Christian Living
Essentials of Faith
Evidences for Faith
Applying Your Faith

Faith in Truth Comes From God

How do you KNOW the Spirit of God dwells in you?  How do you KNOW God has chosen you, and adopted you to be a child of God?  The answer is more simple than the world thinks.  Your faith in the truths of Jesus Christ is proof.  Why? because the faith to believe these truths, comes from God; but what truth exactly?


Before the Holy Spirit came, and before Jesus walked the earth, the people of God had the Prophets.  The Prophets through generations spoke God's Words to the people.  The people heard the Words of God and saw all the events that validated the words spoken.  Some didn't have faith and justified the validations in other ways, others believed but soon forgot over the generations.  When Jesus came, he spoke with the authority of God.  The Apostles knew the Words of God, from the Prophets, and knew Jesus, but still, some did not believe until later.  Here we are, thousands of years later.  We can know the Words of God still; through The Prophets, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit through the Apostles.  BUT Jesus still speaks to each person now.  Understanding AND believing the Words of God is proof of the Holy Spirit working in us.

John 14:26 states "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." and later, John 16:13 tells us "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.".  Then, The Holy Spirit, through Paul states "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the [a]knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart [b]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the [c]saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." (a.  Ephesians 1:17 Or true knowledge; b.  Ephesians 1:18 Lit being; c.  Ephesians 1:18 Or holy ones). 

What is that which The Holy Spirit teaches?  What Truth will he guide us to?  What wisdom and revelation of knowledge of Jesus will he give?

God's Truth #1:  Holy Scripture which is God's Word

Believing in a god is not proof of anything.  There are millions of people who genuinely believe in a god or multiple gods.  Though the belief may be genuine, it is still believing a lie.  How can we know this? Because it contradicts the truth that is given, taught, and guided to us.  In the Old Testament, the people of God were justified by faith in a genuine belief in the coming messiah and Son of God.  They whole heatedly knew the Words of God to be true in its proclamation of this future coming person.  Equally important is they genuinely believed in scripture, as a holy breathed record of God's Words through the Prophets (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 peter 1:20-21; 2 Sa 23:2-3; Is 59:21; Jer 1:9).  But did they come to this belief out of their own will?  Did they grow up simply convinced by some compelling argument that scripture is of God?  If this was true, than this would be a justification for other religious texts that contradict what is revealed in scripture.  Therefore, this faith in scripture could not have come from logical reasoning but divine revelation of the heart.  Genuine faith in Holy Truth of Scripture is a God given faith.  This is why atheists and others can read scripture, memorize it, understand the stories, but still not believe it in a supernatural light.  It is just words on paper written by ancient people that may have some good sounded moral advice, but nothing more.  God illuminates our hearts to see his Word for what it truly is: God's Word.

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, in 1 Corinthians 2:9-3:2, elegantly states "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words."  That is huge.  But then he continues and states "14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."  Some say orthodox Christianity's essential teachings are foolish in certain areas.  Some dismiss the Christian faith, while others think it is foolish by its self and need to create other writings to supplement what they do not understand in a humanistic effort to make sense of it.  But again, what are these teachings and truths?  Paul calls these core essential teachings as 'milk' because without faith in them, we are not ready to understand and digest more solid spiritual food.

God's Truth #2:  Jesus is the Christ and Only Begotten Son of God

Matthew 16:13-17 records "13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."  Boom.  Jesus clearly states that Peter did not come to this conclusion through logic and human reasoning.  First he had faith in The Holy Scripture (given by God) and genuinely looked for the coming Christ and Son of God.  Then, it was GOD who allowed him to see that it was Jesus.  Peter did not and could not have figured this out on his own.  Jesus clearly states he didn't; but was revealed to him by God.

If you reject that Jesus is the Christ and Son of God, that is because God has not allowed you to see that.  He has not revealed it to you.  This is not to say he won't but if you currently do not believe this than that is why.  If you genuinely believe that Jesus IS the Christ and Son of God, than give God glory and thanks for revealing this to you!  This truth is just milk, and all that God wills to reveal as the meat of the faith comes from the premise that Jesus is Christ and the Son of God.  This truth is essential for understanding the Atonement and deeper identity of Jesus himself.

God's Truth #3: The Resurrection of Jesus

The Holy Spirit, through Paul states this: "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.The resurrection of Jesus is absolutely critical to genuine faith in God's Word and who Jesus claimed to be.  Jesus said in John 2:19-21 "19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body".  So, is Jesus a liar?  He did not raise up after being 'destroyed' three days earlier?  They were already looking for the coming Suffering Servant to be killed with criminals and buried (Isaiah 53:9,12) but not be abandoned after death or see decay (Psalm 16:10).  The cultural feasts were also symbolic reminders of these coming events.  Peter, directly inspired by The Holy Spirit declares that the Old Testament was speaking of Jesus (Acts 13:33–35) just as Jesus had already previously declared (John 5:39).  Belief in this does not seem logical or rational to the those who can not understand without God illuminating their hearts to this truth.  Failure to believe this or understand this is natural; genuine faith in this truth is supernatural- something only taught by God in the hearts of those whom he reveals it to.  Because, in order to believe this, one must first genuinely believe in Holy Scripture as God's Words.  Then, they are confronted with the Old Testament Prophets, Jesus' statements, and what The Apostles declared.  This is a supernatural dividing factor.  

