Why BELIEVE?
Why BELIEVE?
Why BELIEVE that the Bible is the inherent Word of God?
Why BELIEVE that the Bible is infallible?
& Why BELIEVE that the Bible speaks the truth of Jesus, how HE is the Way, the Truth, & the Life?
Why BELIEVE?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
(John 1: 1-5)
Consider for a moment—How the darkness—“could not overpower the Light, could not contain it as to control it, nor could embrace it as to hold it back”
Consider for a moment—That was the Word who was with God in the beginning of time.
The opportunity we have been given to witness to the world which surrounds us permeates my mind and heart. Just this morning, I read of an elderly woman, 108 years old, a woman who followed another religion all her life—SHE CAME TO KNOW JESUS AS HER SAVIOR!
Immediately, I was taken back in my mind to a conversation I had last semester with a student, and he was of another religion. He had asked if he could write his personal essay about his mother, an extremely influential person in his life. I agreed, as long as in writing about his mom, he was writing about himself. Then I read his essay.
Why do we BELIEVE as we BELIEVE?
In a conversation with this student (after reading his essay), I asked him, “Why do you BELIEVE as you BELIEVE.”
“It is the way my mother believes,” the student replied.
Hearing his reply, I knew I needed to respond, so with a gentle tone, I asked, “How do you know it is the correct way to BELIEVE?”
I remember his eyes that day as he turned toward me as my question hung in the air.
A few years ago, I had a similar conversation with another student whose family practiced a different religion than this boy, and in asking her a similar question led to response quite similar.
I asked her, “Do you BELIEVE as your dad believes?”
“No, I don’t, she replied. “I BELIEVE as you do, but this is hard—to BELIEVE differently than my father believes.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked her.
“Not really,” she responded. Then she turned her eyes on me and asked a question I will never forget for as long as I live.
She turned toward me and asked, “Are you saying my grandma is going to hell if she doesn’t believe in Jesus as her Savior?”
That was a totally HARD question because we were talking about her grandma, a woman she had known since her birth and a woman she dearly loved. I could NOT lie—So, I prayed, “Help me LORD speak Your truth in the gentlest way.”
Then I turned my eyes to look into her eyes and said with all honesty and truthfulness—“If a person does not know Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD, then that person will not see the kingdom of God—Heaven.”
Martin Luther once said,
“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me;
it has feet, it runs after me;
it has hands, it lays hold of me.”
ISN’T THAT—A MOST BEAUTIFUL STATEMENT!
Why BELIEVE?
Why do we choose to proclaim Jesus Christ as our Savior and LORD?
Why do we elect to follow the Word of God, the Word who has been present since the beginning of time?
Why do we BELIEVE?
HOW CAN WE—NOT—BELIEVE!
- I BELIEVE in a God of Grace.
- I BELIEVE in a God of Love.
- I BELIEVE in a God of Second Chances.
- As followers of Jesus Christ, we know this is the ONLY WAY to BELIEVE!
This week, I had a conversation through a text message with someone I greatly respect, but someone who is Totally Wrong in his thinking. I asked him if he BELIEVED in God. His response to my question revealed these words on my phone screen: “I believe in God, but we believe differently.” Immediately, sadness filled my being because I cannot MAKE someone BELIEVE. Only God’s Holy Spirit can convict a person’s heart, turning him from Unbelief to BELIEF.
I found myself instantly praying.
There is only one way to BELIEVE. The prophet Noah knew that Truth. The leaders of the 1st Century did not know that Truth. Nevertheless, the apostle Paul knew that Truth. See with me—the TRUTH found in the Word of God.
“The LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.’
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
These are the records of the generations of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. . . .
‘Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your son’s wives with you. . . .’ ”
(Genesis 6: 7-10 & 17-18)
Paul spoke these words as he stood (before the governor) while on trial. Rather than argue his case, Paul spoke his testimony of Why He Believed.
“But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;
having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
(Acts 24: 14-15)
Are we following God?
Are we standing in the gap—as Noah did—separate & peculiar & unlike those in the world?
Are we pressing on, testifying to the world—as Paul did—without fanfare, without public praise?
God sees us!
God knows our heart!
We must keep on BELIEVING even when those who surround us do not.
We must not grow weary because Jesus is coming back, and when HE DOES RETURN, ”there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Acts 24: 15)
The Bible is the inherent Word of God.
As such, the Bible is infallible.
It speaks the truth of Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, & the Life.
THIS IS WHY WE BELIEVE AS WE BELIEVE!
“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)