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When we say someone is a person of faith, this implies this individual is a believer of some kind of religion. Faith is a system of religious belief. Most people regard religion as a belief in one God or multiple of gods.
Generally speaking, a religion helps people to understand their existence. Most importantly, most faiths would teach their followers about the manner they should live their lives on earth, and where would they end up when their lives are over.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV)
John 3:16 can be seen as a classic epitome of the Christian faith, for it speaks of God, who is the Creator of human beings, and God’s only Son, who is the Saviour of humankind, and God’s way of salvation. Moreover, it reminds a person should make the right decision in one’s temporal existence on earth, for it determines where one will be in the next life.
Let’s spend time understanding how people see belief, or faith, or religion.
- Belief as Culture
What is culture? Nowadays, culture has become a fairly plastic concept. One of the simplest definition is that it is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterises a group or society, influencing behaviour and traditions.
Shinto
Have you been to Japan? Most visitors love this country, and many have gone back to visit the four major islands of Japan and its thousands of smaller islands over and over again.
Have you noticed Shinto shrines are all over the place in Japan? A visitor was astonished to find a Shinto shrine located on the second floor of the main observatory of Tokyo Tower. Do you know Japan is infused with the Shinto culture?
In 2024, the population of Japan is about 122 million. About twelve years ago, 80 million Japanese claimed to be Shinto believers, and 80 million stated that they were Buddhist. However, Japan’s population was only 120 million then. Clearly, many Japanese see themselves as both Shinto and Buddhist without really believing in any religion. To a certain degree, this is because of the different roles the two beliefs play. While Shinto and Buddhism both have their own dedicated followers, many Japanese see Shinto more as a part of their culture than a formal religion. By and large, Shinto practices are parts of daily lives of Japanese.
It is well-known that it is hard for Japanese to convert to the Christian faith compared to other East Asians. As for the Japanese, belief or religion is heavily influenced by their own culture. Therefore, asking them to believe Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour would be extremely difficult.
Chinese Folk Religion
More than ten years ago, the Chinese folk religion is said to be the largest folk religion in the world. Back then, an estimated 400 million people practiced Chinese folk religion worldwide, that is about 6.6 percent of the world’s population.
According to the much recent information, more than 294 million people, or 21 percent of China’s population, practice folk religions.
The believers of Chinese folk religion worship ancestors, spirits, and local deities. Moreover, their worshippers are heavily influenced by Buddhism and Taoism.
Taoism was once a strong force in China but it began to decline in the 4th century when Buddhism came to the scene. Both religions borrowed jargons and religious ideas from one another. On the whole, Chinese folk religion is an amalgamation of Taoism and Buddhism.
A Christian couple had the chance to share the saving grace of Jesus Christ with a Chinese lady. Based on her conversation, they could tell she was still hugely affected by Chinese folk religion. As for numerous Chinese around the world, whether they are aware or not, their belief is affected by Chinese folk religion.
John 3:16 speaks of Jesus Christ as God’s only Son and the Redeemer of all human beings. What would believers of Chinese folk religion respond If you shared this Bible verse with them? As Chinese folk religion believers believe in many gods and goddesses, they might treat Jesus Christ as one of the many deities.
Cultural Muslims
Based on the figures of 2022, there are 1.9 billion of Muslims, roughly speaking, one-fourth of the population of the whole world. As you can see, Islam is a huge religious body in the world.
Although Islam has a great population of believers, some of them are simply cultural Muslims, or nominal Muslims. They are individuals who identify as Muslims but are not religious and do not practice the faith.
Islam has its strong culture and it plays a strong role in the lives of practicing and non-practicing Muslims. If a person is born into a Muslim family, he or she will be identified as a Muslim. Most likely, regardless of how religious he or she is, he or she will marry a Muslim.
According to the Islamic teaching, Muhammad is the greatest prophet. Among their endorsed prophets, Jesus is just a minor one. As most Muslims are greatly influenced by their tradition and culture, it is quite hard for them to comprehend that Jesus Christ is God and the Saviour of all humans.
Cultural Christianity
Christianity has been the dominant force in the Western world for many hundred of years, but it is not so anymore. For the past hundred years of so, the church in the Western world has been steadily in the decline, and secularism has taken its place and become the dominant force.
That said, Christianity still has its foothold in many arenas in the West. Under the Christian umbrella, she has cultured many cultural or nominal Christians.
Among the many famous cultural Christians, Richard Dawkins is one of them. He is a British evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. Even while denying the Christian faith, Dawkins has publicly called himself a “cultural Christian.” Another famous cultural Christian is Liz Truss, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Do you know she is one of the record holders in British history? On her fiftieth day in office, she resigned amid a government crisis, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Liz Truss once said, “I share the values of the Christian faith and the Church of England, but I’m not a regular practising religious person.”
