What's the Difference Between Believing God and Believing in God?

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, and let's once again get right back where we left off, Romans chapter 4. And for those of you joining us on television, I have to constantly remind myself that we have new listeners every week, and it's been a long time since we've kind of explained who we are and what we are. We are not associated with any group, although I certainly have my own church background, but they have nothing to do with the television program, and we're independent. We have no connections with anyone. We're not underwritten. We just totally rely on God's people to supply the funds. But we do not try to twist arms out of one group and into another. We're just here to teach the book, and I'm so thrilled that we can get letters from all different backgrounds that they're learning. And after all, that's the only reason we teach, is that we want folk to be able to study and read their Bible and understand it. I had a gentleman again a while back say, you know, Les, he said, for years I would pick up this Bible and I would try to read it. I couldn't understand it, and I'd put it on the shelf, and then months later I'd get to feel kind of guilty. I hadn't read my Bible. And he said, I'd read it. Couldn't get anything out of it. But he said, since I've understood your line of teaching, he said, I can just revel in reading my Bible. Well, that's all we want to do. We aren't here to try to run anyone else down or to convince someone that they're wrong and we're right. That's not the idea. And I don't expect everyone to agree with everything I teach. That's only human nature. But whatever, we trust that we can avoid error. We want to stay as true to the Word as we possibly can. All right, now I'm going to take you directly into Romans chapter 4, verse 1, where Paul is now going to come back to Abraham. Now, Abraham is one of the Old Testament characters that Paul alludes to, probably more than anyone else. And in Galatians, he will even say that we who are children of faith are also then the children of Abraham. Boy, that's thrown a curve at a lot of people. Well, does that mean that when you become a Christian, you become a Jew? Why, heavens no. A Gentile is a Gentile, and our salvation doesn't make a Jew out of us whatsoever. But it's just that Abraham was saved by faith plus nothing, see? Abraham didn't sacrifice. Abraham didn't practice circumcision. Abraham didn't have law. Abraham simply did what God said to do. So he was saved by faith plus nothing. And that's where we are. And so that's the connection, that even as Abraham was saved without benefit of law, sacrifice, circumcision, or any of those things, so we too enter in by faith alone. And so consequently, Paul uses Abraham over and over. Now here we have it in chapter 4, verse 1. What shall we say then? That Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, in other words, as a Jew, and of course that question came up during break time. It's a good question. What was Abraham by birth? The Jewish nation wasn't on the scene yet. So what was he? That's right, Pat. He was a Syrian. He had two brothers, you remember, that were up there in Syria, Haran and... who was the other one? Haran, and I just had a little bit ago. But anyhow, those two brothers were Syrians. But Abraham then, by virtue of his call and by virtue of his covenant promises, becomes the father of the Hebrew nation. But his blood didn't change. He was still genetically a Syrian. So, even though Scripture considers Abraham the father of the Jewish race, and consequently we consider him as first Jew, genetically Isaac would be the first son of promise, and would be then what we would call the first real Jew by birth. But whatever, Abraham by his birth was Syrian, and he came out of Ur of the Chaldees, you remember, and then came down into the land of promise. Alright, what shall we say then as pertaining to our father, as our father Abraham, pertaining to the flesh, hath found? Verse 2, for if Abraham were justified by works... Now isn't that amazing? Paul isn't leaving that word justification behind yet. He is still dealing with his whole business of justification. And in order to clarify it, he's going to come back and use a character from the Old Testament that just about everybody has at least heard of, and most Bible people will know who he was and what the circumstances. And so he becomes an ideal example of a man who was justified, means the same thing back then as it does today. He was declared as if he had never sinned. If Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. And then it goes back to what I said in the last program. My, if Abraham would have been given the ability or the freedom to boast, or to glory, boy, he would have had a lot to talk about. Because after all, Abraham became a great man. He's known throughout all of history. But he couldn't boast one word before God, see? You know, I'm always reminded of Job. Ah, here's another one. This comes in for