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Belief

“We hear it frequently remarked that it matters not what one believes if he does right. But if one does not believe right, he does not do the right thing—that is, if his belief is sincere and carried out in practice. If one believes that which is wrong, and still acts otherwise from force of circumstance, he is wrong in heart.” (St. Sebastian Dabovich)


“We learn from this passage [Philippians 1:8-14] that our witness to our faith in Christ should be as open as Paul’s testimony to the Gospel. What we believe and how we act should be “transparent” because it shines through our lives. And this transparency is the result of our choice of what is excellent, that is, what is good and right and true.” (Fr. Basil)


“Believing that God exists is only the beginning; even the demons believe that much (James 2:19-20). God will not settle for mere acknowledgment of his existence. He wants your faith to lead to a personal, dynamic relationship….Do not say that faith in Christ alone can save you, for this is not possible if you do not attain love for Him, which is demonstrated by deeds. As for mere faith: “The demons also believe and tremble” (James 2:19). The action of love consists in heartfelt good deeds toward one’s neighbor, magnanimity, patience and sober use of things.” (Life Application Study Bible, Hebrews 11:6, Saint Maximos the Confessor)


“When one adds up the number of times He [God] spoke in creating the world [Genesis 1], we find that He spoke ten such words of command. This foreshadowed the Ten Commandments (literally the “Ten Words”, Hebrew dabarim, Greek logous). The message, hidden in the text, was that acknowledgment of God as Creator also involved loyalty to Him as Lawgiver and Lord. Acknowledging His power in creating the world counted for nothing if one rebelled against His Law. The demons acknowledge that He is their Creator, but this will not save them (James 2:19). As the Lord Himself said regarding this saving union of faith and works, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46). If we acknowledge God as our Creator, we must also strive to fulfill His Law and do what He commands. Belief in God is barren without obedience.” (Fr. Lawrence Farley)


“We don’t really believe that God saves in the midst of the furnace, as He saved the three Holy Children in Babylon. We think that it is our job, our calling from God, to put out the fire, to stamp out evil, to make the world a better place. We don’t believe that it is God’s will for our righteous souls to be tormented day and night by seeing and hearing of the wicked deeds of those who live around us—even though this is exactly what St. Peter commends about Righteous Lot and gives as an example in his second epistle. We don’t believe that “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment”  Rather, we think it’s our job to right wrong and to fix what is broken, or to escape from the sinful world.”  (Fr. Michael Gillis)


“He [Christ] affirms that the righteous will rise from the dead and live eternally, He links the prospect of everlasting life to Himself: “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25). The Lord further deepens this truth by the use of an unexpected preposition. Although this subtlety is not reflected in most English translations, the Greek text literally reads, “He who believes into Me.” This usage, rarely found outside the New Testament, is a favorite device in apostolic teaching. It emphasizes the spiritual reality that Christians are united to Christ. What does it mean to believe into Christ? Being united with or into the Lord is essential for eternal life (John 11:26). Through our union with Christ we are made righteous (Rom 5:19) and ultimately “raised up with Jesus” (2 Cor 4:14). The implications of believing into Christ change how we live. We are to follow and obey Christ Jesus, placing His will above every other claim and demand. Christian living depends on our relationship with Jesus. Do we invest ourselves in Christ? Do we maintain our relationship with Him and place Him before all others? If so, we live into Christ.” (Dynamis 4/11/2020) “The difference in language of believing in Christ versus believing into Christ is very significant. The former indicates a cognitive assent to the truth whereas the latter is both this plus union and relationship. When people you know say I believe in you, it’s usually because they have gotten to know you well and believe in your abilities, but also believe in you as a person because of their relationship with you. This is why the sacramental life is so important. We are to read the Gospel, study the Scriptures and use the mind God gave us; but we also need to live the sacramental life of the Church to draw close to the Lord completely – body, mind, and soul. Stopping short of this union and relegating our belief to primarily cognition can leave us in a state of incomplete belief and faith.” (Sacramental Living Ministries) “To believe in Christ is to believe that He exists, to believe that He is true and real…We can see from Matthew 8:29 and Acts 11:15 that even the demons know that Jesus exists and believe He is the Son of God. So, while believing in Jesus is important, the New Testament uses the Greek word for “into” for a reason. To believe into Christ is to receive Him and be joined to Him or united with Him. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.” This verse equates believing into His name with receiving Him. So believing into involves something more than a mental knowing or acknowledging; it involves a spiritual receiving.” (Witness Lee) “To believe into Jesus Christ is to receive Him and be united with Him as one.” (Tom Smith) “ ‘He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God’ (John 3:18). What does it mean to believe in the name…the name was considered essential to understanding who the person truly is. To believe in the name is to accept Jesus on the deepest possible level, too know, understand, and believe who He really is, His identity as the only begotten, eternal Son of God.” (Dr. Jeannie Constantinou) “To believe that God exists may be engaging, but to say “I believe in God” is quite another matter. To believe in means to “commit ourselves, each other, and all our life unto Christ our God.” We make this sort of statement in order to submit ourselves wholly to Him in whom we believe. If we are prudent, we submit only after careful consideration, having good cause – and above all out of trust. In committing we take the risk of being wrong, for when we say, “I believe in,” we stake “our whole life.” (Dynamis 5/10/2019)

“...what people believe matters. It affects how they view the world, how they see their place in it, and how they respond to situations and opportunities…we may become self-satisfied in our beliefs to the point that our heart closes against the truth in Christ…Everything evil today stems from not believing. In the past, people believed in God; even the most indifferent ones had at least a bit of faith. Maybe people were simple; maybe they did not understand much of what they heard in church. Some didn’t even know that the Gospels are four; some thought there were twelve, but what faith — what devotion they had!” (David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons, OCPM 5/10/2017, Papa Demetri)

“Replacing doubt with faith starts with the desire to be a believer. We must choose to believe, for desire invites God’s grace to abound…If you don't behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you behave...right living is necessarily connected with right believing; they come one from the other.” (Abbot Tryphon, Fulton J. Sheen, Father Joseph Loya, OSA)

“To live in the tension of being a divine vessel (temptation: pride) and an earthen vessel (temptation: shame) is the paradoxical dance of belief.” (Joy Sawyer)

“For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, that unless I believed, I should not understand." (St. Anselm of Canterbury)


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