|
THE BIBLE IS THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR
OUR BELIEFS.
Does it seem like 'circular reasoning' to believe
what the Bible says - because
of what the Bible says? (In particular, what it
says about itself - that it
is the very words of the one true and living God!)
But isn't that what all people do with the
sources they've been influenced by? They believe something because of
having become
convinced of it, whether it
was something said in a lecture by a university
professor, a book they read,
or something they learned from some kind of source.
Even when people think they thought up a belief
system themselves, aren't
they in reality merely coming to their conclusions based upon
the assimilation
of the sum total of whatever all they've been influenced by
throughout their lives? (Say that fast, ten
times!)
The point, of course, is how reliable
are each of the different sources that are being listened to that
influence people toward what they
believe?
In Bible language… believe
is the verb form (the doing) of the same word in
noun form - faith
(the thing). Faith carries with it a definition (in
part) of hearing
and
becoming
persuaded by what is heard.
In some sense all people everywhere express faith
in what they believe - a belief system they heard and
became persuaded by.
Surprisingly, this applies
even to atheists. They've been persuaded by some
ideological train of thought
and believe it and (we presume) are attempting to
live by it. Well, that's faith!
Of a kind…
Biblical
faith is a gift from God that will always lead to
belief
that what He
has said in
His Word, the Bible, is
absolute truth - and absolutely
trustworthy. Ask Him to give you this kind of faith. It has to
come from Him. Ask
Him.
© 2007 John and Kim Namestnik
www.givengrace.com
Permission is granted to copy and distribute this
material - if it's kept intact and not changed in any
way, if it's given without charge, and if this
copyright notice is included with it.
|