It’s a constant theme in the Bible that a saving relationship with God is one that is solely based on faith. It’s not just faith or belief in God’s existence; it’s faith in His goodness as well. I think that’s the author’s point in Hebrews 11:6. He writes, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw 
near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” This too is the point that James makes when he remarks that belief in the existence of God is not saving faith, even the demons believe that God exists. The demons are God’s enemies and hate him, yet they believe he IS! We must trust that He’s a loving, caring, and forgiving God who will reward those who honestly want to find Him.
This comes down to the understanding and acceptance of what He did for us in the person of His son Jesus Christ. Christ is the most profound expression of love imaginable. To receive Christ and accept God’s grandest expression of His love is what it means to believe. A saving faith in Jesus Christ is a faith that sees Him as he was meant to be seen. This is what Paul meant when he told the Philippian Jailor in Acts 16, “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” To believe in Jesus Christ is to understand God’s attitude toward us. God’s greatest command to love Him, is only possible when we grasp the truth of how much he loves us.
Faith is the conviction of God’s goodness and positive disposition towards us; after all, God “so loved” the whole world, including me that He sent His son to die for me. Faith is a non-meritorious system of understanding the connection between God and man. Paul made it clear to us in Ephesians 2:8-9. Paul writes, “It is by grace you are saved, through faith. It is not of works, lest a man should boast. It is a gift from God.” (See the picture of Tebow at www.chucklarsen.com) Everyone actually has faith. Everyone believes in something and trusts in something. Everyone has faith in something—faith in some religion, faith in one’s self, faith in fate, faith in evolution, faith in mankind. Even the atheist has faith in his own reason. We have different IQ’s but we all have faith. The idiot has faith; the genius has faith. There is no particular value in faith. It is the object of our faith—Jesus’ death on the cross—that saves us. Only He has the power to forgive our sin and give us eternal life. Salvation is through faith, not feeling. It is through faith, not through fiction. But there is only one real faith that works for time and eternity. True faith is faith in the one true God—the God who made us, who will judge us, and who has paid the price to save us.
Chuck
“It is by grace you are saved, through faith…” Ephesians 2:8