free. Go all the way back to the book of Job. Sometimes these things, I think, just add a little salt and pepper to a lesson. Didn't intend to do this, but let's come back to Job chapter 38. I think I may have done it once before on the program. Once in a while I'll do it in my classes. But you see, Job, poor fellow, was in a dilemma, wasn't he? Here he had been living a righteous life. He was the pillar of his community. And yet all of a sudden God permitted Satan to strike him and took away everything that he had. You all know the story of Job. And then his three, quote, unquote, friends came along and told Job the reason for all his problems was this, that, and everything else. But yet you don't get to the crux of Job's problem, I don't think, until you get to chapter 38. And Job did have one. We don't like to admit that. We like to think that Job was perfect. No, he wasn't. Had he been perfect, I don't think all these things would have befallen him. But God had a tremendous lesson, even for Job. And you see, he could have said the same thing about Abraham. But right here in Job 38, verse 1, the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and he said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Who is he referring to? Well, his friends. Oh, with all their high, confluting philosophical language, it was just gibberish. He said, What are these guys who try to spew out all this stuff without any knowledge? Verse 3. Now, you know, I'm glad I wasn't in Job's shoes. This would have been kind of uncomfortable. And God says to Job, Gird up now thy loins like a man. In other words, what's he saying? Hey, don't be a wimp. Don't sit there and quiver. Stand up like a man. I've got some things I want to ask you, Job. I will demand of thee, and I want you to answer me. Verse 4. Oh, boy, now this is what I call lower in the boom. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. You see what God is doing? He is putting Job in the place of not being able to say a word. He didn't know how creation happened. He couldn't tell God how he did it. But God says, tell me if you know. Well, what's implied? He thought he knew a lot, see? All right, read on. Verse 5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Who stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Who laid the cornerstone thereof? See? What could Job answer? I don't know. I don't know. But up until this time, Job thought he was a pretty important person. And, of course, he had been. All right, now, all this I'm just trying to show the same way with Abraham. Abraham was a man of stature in his day and time. And yet, when he came before God, could he boast? No. He had nothing going for him. And again, all he could do was be a man of faith. And that's the lesson, I think, that the Scripture is trying to show. And I'll come back quickly again to Romans 4. I think I made my point. But now verse 3. For what saith the Scripture? See? Remember what I said in the last program, or maybe the one before? When we come before God someday, He's not going to ask us, Were you obedient to your denomination? Did you obey their dogma? No. He's going to confront us with the Word, and nothing but. And so here's where we have to be careful. What saith the Scripture? Not what anyone else says. Not what some philosopher says. What does the book say? Now, you know, I like this. Paul uses this over and over. Turn with me a minute to Galatians. Now, this is not a quirk. This happens over and over in Scripture. Galatians chapter 4, verse 30. Galatians 4, verse 30. You all with me? Galatians 4, verse 30. Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? See? That's what counts. Nothing else. What does the Scripture say? And that's where we have to prepare ourselves for when we meet Him one day. I'll remember years and years ago, I guess the Lord was already preparing me to teach. But we had a young couple that started attending our church, and that's when we were still up in Iowa. And they were from two totally opposite denominational backgrounds. And naturally they were having some problems in their home life and everything else because of these divergent views. So they had been attending our services somewhat, and our pastor asked me one day if I would just go out and teach that couple on a one-on-one basis. Well, I'd never done anything like that before, and I was probably shaking in my boots, but I'll never forget what a tremendous learning experience that was. Because when we sat down at their kitchen table and I began to open the Scriptures as best I could, she immediately backed away and she said, Now wait a minute, Les. She said, We have always been taught we don't go by what any book says. We go by what our church teaches. Whoa! What's this poor old farmer going to do with something like that? I'd never been confronted with that before. I thought everybody went by what the book said. But she was quite adamant, and it took me almost all evening to convince her that whatever church, any denomination that anyone belonged to, those are men. Those