OverlapStudy guideReading the Bible
"Belief in Christ" means more than you probably think
By the end of this guide you will be able to read the word "faith" the way the New Testament writers used it, as trust you put your whole weight on, and see how that one word reaches every hour of your week and every inch of eternity.
By Tim Barber·
Photo by Tanya Nikan on Unsplash
A study companion to the video
“Belief in Christ” means a LOT MORE than you probably think.
Watch it first if you can, then read with your Bible open.
Start here
This is a companion to the video "'Belief in Christ' means MORE than you probably think." It is for two people in particular. The first was told, somewhere along the way, that faith means believing what you cannot prove, and has been treating every honest question since then as evidence of a failing faith. The second said yes to Jesus years ago and has been carrying around a nagging sense that the yes never reached the rest of the week: the job, the marriage, the body, the bank account. If either of those is you, this guide was written with you in mind, and I think the text has better news for you than you were handed.
How to use it: watch the video first if you can. Then open your Bible to Hebrews 11 and keep it open beside you, because we will spend a long time there. Read "The teaching" straight through; it carries the whole argument on its own. Then work "The passages" slowly, with a pen, and check every quotation against your own Bible. Two of the checks in this guide take only a phone and sixty seconds, and they are worth doing. Save "Questions to sit with" for last, and answer them on paper.
One thing before we start. Being right about the meaning of a Greek word does not save anyone. Faith in Jesus does, and by the end of this guide you will see that the smallest genuine trust is enough. I have friends all over the map on how faith and works fit together, people who love the Lord and love others, and none of us should break with a brother or sister over it. So hold this study gently. Be convinced by the text where the text convinces you, and stay kind toward everyone who reads it differently.
It matters because what you think "believe" means decides what you do with your doubts and what you do with your ordinary days. If faith is agreeing with a list, then a question feels like a betrayal and a normal week feels like it has nothing to do with God. If faith is trust with your weight on it, then honest questions are part of trusting, and every hour you are awake is a place to put your weight down. Same word, two very different lives.
Up next
Now to the passages themselves. Read each one slowly, in full, with your Bible open beside you.
Unlock the full guide
Get the whole study guide
Seven more sections: the teaching, key terms, the glossary, every passage in full, questions to sit with, where to go deeper, and a PDF you can print.
The next step is a conversation. Bring what you wrote to the community, or go back to the video.
