God Doesn't Believe In Me

I believe in God, but he doesn’t believe in me. Scripture implores us to believe in God, but never reports that God believes in us. The Bible is clear that “Abraham believed God” (Ro. 4:3) but it never testifies that “God believed Abraham.” And if you believe God, like Abraham, it will comfort you to know that God doesn’t believe you, either. It sounds off-putting at first, but let’s break it down.

When you see the English verb “believe” in the Bible, understand that when this verb appears as a noun it is usually translated as “faith” or “trust.” To believe in God is to trust him. What is faith? “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Since God sees all things, he needs no faith.

When I say that God doesn’t believe in me, I don’t mean he denies my existence. God is omniscient, so there is no way he doesn’t know I am here. Of course he knows I exist. He sees me.

But believing and seeing are two different things. Scripture is very clear that God sees me and is intimately acquainted with me. He made me, sought me, bought me, and taught me. He knows me.

And that’s one reason he doesn’t believe in me. If you ask me if I believe my wife exists, I would say, “No. I know she exists. I can see her.” That’s why you will not find any hint in the Bible that God believes in us. He already sees us.

One of my favorite meals is my wife’s chili. It’s good year-round, but especially comforting in the winter. If Lori tells me on a January morning that she will fix chili for dinner that night, I think about it all day. It’s one more reason I look forward to getting home. I believe her when she tells me she will fix chili. I trust her. I put my faith in her. But I don’t know that we will have chili for dinner. Not yet. Something unexpected could happen. We could get an invitation from our kids to meet them and the grandkids at a restaurant. If that happened, we’ll postpone the chili. I won’t know that we will have chili that night until I sit down at the table and eat chili. At that point, my faith shall become sight.

Think of those words in the hymn It Is Well With My Soul: “And Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll.” I believe Jesus is coming again. I trust him to return. I put my faith in him to return. But I have not seen him return because it hasn’t happened yet. My faith is not a blind leap. It is informed and reasonable, built on solid evidence. Is there ever wavering or doubt? There have been moments in my decades of following Jesus when my faith has wavered in weakness. Now, “I walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). But on that day, my faith shall be sight. I will see the one in whom I have believed. What I believe now will be what I see then.

God is not like us. He is completely independent and self-sufficient. He knows all things, past, present, and future. He knows every human heart. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). Therefore, he does not need me to give him information. He does not rely on me for strength or knowledge. I cannot teach him anything he doesn’t already know. I cannot counsel him in what he should do. “Who has known the mind of the Lord?” asks Paul, “or who has been his counselor?” (Ro. 11:34).

The answer is obvious. No one. Therefore, God, the independent Creator and Sustainer of the universe, has no need or desire to trust, believe, or place faith in any of his creatures. He is not “served by human hands as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25). That’s why God doesn’t believe in me…or you.

Isn’t that good news? He doesn’t need us! He has always had all that he needs. And importantly, he has all that we need. And the last thing we need from him is his trust. We don’t want him to trust us, to put faith in us, to rely on us, to believe in us. What kind of God would that be? The thought of a God who needed me is terrifying.

So, we don’t need his trust, but we desperately need his love.

We fallen image bearers spend a lifetime hiding our faults, sins, and weaknesses from each other. At the same time, we find ways to present our best qualities publicly motivated by the desire to be loved, accepted, respected, and admired. Some people do this in obvious and pathetic ways. Others are more subtle, often because they are genuinely and relatively humble people.

But no one else knows us like God knows us. Nothing is hidden from his sight. People can see our acts and hear our words, but only God sees our thoughts, our motives, our secret envy, coveting, idolatry, anger, hatred, lust, greed, and pride. “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7).

And still, he loves us. He doesn’t believe in us, but he loves us. Understanding this frees us to love one another. When I’m secure in God’s love and acceptance, I don’t feel desperate for yours. That frees me to do and say the things that are in your best interest, even if you don’t think they are. Your rejection of me has less sting if I know that God loves me even though he knows me.

Just like you never find a report of God believing in us, you will never find a command for us to believe in one another. While we are commanded to unconditionally love other fallen human beings, we are not commanded to unconditionally trust them.

That’s sounds strange, and maybe even unloving and cynical, but hear me out.

God repeatedly commands us to love one another. In fact, since we have been loved by God, we are obligated to love one another. “Owe no one anything except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Ro. 13:8).

But there are no commands in Scripture to trust another image bearer. We might speculate on the reasons why, but one of them is probably that every fallen image bearer lies. We are all capable of deceit. As huge crowds came to hear him, “Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (Jn 2:24,25). Is that John’s way of saying Jesus didn’t believe in them?

I know this sounds cynical to some people but think about it. We know this intuitively. If a stranger approaches you on the street and asks to borrow your car keys for a few hours, will you give him your keys? Of course, you will not. Is that because you are a cynical, bitter, shriveled soul with trust issues? No, it’s because you are wise. But if a close friend, whom you have known for years, who has made and kept a thousand promises to you, asks to borrow your car keys, you will trust your friend. You will believe in him. He has earned your trust, so you will surrender your keys.

But let me be clear. While there are no commands to trust another human being, there are also no prohibitions. I can’t imagine any healthy person marrying someone that they don’t trust. In fact, I would strongly counsel against it. But while love is unconditional, trust must be earned. Over time, a person will prove himself or herself to be trustworthy. Aren’t these the people in your closest circle of friends? The people who have earned your trust?

While we are not commanded to trust another human being, we are commanded to be trustworthy. We are instructed to tell the truth and keep our promises and serve others. In other words, we are instructed to be like Jesus. Being faithful, reliable, and trustworthy is so essential that no man may serve as an elder or pastor in the church unless he is a “faithful man” (2 Tim. 2:2) with a reputation for being “trustworthy” (Ex. 18:21). When leaders model and earn trust, the church grows closer in unity and love.

So healthy churches will be filled with people who follow Jesus and build reputations for being trustworthy. These churches will be marked by close friendships and yes, we will believe in one another. But the truth that undergirds our believing in each other is the happy conviction that God doesn’t believe in us.

Even so, he loves us and that’s very good news.