The late R.C. Sproul knew precisely the difference between believing in God and believing God. He fully understood that genuine belief in God is based on who He really is. The Bible’s axiom that “anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists” (Hebrews 11:6) assumes that faith is placed in the God of the Bible, not some other god. Although many people believe that God exists and want to serve Him, the god they worship is one of their own design. People often remake God in their own image, picking and choosing the aspects of the true God they find agreeable. They may believe that He is love (which is a biblical concept—1 John 4:8), but they may then interpret that by their own definition of love. God, for some, is a doting grandfather who gives them good things and wants them to be happy. Members of Christian cults may be devoted to God, but not God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. To believe in a god of our own making is a worthless faith. If our belief would conform to reality, we must believe God as He has revealed Himself: the Triune God who is perfect, omniscient, omnipotent, all-sufficient, immutable, true, faithful, gracious, loving, merciful, holy, and just.
4GIVEN 