Above Lifes Turmoil | Page 9

supreme test of belief in Jesus is this: Do I
keep his commandments? And this test is applied by St.John himself in
the following words: "He that saith. I know him (Jesus), and keepeth
not His Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But
whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the word of God perfected."
It will be found after a rigid and impartial analysis, that belief lies at the
root of all human conduct. Every thought, every act, every habit, is the
direct outcome of a certain fixed belief, and one's conduct alters only as
one's belief are modified. What we cling to, in that we believe; what we
practise, in that we believe. When our belief in a thing ceases, we can
no longer cling to or practise it; it falls away from us as a garment
out-worn. Men cling to their lusts, and lies, and vanities, because they
believe in them, believe there is gain and happiness in them. When they
transfer their belief to the divine qualities of purity and humility, those
sins trouble them no more.
Men are saved from error by belief in the supremacy of Truth. They are
saved from sin by belief in Holiness or Perfection. They are saved from
evil by belief in Good, for every belief is manifested in the life. It is not
necessary to inquire as to a man's theological belief, for that is of little
or no account, for what can it avail a man to believe that Jesus died for
him, or that Jesus is God, or that he is "justified by faith," if he
continues to live in his lower, sinful nature? All that is necessary to ask
is this: "How does a man live?" "How does he conduct himself under

trying circumstances?" The answer to these questions will show
whether a man believes in the power of evil or in the power of Good.
He who believes in the power of Good, lives a good, spiritual, or godly
life, for Goodness is God, yea, verily is God Himself, and he will soon
leave behind him all sins and sorrows who believes, with steadfast and
unwavering faith, in the Supreme Good.
The Belief That Saves
It has been said that a man's whole life and character is the outcome of
his belief, and also that his belief has nothing whatever to do with his
life. Both statements are true. The confusion and contradiction of these
two statements are only apparent, and are quickly dispelled when it is
remembered that there are two entirely distinct kinds of beliefs, namely,
Head-belief and Heart-belief .
Head, or intellectual belief, is not fundamental and causative, but it is
superficial and consequent, and that it has no power in the moulding of
a man's character, the most superficial observer may easily see. Take,
for instance, half a dozen men from any creed. They not only hold the
same theological belief, but confess the same articles of faith in every
particular, and yet their characters are vastly different. One will be just
as noble as another is ignoble; one will be mild and gentle, another
coarse and irascible; one will be honest, another dishonest; one will
indulge certain habits which another will rigidly abjure, and so on,
plainly indicating that theological belief is not an influential factor in a
man's life.
A man's theological belief is merely his intellectual opinion or view of
the universe. God, The Bible, etc., and behind and underneath this
head-belief there lies, deeply rooted in his innermost being, the hidden,
silent, secret belief of his heart, and it is this belief which moulds and
makes his whole life. It is this which makes those six men who, whilst
holding the same theology, are yet so vastly at variance in their deeds-
they differ in the vital belief of the heart.
What, then, is this heart-belief?

It is that which a man loves and clings to and fosters in his soul; for he
thus loves and clings to and fosters in his heart, because he believes in
them, and believing in them and loving them, he practises them; thus is
his life the effect of his belief , but it has no relation to the particular
creed which comprises his intellectual belief. One man clings to impure
and immoral things because he believes in them; another does not cling
to them because he has ceased to believe in them. A man cannot cling
to anything unless he believes in it; belief always precedes action,
therefore a man's deeds and life are the fruits of his belief.
The Priest and the Levite who passed by the injured and helpless man,
held, no doubt, very strongly to the theological doctrines of their
fathers- that was