are human beings. But this is the Creator God speaking. So we finally brought her around to it. They both came to know the Lord. But you see, there are so many people even today that's the first thing they're going to tell you. Well, I don't care what you say. I go by what my church says. Well, if what their church says lines up with the book, fine. But if it doesn't, hey, they're in trouble. They're going to be in eternal trouble, let's be honest. All right? So what sayeth the Scripture? Now I'm back in Romans, chapter 4, verse 3. The Scripture says that Abraham believed God. Now I've put this on the board more than once over the last five years, and I'll put it up again. The tremendous difference between— I'll try to make this big enough, because when I review these, I always think, well, people cannot read that. The difference between believing God— you already know what I'm going to put up here, don't you? And the difference between believing God and believing in God. Now, at first glance, the average individual will say, what's the difference? Just one little preposition. Hey, it's all the difference in the world. This is the difference between heaven and hell, beloved, because, see, the world out there believe in God for the most part. I read a survey again the other day. Eighty-some percent of American people believe in God. They believe in prayer, but they know nothing of believing God. Because, you see, when you believe in God, you just recognize that He's up there, that He is in control or whatever. But when you believe God, then you become a person of what? Faith! You see the difference? When you believe God, now you're taking what He has said and you're believing it. That's faith. When you simply believe in God, you're just recognizing His presence. All the difference in the world. And here it is. Abraham didn't believe in God. He what? He believed God. In other words, when God said it, Abraham believed it. That's the beauty of it, see? He believed God, and as soon... Now, this is amazing. Now, Abraham was a pagan, remember. Abraham was an idolater. You don't believe me? Hey, I've got to show you. Come all the way back. Come all the way back. A lot of people don't believe these things until they see it with their own eyes. Come back to Joshua, chapter 1. No? Thought it was Joshua, last chapter then. Yeah, chapter 24. Joshua, chapter 24, verse 2. Joshua 24, verse 2. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. In other words, this is absolute truth when God speaks it. This wasn't just a quirk of a genealogical family tree. This was God speaking. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers, your forefathers, dwelled on the other side of the river, instead of flood. Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, the father of Nahor, and they, the whole family, served what? Other gods. They were idolaters. Now you want to remember, you're only about 200 years after the Tower of Babel, and like I mentioned in one of my previous programs, I've made the statement that at this time there wasn't a single believer in the one true God left. And then somebody wrote or called and said, well, what about Seth? Evidently he was still living. Well, we'll let Seth go by. But other than that, the whole world was steeped in idolatry, including Abraham's family. And that's why God had to say in Genesis chapter 12, leave your family, leave your city, and go to a land that I will show you. Now when God said that, now you're back here this far anyway, you might as well come back with me to Genesis. Chapter 12, verse 1. So into this idolatrous home, into this idolatrous pagan city of Ur, God in His grace again, just about like He did with Saul on the road to Damascus, God in His grace reaches down to one man, one man, Abraham. And look what it says. And the Lord had said, back in chapter 11, get thee out of thy country, from thy kindred, see that, in order to make the break with idolatry, from thy father's house, and unto a land that I will show thee. Now we know from the Scripture that when God said to do all that, what did Abraham do? Well, he did it. In response to what? Faith, faith. And now come back to Romans chapter 4, and you see, even though salvation is so profound and it is so complex, yet it's so simple. It's simple when we first enter in. A child can understand it. But you see, as we grow in our faith as a believer, we begin to realize how complex it all is. We'll never plumb the depths of it. It's impossible. I've said it in a program before. I can't comprehend that the creator of the universe permitted those Roman soldiers to nail him to that wooden cross and raise it up. I can't comprehend it, but he did. I can't comprehend how the God of creation hung there and suffered and shed his divine blood to be buried and to be raised from the dead just for me, just for you. See, and I always make this point to believers. If you would have been the only person on earth, Christ would have still gone through the work of the cross. See, and that's what we call a personal