Choose Belief (Pt 6)

This series has ranged over a number of topics. However, it has only ever had one central theme – believe God! Believe what God says about Scripture and in Scripture. Believe what God says about Himself. Believe what God says about Man. Believe what God says about worship. Believe God!

The modern Church faces many dilemmas precisely because She has turned Her back on God’s revelation as the source of truth. We have imbibed so much of the World’s philosophy that we find ourselves unwilling to believe what God has revealed for our instruction (See Roman 15:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:10-13).

This unbelief comes in many guises. It may come as an a priori belief that the Old Testament is dead. It may come as a presupposition in which individual freedom is exalted. It may be realised by a position that sees the New Testament as radically different to the Old Testament. Could it be based on the modern educational tenets, which have led you to believe that the Bible must be verified in scientific terms?

Whatever the reason, the simple fact is that many Christians refuse to believe and submit to the whole counsel of God. They treat the Bible like a grocery store, wandering about and only choosing the items that they desire. Similarly, they pass by that which is of no interest, even to the point of avoiding some isles altogether.

The problem then becomes a very simple one. If they are asked the question, “What does your supermarket sell?” they will not be able to provide a comprehensive answer. Some items may be brought to mind with a “I have not purchased that, but I do remember seeing it in my travels.” What then of those isles or areas that are never traversed? What items are located therein?

Let’s apply this analogy to Scripture.[1] You are asked by a friend, “What does the Bible teach on …?” How comprehensively – as in accurately – will you answer? Is this topic in your favourite Isle? Is it in a spot that you pass, but one to which you have payed little attention? Maybe, it is in one of those isles into which you never venture.

If this analogy is true of you, then it is necessary to admit that any answers given to this question may not be accurate.  This lack of accuracy will be directly proportional to your ignorance. Yes, this is affronting. Yet, it is, nonetheless, true.

If we altered the analogy, say, to fixing a lawnmower engine, you would agree. You would openly state that as you do not know enough in regard to the internal workings of a single cylinder motor, it would be foolishness to proffer an answer of any substance, at least without some serious caveats. However, as we are Christians and Christians are meant to know their Bibles, we are reluctant to show similar restraint or offer the appropriate caveats.

Then, there is the case in which, tweaking the analogy, you know what’s in the isle, but you will not go there because you simply do not like the product. In this case, you know what the Scripture says at certain points, but choose to ignore it and adopt some other position because it suits you or your circumstances better.[2]

It matters little into which of the categories any individual may fit. The simple reality is that if you fit one or the other, you are guilty of unbelief. You simply do not want to know what God says or you openly deny what God says.

Again, some may not like this. Certainly, you will not like it if it applies to you. However, just stand back for a moment and put self aside. If what is said here is true, just as a general principle, would you agree that the outcome is less than acceptable? In other words, would you agree that it is less than acceptable to deny a command or teaching of God? Would you further agree that having passed by God’s teaching, we are more than likely to pick up and apply a false principle from another source?

I am sure that most agree with these concepts in the abstract. The point of contention is the application to our lives. However, just as in the main body of this series we pointed to obedience as being related to holiness and sanctification, so now, we would relate this analogy to faith. Is not faith the believing of all that God has stated?

Therefore, what we are arguing for is that the Church return to Her status as a community of faith; a community of believers; a community that faithfully believes all that God has spoken.

The power of the Reformation was not in its men. It was not in the rediscovery of one salvific doctrine, such as justification by faith. Its power and influence came from the fact that the Reformers believed that God governed all things and all areas of life by His word. There was not, then, in their schema an area to which the Bible was not applicable by direct statement or derived principle.

Consequently, the West was shaped by the application of God’s word to all of life. Government, taxation, family, work, education, and yes, the doctrines of salvation, were all given new life because they were transformed and re-formed according to God’s standard.

We are about to enter 2014. Does God’s word still influence these areas? Do you believe that God speaks to these areas in His word? Do you believe that God’s word should be applied in all these areas? When you argue a point, do you say, “Thus says the Lord!” or is it more, “The latest scientific journal says …!”

Few would argue that the Church is in decline in this country and in the West in general. Every day Christians are faced with a new challenge. We are unstable and weak precisely because we are a house divided. We rest on opinion rather than on God’s revelation.

There is only one answer. We must take our stand upon God’s word. We must believe all that God has revealed for our instruction.[3] We must be prepared to take our stand on God’s revelation, for it alone is power, authority, and truth.

Brethren, let us be rid of unbelief. Let us cry out, “Lord, we believe! Help our unbelief.”