Don't even the demons believe?
Abraham, Paul in a storm, and what God has said about His Son.
The short answer Settled
Yes, but they believe something else. The demons believe that there is one God. The faith that saves believes God's promise of life in His Son. It is being fully convinced that God will do what He has promised, and depending on Him rather than on one's own work.
Fully convinced
In Scripture, believing and faith are the same thing; the Greek words for "believe" and "faith" come from one root. Paul shows what faith is by the faith God counted as righteousness.
God promised Abraham that he would become "the father of many nations" () when Abraham was "about a hundred years old" (). Abraham "did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform" (). And God counted it: "it was accounted to him for righteousness" ().
Paul believed God the same way in a storm at sea. He told the men on board to "take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me" (). To believe God is to expect what He has said to happen.
Taking God at His word
John says what God has said that a person must believe: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (). Refusing it is no small thing: "he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son" ().
Faith rests on a Person. Paul says, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" ().
Depending, not working
Paul sets believing against working: "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" (). Faith is not a kind of work. It is depending on the God who declares the ungodly righteous.
A boy whose father has promised to pick him up after practice does not start the long walk home. He waits at the curb, sure the car is coming.
The usual objection
Many people hold that believing is only agreeing that certain facts are true, and they point out that "Even the demons believe" (). On this view saving faith has to be more than believing. It must include surrendering one's life, a commitment to obey, or a changed life.
Look at what the demons believe. James says, "You believe that there is one God" (). That is a fact about God, not trust in His promise of life in His Son. Abraham's faith was being fully convinced that God would do what He had promised, and God counted that faith as righteousness. Adding surrender or obedience as a part of faith would turn faith back into the working Paul sets it against. Obedience matters, but it is not part of what faith is. What James means by faith and works is answered under question 6.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| οὐ διεκρίθη ou diekrithē, "did not waver" (Strong's 1252) | Aorist passive indicative, negated | Not divided in his mind. | |
| πληροφορηθεὶς plērophorētheis, "being fully convinced" (4135) | Aorist passive participle | Carried all the way to certainty. | |
| πιστεύω … τῷ θεῷ ὅτι οὕτως ἔσται pisteuō … tō theō hoti houtōs estai, "I believe God that it will be just as" (4100, 2316, 1510) | Present indicative; future indicative | To believe God is to expect what He said. | |
| ψεύστην πεποίηκεν αὐτόν pseustēn pepoiēken auton, "has made Him a liar" (5583, 4160) | Perfect active indicative | Refusing God's testimony treats Him as untrue. | |
| μὴ ἐργαζομένῳ, πιστεύοντι δὲ ἐπὶ mē ergazomenō, pisteuonti de epi, "does not work but believes on" (2038, 4100) | Two present participles, set against each other | Believing is the opposite of working for it. | |
| ᾧ πεπίστευκα, καὶ πέπεισμαι hō pepisteuka, kai pepeismai, "whom I have believed and am persuaded" (4100, 3982) | Two perfect indicatives | A settled trust in a Person. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.