salvation. And we have to understand that, that Christ didn't just put the human race under an umbrella. He died for every individual. And that's why it becomes an individual responsibility then to believe the gospel. All right, let's read on. Verse 3. So what did the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it, now what does that modify? His believing. It modifies believing. It was counted unto him for what? Righteousness. Simple, isn't it? Just by simply believing what God said to the man and left her, God imputed unto him the very righteousness of God himself. And he could now look at Abraham and say, Abram, so far as I'm concerned, you've never sinned. You're justified. And what had he done? Nothing. He believed. Now as a result of his believing, what did he do? He left town. No doubt about it. But it was his believing that put him in a right standing with God. All right, now verse 4. It's just constant, almost repetition here. Now to him that worketh. In other words, tries to merit favor with God. Now we're talking about salvation. We're not talking about Christian experience. We're not talking about Christian works and all that. We're talking about salvation. So now to him that worketh is the reward, that is of salvation, not reckoned of grace, but of what? Death. But who are we going to put in debt if we're going to do this with works? God. See? And you'll never put God in debt. He's beyond that. But see, that's what the human race is still trying to do. They're trying to say, but God, I've done all this and I've done that. You owe it to me to let me into your heaven. No, he doesn't. No, he doesn't. He'll never owe any man anything, not even a righteous man like Abraham. And so this is where we have to come to, and I don't care what background you may come from. That's beside the point. We have to understand that we're all sinners by virtue of being born from Adam, and that only remedy for our sin is the gospel, that Christ died, was buried, shed his blood, and rose from the dead. And when we believe it, just like when God saw Abraham believe, God imputes to us his righteousness. None of our. It's all of his. All right? Now verse 5. We've only got a little bit of time left. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him who justifies. What kind of people? Ungodly. All that flies in the face of human reasoning, doesn't it? But that's the only person God can deal with, is the one who recognizes that he's ungodly. God can't work with a person who says, Hey, I'm pretty good. He just can't do a thing with that person. His hands are tied. I was thinking of an analogy again, I think, last night, and I've used it before in some of my classes. I don't know if I have here on the program, but you take a swimming pool full of kids on a hot summer day. They're screaming, and they're playing, and they're just having a ball. And the lifeguard sits up here, seemingly oblivious, if you were to just watch him or her for a little bit. But if they're doing their job, they're not. And out of all that screaming, and hollering, and yelling, what can they hear in an instant? Just a little plea for help. And immediately that lifeguard is in the water, bringing salvation to that drowning kid. That's exactly where God is. He looks at this whole world with all of its activity, with all of its turmoil, with all of its commotion. But what's his ear constantly attuned to? That sinner that cries out, Lord, save me. And at that moment, he's there, instantly. But he can't until we cry out for help. Now come back to our lifeguard again. What if one of those kids who's just having a ball, even though they're in deep water, and they're in no trouble, they're having a ball. What if the lifeguard should dive in and swim up and say, I'm going to take you to the edge of the pool or bring you in. What would that kid think? Hey, I don't need you. What are you doing here with me? I'm all right. Now you see, it's the same way in the spiritual realm. God isn't going to go in and try to save the person that says, I have no need. He'd be totally rejected if he tried. So what does he wait for? That cry for help. You know, the Lord said it himself, the healthy person doesn't need a physician. But who does? The sick one. And it's the same way spiritually. See, when we realize our need and we cry from the heart for salvation, God is there in that split second. And it's all based on, can we believe it? Do you have that kind of faith? That yes, the God of creation took on human flesh, went to the cross, suffered, died, shed his blood as full payment for our redemption, and then rose victoriously over sin and death and the old devil himself, and now is able to impart eternal life. All right, and I'm not going to finish verse five, but we'll go another few seconds. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him who justifies the ungodly. The ungodly. Now, you see, most people don't like to admit that they're ungodly. But all the letters UN mean is without God. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.