Believing in God... (part 2)

[This entry is a continuation of my Believing in God... entry.]
In the previous entry I offered a lot of questions. As I was thinkig then and still am, it seemed that my conception of what it meant to "believe" in the God of the Bible needed refining. At first thought, this concept seems pretty simple: you either believe in something or you don't believe in something. Plain and simple. But as I continued to think this over, I couldn't help but ask again and again why this belief doesn't utterly transform us. So today I decided to do a little study on the word "believe" as used in the New Testament in the NIV. This lead me to a verse that I think really points out the questions I am dealing with. This verse is Mark 9:24

"Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me with my unbelief!' "

The greek word (pisteuō) translated "believe" here is the word that is used most often to mean "believe", and it means (as defined by The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance): to believe, put one's faith in, trust, with an implication that actions based on that trust may follow. This isn't too ground breaking, but it's when I looked at the word for "unbelief" that things got a little bit more interesting. This word (apistia) means: unbelief, lack of faith (often with the implication of stubbornly refusing to believe or act in accord with God's will or law). This word is also used in Romans 11:20

"Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith."

So now we have contrasting verses dealing with the idea of unbelief. A man asks Jesus to help him with his unbelief, and Jesus does by granting his request (removing the demons from his son's body). On the other hand, Paul points out to the Gentiles that they have been "grafted" into the Body of Christ because of the unbelief of the Jews. So Jesus in one specific instance aids someone struggling with unbelief while Paul suggests that the Jews are being punished (or at least neglected) for their unbelief. I suspect that in the latter incident the unbelief is due to the Jew's "stubbornly refusing to believe or act in accord with God's will" which probably isn't exhibited in the former passage. But nevertheless there is an interesting idea here. As Mark 9:24 clearly suggests, both belief and unbelief can coexist, they are not mutually exclusive. So there is more to the question of believing than yes or no. There is also: how much so? I think this is definitely where I am at in my walk with the Lord and it is awersome that I found this passage while reflecting on this topic. Because I know that at least part of me believes in Christ as my Lord and Savior. But like I stated in the last entry, I still am not consumed by this belief. It doesn't keep me awake at night. It's something that I try to pursue and reflect on daily, but it is not something that dominates every moment of my life like it should. Like I said before, some part of me must doubt that the God of the Bible exists or else I would be consumed by that belief. So like the man in Mark 9:24 I am asking God to "help me with my unbelief!" I feel that it is only when I overcome my unbelief that I will live a life that is consistent with my belief in the God of the Bible. Finally, returning to Romans 11:20, it is important to note that this verse is not the end of the story here. Paul continues in verses 22-23 as follows

"Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you provided that you continue in his kindeness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again."

So God does not hang those out to dry who fall into stubborn unbelief, but he does not act kindly to them either. I think that is all I have to say for now about these passages. Does any one else want to offer another interpretation to these passages?