I have given a lot of thought over the last forty years to this matter of believing God. There is a believing which is good as far as it goes, but it is not a believing which is unto righteousness and salvation. In other words, there is a believing which is not really believing at all! I know that sounds like an obvious contradiction, but I will try to explain. Saul of Tarsus, much like many of the self-named Fundamentalists of our day, would have argued to the death that he believed the Bible "from cover to cover," and according to the natural light and understanding which he had, perhaps he did; but actually, like those who crucified Christ, he did not believe God's Word at all! (Acts 13:26-29).
You see, while it is true that one cannot be a Christian without believing the Bible, yet on the other hand, one cannot really believe the Bible without being a Christian. If a man really believes the truth about God, he will be a worshipper of God; if a man really believes the truth of his own sinfulness, he will live in a state of repentance before God; if a man really believes the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ, he has embraced and laid hold of Him, and will not let Him go (John 6:67-69).
Believing which is unto salvation, which is really believing, is never a mere mental assent to the truth of Holy Scripture. When one really believes God there is a wonderful, living, active response to that which is believed. Abraham believed God ....and turned his back on his native land, former gods, fleshly kin, and followed God. Moses believed God ....and marched out of Egypt with no fear of the greatest king in the world, giving up the wealth of Egypt as nothing compared to the riches of Christ. Noah believed God ....and he moved with fear, and prepared an ark to the salvation of himself and his house, preaching righteousness all the while. There is no such thing as a dead, inactive, disobedient believing God.
How much do we really believe God? Noah believed God and moved with fear. He really believed that God's righteous judgment was coming upon all sinners, all who would not believe God, as he did, and come into the ark. As he looked into the unbelieving, Christless faces of brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews – many of whom probably worked on the ark - they were a burden upon his believing soul. And though they were obstinate and unheeding, old Noah kept right on building and preaching. Why? First, because God told him to; and second, because he really believed God.
Some of us know what it is to really believe. We do not believe as we ought or as we desire, but we do believe. Our continual prayer is, "Lord, help thou mine unbelief," but we do believe God. And, as we look into the faces of lost and unbelieving family members, friends and neighbors, we know that each day, each hour and each heartbeat brings them closer to the infinitely holy and eternal wrath of God, a God they do not believe nor have any time for. Oh, what a burden! But we must not and will not give them up without urging them to hasten into the ark, Christ Jesus. We can not stop, because we really do believe God.