What Does It Mean To Trust God?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TRUST GOD?

Whether you have grown up in church or you were just recently introduced to Christianity, you've likely heard the words "belief” and “faith." You've also likely heard that believing in, or having faith in, Jesus is how you're saved and become a Christian. Perhaps one of the most widely known Bible verses is John 3.16, which says,

"For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

The natural question, then, is, 'What does it mean to believe in Jesus?' Is it simply believing that He exists, or does it involve more than that?

In the New Testament, the Greek word for "belief" is the same word for “faith,” and it's also the same word for "trust." Using that third word, the word “trust" can help us better understand what Jesus is calling us to when He asks us to believe in Him. Trusting Christ means believing He exists, believing He is who He says He is, and believing He did what He said He did.

We can only truly trust someone when we believe the right things about them. And in Jesus's case, this means believing that He is truly the Son of God, the promised Messiah. It means believing that He took on human flesh, died for our sins, rose from the dead three days later, sits enthroned at the right hand of God, and is coming again.

We must believe all of these things to truly trust in Jesus, but trust also goes beyond mere head knowledge. It's important that we pause here for a moment and consider an important distinction that must be made between trusting Christ for your initial salvation and trusting Him every day afterward.

First, you must trust Christ for salvation an event that happens once in the life of a Christian. This involves recognizing your sin and your inability to save yourself from it. You recognise that you are unable to be in the presence of a holy and good God, and therefore, you need Christ's sacrifice to pay the penalty of sin on your behalf.

Then, by trusting that Jesus's death and resurrection cover your sin and make it possible for you to be with God for eternity, you are saved. This salvation counts for you once and for all.

Then, you must learn to trust Christ in the day-to-day. This process is much like trusting a friend or a teacher, it involves believing that God is good and will act in your best interest for His glory. It involves listening to Him and reading His Word, even when you don't understand. It involves obeying His commandments and trusting that they are for your good. It involves having a relationship with Him, one in which you grow in your knowledge and love of Him and learn to trust Him in all aspects of your life.

From the moment you trust Christ as your Saviour, you enter into a lifelong relationship with Him, a relationship that will continuously present you with further opportunities to trust God in your day-to-day life. As we go through this series of advent thoughts, you'll be encouraged to trust God daily. If you don't yet consider yourself a follower of Jesus, I invite you to take this opportunity to trust Him as your Lord and Saviour and receive the free gift of salvation that He offers you. We encourage you to speak to a Christian in your life about what this looks like for you. However, if you've already taken that first step of trusting Jesus for salvation, then these thoughts will invite you to live out your identity in Christ through your daily decisions (both big and small) so that you may grow to trust God in every aspect of your life.