What are cultural Christians? Some individuals call themselves “Christians” because of family background, personal experience, country of residence, or social environment. Some people differentiate themselves from other religions, thus they identify themselves as Christians. Cultural Christians wear the label “Christian,” but do not believe the biblical teachings and live out the Christian faith.
What do cultural Christians usually deny? First, they often deny the inspiration of the Bible, that is, they do not believe the Scripture is true in any ways. Second, they neglect and downplay the importance of repentance as the first step of knowing God. Third, they stress on the love and the acceptance of Jesus Christ, but downplay the importance of His teaching on hell, obedience and self-sacrifice. Fourth, they see Jesus as a social reformer, rather than God’s Son and Saviour.
- Belief as Religious Knowledge
All through history and around the world, almost every religion states that its own deities and doctrines are the only absolute truths. In a word, they proclaim their religious knowledge systems offer answers to fundamental questions about God and the meaning of human life. In a word, religion is all about knowledge. In other words, belief equates knowledge.
Mysterious Knowledge
Through the ages, some people often crave for mystery religions. Oftentimes, people were initiated into mystery religions through strange rituals. And because of that, these beginners would then receive secret divine knowledge, and they would gain direct access to the transcendent realities.
Gnostics
Take the example of Gnostics. In the second-century AD, some individuals thought they could only be saved through special revealed knowledge. These advocates and their followers are called Gnostics, who also held a negative view of the physical or material world. Early church fathers condemned Gnosticism as heresy.
These Gnostics strived to gain gnosis, or revealed knowledge, as the basis for their own salvation. To sum it up, their belief encompasses this kind of so-called revealed knowledge.
Head Knowledge
The synagogue as an institution is established after during the Babylonian exile following the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BC. As the Temple was destroyed, the Jewish faithful were suddenly cut off from traditional ways of celebrating the holy days, seeking God’s grace and forgiveness. Because of these reasons, synagogues were established within the Jewish communities. The synagogue is very important to them because its major functions as a house of assembly, a house of prayer and a house of study. As a house of study, people are taught how to read and perhaps even to expound the Hebrew Scriptures. Jewish people value education and learning the Hebrew Bible is their prime goal in life.
Christians value educating their followers as well. Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox Christians all have their own catechism as part of their religious instruction. Catechism is a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers. This kind of manual of Christian doctrine provides instructions to children and adults before baptism. As for most Christian churches, they have Sunday School, discipleship programmes and small group learning for children, teenagers and adults. However, most of these churches stress upon head knowledge.
Almost all religions emphasise seeking knowledge by studying their religious texts. I agree religious knowledge is important, but the question I ask is: “Can we only equate belief with knowledge?”
- Belief as Wishful Thinking
Some people think they can earn themselves a place in heaven by good deeds. They consider themselves as honest and good people, therefore they deserve to go to heaven after they die.
According to an old poll, quite a lot of Catholics and even some Protestants sincerely believe that if people are generally good, or do enough good things for others during their lives, they will earn a place in heaven. In other words, they believe people can go to heaven by good works.
Most religions stress on the importance of morality, and almost every faith teach their followers that they can be saved by being good people.
Greg Mortenson, professional speaker, says,“Do one good deed everyday and the world will be a better place.” I truly agree with him. However, human nature is full of imperfections, and most men and women are forgetful as well. We know we should be good to other people, but we don’t have the capability of doing so. We understand we have to be a good person, but oftentimes we forget all about it. As many of us have off days as being good people, we simply cannot save ourselves by being good.
According to one of the foundational truths of the Christian faith, no one can be saved by good works. The apostle Paul affirmatively says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV)
Under the spotlight of the Bible, earning their place in heaven by means of being good people is simply a wishful thinking. Saving themselves by their good works is believing what they want to be true is without any biblical support.
Salvation by Faith Alone
Like I said earlier, the Bible teaches salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are thankful that Christians are not saved by good works.
Let me make up a few exaggerated examples. As churchgoers, we often critique the pastors for their preaching. If a pastor preaches with big words and often quotes a lot of Bible verses, church members call him showy. If a preacher shares a personal and down-to-earth message with his audience, some listeners might think it is overly simple. Not only that, church leaders and their spouses pick on pastors’ wives as well. If a pastor’s wife dresses nicely, some critical people might call her extravagant. If she does not put on makeup and dresses moderately, some people might snub her by calling her an old-fashioned woman. Many outsiders and insiders of the Christian faith call the church a hub of gossip and hypocrisy. Numerous non-Christians criticise a lot of so-called Christians as hypocrites, and stated that they were the stumbling blocks to Christianity. On behalf of all churchgoers, I sincerely apologise to you. I am not making any excuse, if Christians are saved by good works, not a single person will be saved.