God's Truth #4:  The Deity of Jesus

If you notice, Jesus said HE will rise IT [his body] up.  Jesus also had power over nature.  He could read the hearts of man.  He could heal from distances.  He claimed to have the authority of God and authority to forgive sins.  He had the authority to rebuke demons and they instantly obeyed.  See a pattern?  He even claimed the holiest of names of God, "I AM"  (John 8:58) and said "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).  The pharisees and Sadducees knew exactly what he was claiming.  They had human knowledge of what he proclaimed, but didn't believe it; they said it themselves when they said "The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:33).  They did NOT say 'a god' but 'GOD'.  The Apostles clearly understood this claim as well.  John boldly stated in John 1:1, 14 "The Word was with God and the Word was God...14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."  Again, it does NOT say 'a god' given the context and cultural religious history of monotheism.  Thomas declared My Lord and my God!”(John 20:28).  This was not a shout of surprise like saying 'oh my gosh' and the two elements together describe the one subject, who was Jesus.  Thomas understood Jesus to be Lord AND God.  There are many other proofs in scripture that validate this essential truth (read here).  

It is easy to dismiss and deny this.  Of course, that would be natural.  It would be just as easy to attempt to explain this in other ways which also lead to the same result; denial.  But to genuinely believe what is stated in God's Word that Jesus is God takes God himself to teach our hearts.  We can not accept this truth on our own will.  This deep truth of who Jesus is, is a supernatural dividing factor which reveals who has been taught by the Holy Spirit or by the other teachings of man.  This truth does lead us to another HUGE truth about God himself.  If Jesus is the Son of God AND God, how can there be just ONE God?  The Trinity explains this; but before we can even attempt to understand The Triune God; we must first believe that Jesus is God; which God must reveal to us.  Once we are taught by God about His Son and Himself, we can then get into the meat of who he is as the Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  There is no greater person to teach us about God than God himself.  BUT if God does not teach us, how than can we truly know God?

Doesn't End at Those 4

The Holy Spirit doesn't stop teaching us once we believe those four essential truths.   He also teaches us how to live a life that is pleasing to to the Lord.  Through his guiding and teaching we produce spiritual fruit which are characteristics of God himself.  Humility, Love, Joy, Peace, Grace, Forgiveness, Mercy, zeal for Truth just to name a few (Galatians 5:22-23).  In the end, we are taught throughout our lives to Love God and our Neighbor as Christ Jesus.  He more and more conform to God's Will and reflect his goodness in the world.  God alone gives us a new nature, a new heart, opens our eyes to Him and his truths; then empowers us through His Spirit to proclaim the Gospel and serve the world for his glory.  BUT before we could ever do anything 'good' in God's eyes; we must first be granted faith.  The author of Hebrews declares "Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6).  Paul states one of the most contravention (and foolish to those who don't believe) statements when he said "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11  there is no one who understands there is no one who seeks God12 All have turned away,  they have  together become worthless; there is no one who does good not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12). Ouch.  This is true, because before God teaching us; this is our state.  This is why it is impossible to please him without first knowing him.  And it is Him that reveals himself to us.  Without God, no one actually seeks God.  They may seek spiritual self sanctification but it is not truly God as their ultimate prize; not until he teaches us about himself.  Then and only then we see his amazing grace and ultimate glory worthy of all praise, then we desire and seek him.  This faith, that is pleasing to God, which allows us to do good in God's eyes, is granted to us.  Paul makes that clear in Philippians 1:29 when he said "For it has been given to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him".  Faith in Christ is GIVEN to us. 

People who reject and deny the four essentail truths (who have not been taught by God and given faith in Christ Jesus) may seem to do 'good' or do certain actions that seem to be merciful, forgiving, loving, and gracious but the end result for their reasoning behind the actions is NOT for God's Glory.  That is why even these seemingly 'good' actions are still not pleasing to the Lord because they are not done for Him.  Without faith in Jesus Christ, these actions are not done out of a Love for God and thus, really and truly not good in their ultimate end and purpose.  It is not possible to serve the Lord if you do not even know the Lord.  Now, HE may use these individuals (and all his creation) for HIS will to be done, but from their end, they do not lovingly serve the Lord or seek His glory in and through their actions.

Conclusion

Without God revealing these four essential truths to us, we can not really know what is true.  We may believe in something, and think it is true.  There may be all kinds of human writings, teachings, and actions that lead us to think one way or another.  But, when we truly seek truth, and investigate all the claims we see that there are contradictions within all teachings apart from these four.  Human effort attempts to reconcile the contradictions and religious are invented, more writings are written, and the continuous attempt to believe in something goes on.  Until the day God reveals these four truths in the hearts and minds of those whom he has chosen, these truths are denied, misunderstood, and replaced with other forms of pseudo-spiritual thought. 


Believing these four truths makes everything fall into place and we can see the true Glory of God!  If you believe these four truths, give God absolute thanks and Glory for choosing you to teach these to.  If you do not believe these four truths, ask God to guide you into truth.  Reflect on what it is you do believe and investigate what you are taught.  Are you TOLD what to believe by an organization that requires you to read THEIR writings in order to understand scripture how THEY want you to understand it?  Do you truly study Holy Scripture alone and trust that IT is God's Word, sufficient and perfect truth?  If God's Word is true, let IT be true and let IT guide you and do not let outside influences attempt to guide you.  Pray, beg, and plead with God to reveal his truths to you; He alone is the best teacher of HIS truth!

God has spoken and continues to speak in the hearts of all those who believe!  If you believe that Jesus is Christ, Son of God who rose from the dead, and is God himself; as testified in God's Word; He has spoken to you already, because in order for you to believe this- He taught you.

Also read The Gospel page

No comments:

Post a Comment

What do you think?

Top Articles in the Last Month

Flag Counter