The problem with demonic faith

Historically this verse has served to demonstrated a dichotomy between mere belief and the faith which is requisite for the Christian walk the former being ascribed to the likes of Plato's formulation of the Demiurge and Aristotle ascription of creation to the "Father." In the present case James informs us that the demons exercise belief, but a singular difference divides the faith of a child of God and the belief of the Satan's hordes and that difference is the placement of the will in the process of faith.

Faith for a child of God begins as a gift of the Holy Spirit delivered through the hearing of the word of God. Upon reception, faith informs the will of man. Subsequently the will by faith then moves the intellect to accept the object of that faith - Jesus Christ and His teachings.

Belief on the other hand does not come from the Holy Spirit, but rather first through the senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling). The sensation then travels from the sense receptor and communicates to the intellect. Once the intellect has been sufficiently informed the will then is moved to belief. So as you can see in the case of faith, faith moves the will and in the case of belief the intellect moves the will. That I believe is the fundamental difference.

In the case of Plato and Aristotle they were able by use of logic and observation to conclude much about God and the created order ‘s relationship to God but did not come to faith seeing that the word of God and Spirit of God were not the efficient cause. The same is for the demons. They through their senses experienced God and the preincarnate Christ before the fall and in the case of Satan, return to Heaven from time to time to temp God's people so his senses are constantly reminded of God. A perfect example of this contrast is found at the Fall in the person of Eve,

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Eve believed the serpent which began with the senses (saw and pleasant to the eyes) and did not have faith in God which began with His revelation not to eat of the tree.

To say that James 2:19 is direct support to demonstrate the difference between "common faith" and "saving faith" is a misplaced application. First, because the belief that lost men have that there is a God (e.g. Deists) is not faith as defined as that gift from God and is therefore not a faith common substantively. Second, the belief of lost men is not common to all disruptively in that the sensus divinitatus or sense of God is not belief or faith but rather is part of every human's noetic equipment. Faith and belief are actions while the sense of God is a state of being.

The demons don't just believe that there is one God, they believe that one God is Jehovah. Furthermore, it can easily be argued that the preincarnate Christ was the efficient cause of all creation therefore the demons who were made by Christ either on the 3rd or 6th day believe that Christ is God as well.

In sum, the faith the child of God exercises is not merely for salvation for the just live by faith and that faith moves the will and the will the intellect. Demons are confirmed in their damnation with no way of redemption so far as Scripture says and as a result they will never be regenerated and be given the gift of faith but that does not exclude their senses from informing their intellects and the intellect the will and the will conjuring belief.

So there are some of my thoughts. Questions about the nature of faith are are great because of their foundational nature. Perhaps more will share their thoughts on faith/belief from the perspective of James 2:19.