Missing the Mark
What is sin? According to the Greek word used in the Romans 5:8, the word “sinners” means “to miss the mark.” Take the example of archery. No matter how good he or she is an archer, and no matter how hard he or she tries over and over again, his or her arrows will definitely miss the bullseye. All human beings in the world are imperfect and they have sinned and keep on sinning till their final breath on earth. So, based on the revelation of God’s Word, how can a person dare to say that he or she can earn a place in heaven by his or her good works?
One Way to Salvation
Not only human beings cannot enter heaven by their own good works, but there is only one way to salvation. Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.
Jesus Christ clearly proclaims that He is the only way to salvation (John 14:6) Redemption in Jesus Christ is never based on any kind of good works. Definitely, good works cannot save us, but faith in Jesus Christ will (Romans 3:21–26).
What makes the Christian faith different to other religions? According to the Bible, Christians believe humankind are saved by God’s grace while all other religions, if they believe in salvation at all, teach some kind of salvation by good works.
Definitely, Christians should do good works, but good conduct do not precede salvation, instead good thoughts, good words and good deeds follow it.
As to many people around the world, they see belief as wishful thinking. On the contrary, the Christian faith is not wishful thinking, but an assurance that believers can be saved by the salvation of Jesus Christ.
- Belief as Uncertainty
The world is full of skeptics. Skepticism comes in all sorts of forms, shapes and sizes. Many people are skeptical of modern technology. As for me, I am always skeptical of the reliability of big and small home appliances. Over the years, I purchased many appliances which supposed to be long-lasting, but they broke down not long after the warranties expired. Numerous religious believers are skeptical of their own religious scripture. They often question religious authority but are not necessarily against their belief.
Some skeptics often say, “It exists when you believe, otherwise it is not.” Concerning all these religious skeptics, they say this because they think belief or religion as uncertainty.
- Belief as Trust in Jesus Christ
John 3:16 is a classic verse of the Bible, for it states that the Good News of Jesus Christ, that is, God’s gracious redemptive plan, is for all people. In a nutshell, God’s gracious salvation, justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ, is for all cultural, racial and ethnic groups.
Jesus Christ commands His followers to preach the Good News to everyone. (Mark 16:15 NLT; Matthew 28:19–20) Also, Christians understand very well that the Gospel is for everyone. As for this very reason, throughout church history, the followers of Jesus Christ preached and continue to preach the Good News to all cultural, racial and ethnic groups.
For the sake of the Gospel, many Christians suffered and martyred in hostile lands. For the fulfilment of God’s love for all people in the world, missionaries had to learn new languages and adapted to new cultures. I am honoured to know several veteran missionaries. A few of them could speak fluent Cantonese and Mandarin. If you heard them speaking Chinese without seeing their faces, you would not know they were non-Chinese.
Believe as Receive
The author of John says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. (John 1:12 ESV)
The two terms that John used were “receive” and “believe”. In this verse, believe is seen as a synonym of receive.
The Gospel of John defines what is meant by believing in Jesus Christ. When a person believes in Jesus Christ, he or she receives God’s Son into his or her life. It is like receiving a gift. When we receive a gift, we own it.
When we talk about Christmas, we often associate it with Christmas gifts. In many Christmas parties, the exchanging of gifts is one of the must activities. However, Christmas is not about parties and gifts, but instead the greatest gift that God has gifted the world. Jesus Christ was born on Christmas as a baby. He lived on earth for about thirty-three years and finally died on the cross for humanity. Jesus Christ is the greatest gift for all of us. When people receive Him as Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ will belong to them, and vice versa. Can you remember the most expensive and memorable gift that you have received so far? God has gifted us Jesus Christ, His one and only Son. Can you imagine Jesus Christ can become our most precious possession?
Believe is a distinctive theme in the Gospel of John. The word “believe” starts in the first chapter.
To believe in Jesus means accepting Him as Lord and Saviour. When people did so, they immediately became children of God. The verb “become” implies a change of nature. The decision of believing in Jesus will attain a spiritual result. The Greek word “children” emphasises vital origin and is used as a term of endearment (cf. Luke 15:31). Believers in Christ are God’s “little ones,” related to Him by spiritual birth. The relation between God and believers in Christ is spiritual, not biological.
