Clinton Chisholm | Behaving is believing

Ephesians 4:25-32

WHAT I am about to say might shock, surprise or puzzle some of you, but it remains a truth that you must reckon with anyway. It is this, as far as the New Testament is concerned, the opposite of spiritual ignorance is not knowledge, but obedience, hence what we really know or believe spiritually is best detected not from our lips, but from our lives.

Put differently and more simply, behaving is believing, behaving is knowing, and that remains true whether we are talking about understanding and cultivating holiness in general or heeding the specific exhortations in our text.

I want to paint a background against which we’ll analyse the specific behavioural demands of our text. J. P. Moreland has said it quite well, “Beliefs are the rails upon which our lives run. We almost always act according to what we really believe. It doesn’t matter much what we say we believe or what we want others to think we believe. When the rubber meets the road we act out our actual beliefs most of the time.” (J.P. Moreland in Love Your God With All Your Mind, p. 73)

There are three fundamental aspects of belief that impact on behaviour that ought to be constantly, not occasionally, examined and kept as they ought to be kept.

Outline: 1. The Content of a Belief; 2. The Strength of a Belief; 3. The Centrality of a Belief

1. THE CONTENT OF A BELIEF

What we believe matters much to how we live daily. The actual stuff of what we believe concerning values, truth, God, politics, et cetera, will shape how our lives are lived from day to day.

We must reject the popular view that it does not matter what you believe if you believe it sincerely and fervently. It is critical to believe sincerely and fervently what you do believe, but what you do in fact really believe, the content of your belief is also critical!

I could believe sincerely and fervently that I am the prime minister of Jamaica, but the crucial issue is ‘does that belief correspond with reality, does it fit the facts of life as we know them now, is the belief true? So, we must examine the content, the stuff of a belief for truth with reality.

One of the amazing realities of modern Christianity is that Christians, at times don’t seem to realise that we are not free to believe ‘what we like’, but to believe what the Bible teaches! Sometimes we believe contrary to what the Bible teaches and don’t seem to realise the implications of that for our daily lives!

The Church in Corinth was in a behavioural mess because their beliefs were in a mess. Swallowing, uncritically, ideas that were popular in their culture they ended up living questionable lives not because they were ‘wicked and bad’, but because they did not realise the critical link between believing and behaving.

Behaving is really believing and really believing is behaving so check the content of your belief! What you claim you believe is not the key issue. What you want others to think you believe is not the key issue. What you really, deep down believe is the key issue. But since sometimes we ourselves do not know what we really believe, the rule of thumb I am suggesting is this: How you behave is almost always fool-proof indication of what you really believe. So then, BEHAVING IS BELIEVING!!

It is not a comforting thought to dwell on, but it is something that we need to ponder seriously: bad habits, besetting or frequent sins, areas of spiritual weakness testify loudly about what we really believe.

What do you really believe about truth-telling, honesty, sexual purity, growing in Christ, commitment in service and any other area of life that you regard as very crucial? CHECK YOUR BEHAVIOUR IN THOSE AREAS AND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY BELIEVE.

The mind is the control tower of the life and the essential furniture of the mind are beliefs, so the transformation of the life will depend on the transformation of the mind through transformation of its beliefs. Sound teaching is crucial.

If you desire to radicalise your behaviour positively for God, then take time out to examine and, if needs be, bring the content of your belief in line with the truth of God’s Word.

There is a second aspect of our belief that needs serious examination if we would transform our behaviour.

2. THE STRENGTH OF A BELIEF

Believing a thing is not the same as certainty that the thing is true, but it means that you are more than 50 per cent convinced that that thing is true. If you are in a 50-50 position then you are still trying to decide if you believe it. Once you can say you believe it you are at least 51 per cent convinced about it.

The strength of a belief, says Moreland, is the degree of conviction you have concerning the truth of that belief.

There is a series of options towards certainty that I use. A thing may be possible, or better still probable, better still likely or even better still certain. This series is growing in strength of conviction based on the evidence or support available.

The more evidence and support you have for a belief, the more the strength of the belief grows. I quote Moreland again, “The more certain you are of a belief, the more it becomes a part of your very soul and the more you rely on it as a basis for action.” (p.74).