FAITH

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? . . . Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message through the word of Christ" (Romans 10: 14-17).

Nowhere in the Scriptures has God produced faith in a person apart from His word. It is through the preaching of the gospel that a person comes to faith in Christ. The gospel is a unique literary genre; it is the good news about Jesus, who he is and what he has done.

Christian faith is the belief of the testimony about Jesus. Is the faith that we have in Jesus blind faith or gullibility? It is if it is based on hearsay, rumor and simple anecdotal testimonials, but that is not the case with faith in Christ. Faith requires the kind of adequate and authenticated testimony that is counted as proof in a court of law.

The evidence for the gospel would stand up in court. There were more than 2 witnesses whose integrity was proven by persecution. Their testimony agrees on the matter in question, though the details may not agree; this is normal and is indicative of their integrity, not of conspiracy. The testimony was first given in a hostile place to a hostile people with the result being that many of those hostile people became believers too!

Remember, the faith we have in Jesus is not wishful thinking; it is based on a solid foundation of evidence. The world says, "This is all there is," or "You only go around once in life so grab all the gusto you can get." Christians see it a different way because of faith; we are not going to sell out to the popular culture; because of faith, we have a great future that those without it can never appreciate.

Grace&Peace;
Tom