One key thing is that believe in Jesus Christ consists of accepting Him as Lord and Saviour, but not doing something. There are only two religions, or two categories of religions, in this world. One is religion of good works; this group of people think they can earn a place in heaven by their own good works. The other group is the Christian faith. Christians sternly believe we can be saved because of God’s grace and not because of our good behaviour.
Believe in the Person of Jesus Christ
John 3:16 states it very clearly that a person must believe in Jesus. It states the only proper object of saving faith is Jesus Christ. Christ alone is the object of Christian faith.
Many people believe something for the wrong reason. There are quite a lot of wishy-washy so-called Christians in churches nowadays. Not only they do not understand the meaning of following Christ, they also place their faith in the wrong object. Don’t be surprised that some individuals place their faith in a pastor, or an elder, or a deacon, or a creed. Placing their faith in the wrong object cannot save them, but only Jesus Christ can save us.
Believe and Head Knowledge
10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. (John 1:10 ESV)
John states that the world does not know Jesus Christ. Knowing is a relational idea in the Gospel of John. The believing and knowing that John talks about does not stress “head-type” information.
For sure, we need head knowledge to be saved. What I meant by head knowledge are the facts about Jesus Christ. Two foundational truths of saving faith are knowledge of Christ’s person and His saving work. Dear friends, you must get to know the facts about Jesus and His salvation before you can become a believer.
Believe and Heart Knowledge
Some Christian educators speak of the importance of heart knowledge. In order to impact behaviour, teaching must reach beyond simple head knowledge to touch the heart. In other words, these cognitive and affective levels of learning are doorways to a changed life.
Head knowledge is important to Christians, and so is heart knowledge. Heart knowledge, or experiential knowledge, if not more important, but at least equally important. In Christian faith, head and heart knowledge must go hand in hand.
Let me use John 3 to speak of head and heart knowledge. Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader, went to Jesus and sought to know who He really was. Jesus didn’t respond to Nicodemus’ quest for His identity, but talked to this religious leader about the significance of the second birth. Obviously Nicodemus did not have a clue about what Jesus was talking about. As a religious authority, Nicodemus has plenty of head knowledge about the Jewish faith, but what he lacked was experiential or heart knowledge of the second birth.
The Lord Jesus reveals that the second birth experience of believers is the work of God’s Spirit. In John 16:8, the Lord discloses the facts that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. (John 16:8) God’s Spirit will reveal people’s sinful condition, their need to repent of their sins, and their need to turn to Jesus for salvation.
When one places his or her faith in Jesus Christ, the believer will immediately receive the Holy Spirit and the adoption of sonship. The adoption of sonship is God’s work wherein He declares regenerated believers to be His beloved sons and daughters and welcomes them into His eternal family. Right away, they know and address God as their Father, because God’s Spirit joins with their spirit to affirm that they are His children (Romans 8:15–16).
You may have the head knowledge that Jesus Christ is God’s only Son and the Saviour of all humankind, but you simply cannot stop there. The most important step that you should take is to place your faith in Jesus Christ so that you can experience the second birth.
Belief Is a Personal Decision
John 3:16 speaks of a belief that involves a personal decision. The acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour is an individual and not a corporate matter.
There is a popular saying in the Christian circle that goes something like this: “God has no grandchildren but only children.” What does it mean? Let me illustrate with the following example.
We have a lot MKs and PKs in local churches. MK stands for missionary’s kids and PK represents pastor’s kids. We can’t assume all MKs and PKs are born-again Christians. Throughout church history, uncountable MKs and PKs have ended up as atheists, or agnostics, or advocates of anti-Christian teaching. Sadly, many MKs, PKs and individuals have plenty of head knowledge about the Christian faith, but they have never experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
It is true that God has no grandchildren, for only a spiritual second birth creates a child of God. In conclusion, a person willl have a direct relationship with God only through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Belief is Putting One’s Trust in the Person and Power of Jesus Christ
John says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12 ESV)
He told the readers to put their trust in Jesus’ name. In the Ancient Middle East, a name denotes the totality of a person. By believing in Jesus’ name, it means we submit to His authority and His viewpoints. In short, it is total dedication to Jesus Christ.
Dear friends, you might have the head knowledge about Jesus that He is the Messiah and Saviour of the world, but do you want to attain heart knowledge about Him? If you commit your life to Him right now, for sure you will gain experiential knowledge about Him.
Christian friends, since you have ample head and heart knowledge about Jesus Christ, would you help you non-believing friends, colleagues, relatives and family members to know Jesus?
Kenneth Thumb Ministry 譚約珥事工 