (The Church Reformer) said there are two kinds of believing. One kind of belief is to believe things about God. He said there are some things we can affirm about God that we can also say about the Turks, the devil, or hell. These are facts: encyclopedia knowledge. This is belief. Luther then talked about another kind of faith. Not only do we believe in God, but we begin to put our trust in him. We bet our lives on the truth that there is a God. We even begin to give him our money because we really do believe this business. We surrender to him. We follow him. We believe that he is with us, and nothing can separate us from his love.

New York: Harper, The Minister's Manual 1993, by Roger Lovette