What is the difference between beliefs and convictions?

In many corners of our culture, Christianity has come under increasing criticism. Some of that criticism is the result of our culture moving away from many of the foundational beliefs of Christianity. However, some of the criticism is the result of people who claim to be Christians living lives that do not follow the foundational beliefs of Christianity. The criticism is that Christians are hypocrites.

Now when many claim that Christians are hypocrites, they are claiming that many people who profess to be Christians still live their lives in disobedience to the message and teachings of Jesus. And unfortunately, studies have shown a disconnect between what many people who profess to be Christians believe and how they behave.

For example, a Barna study discovered that when measured for other moral behaviors, those who profess to be Christians are not much different from other adults. For example, in the area of inappropriate sexual behavior—of those surveyed who self-identify as ‘evangelical Christians,’ 80 percent say they have had sex”— yet 76 percent of the same group believe sex outside of marriage was wrong.  Moreover, less than 10 percent claimed to possess a view of the world that lined up with the message and teaching of the Bible.

But how can this be? In other words, how can there be such a disconnect between what people who profess to be Christians say they believe and how they behave? To answer that question, we are going to spend the next two weeks at the church where I serve in a sermon series entitled “Convictions”. During this series we are going to discover the difference between beliefs and convictions. During this series, we are going to discover that, as followers of Jesus, we are called not simply to embrace a set of beliefs. Instead, as followers of Jesus we are called to embrace a set of convictions.

During this series, we are going to discover how the difference between beliefs and convictions should shape our behavior. And during this series, we will discover how we are to live out Biblical convictions in a world that is hostile to those convictions. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our head, heart, and hands to move us to have convictions that result in us living lives that reveal and reflect Jesus to the world around us.

Now as we launch into this series, I want us to spend our time together answering the question “What is the difference between Belief and Conviction?” To answer this question, let’s take a minute to define and then contrast beliefs and convictions. When it comes to belief, a clear and simple definition of a belief is that a belief is a feeling that something exists or is true. However, beliefs can change over time. For example, a person could grow up believing that Santa Claus exists on the North Pole, only to change that belief later in life.

In addition, beliefs are often based on personal opinions.  Some people believe that Michigan is the best college football team in the country. Other people believe that Arizona State is the best football team in the country. They would be wrong, but that would be their belief, based on their personal opinion. In addition, a belief tells us what we ought to do. For example, if a person believes that sex before marriage is morally wrong, then that belief tells that person that they should not have sex before marriage.

By contrast, when it comes to convictions, a clear and simple definition of a conviction is a conviction is a firm belief that is so strong that it results in behavior that lines up with the belief. Unlike beliefs, convictions mostly remain without changing over time. In addition, unlike beliefs, a conviction is not based on personal opinions. It requires concrete information. For example, the reason why we have the conviction to not step of the ledge of a ten-story building is due to the fact that there is clear and strong evidence of the reality of gravity. Gravity is not a matter of personal opinion; gravity is a fact based on scientific information and evidence.

Finally, while a belief tells us what we ought to do, a conviction results in us doing what we ought to do. In other words, a conviction is a belief that we hold so strongly that it drives how we behave. You see, our behavior is not about our beliefs; our behavior is about our convictions. What we really believe is revealed by how we behave. And it is our behavior that often betrays what we say we believe to reveal what we truly believe.

It is not enough to say that we believe something to be true. Instead, it is our behavior that reveals what we really believe to be true. And to experience a genuine and growing relationship with Jesus is not simply about having beliefs about who Jesus is and what we ought to do. Instead, to experience and genuine and growing relationship with Jesus is about having convictions that drive us to do what we ought to do. We see this reality revealed for us in a section of a letter that was written by the half-brother of Jesus and is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, beginning in James 2:14-17. Let’s look at it together;

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

James begins this section by asking “What use is it, my brethren, if someone has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” In other words, James is basically asking “what use is to believe in Jesus if that belief in Jesus does not do anything? Does a faith that does not do anything really rescue anyone from an eternity separated from God? How can you say that you believe in Jesus, when you do not do anything that demonstrates that you are trusting and following the message and teachings of Jesus?”

James then provides an example of such a belief that does not do anything in verses 15 and 16. If James was providing this illustration in the language we use in our culture today, this illustration might sound something like this: If someone was to come to the Emergency Assistance Window asking for help and we responded as a church by saying “I hope that everything works out, we’ll be praying for you. I will be praying that God provides you some food and resources. Good luck and have a nice day”.

James then answers his own question in verse 17 by stating that “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” James point is that to say that we believe in Jesus but do not behave in a way that looks like Jesus may mean that we have not really been rescued by Jesus. If our behavior looks nothing like Jesus, then a natural question that must be asked is “Do we really know Jesus and have a relationship with Jesus?”

Now right about now you are thinking to yourself “Well isn’t James saying that we are saved by works? Isn’t James saying that we are rescued from our selfishness and rebellion by what we do for God?" There are some religious systems, that would day that it is our performance for God that results in us being right with God. We see James anticipate and articulate this challenge for us in the first part of verse 18;

But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have 

works;

In other words, James anticipates the person who would say “Well you think you are saved by trusting in Jesus. Well look at everything that I do for Jesus so that I can be right with God. You go ahead and trust in Jesus; I trust in what I do for Jesus." The motivation behind this statement, however, is the idea that belief and behavior are not necessarily related to each other. In other words, it is possible to be right with God as a result of our performance for God without trusting in God. And it is possible to trust in God without doing anything for God.

But is that true? Can you have either one without the other? And specifically, can you really believe in Jesus without living a life that looks anything like Jesus?

Tomorrow, we will see James answer this question…