Tag: Belief in God

Morning Musing: Romans 4:13-15

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“For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world  was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified, because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Faith is one of the essential ingredients for getting through life and enjoying most of the ride. Assuming on a fairly generic understanding of faith as simple belief in what we cannot see, we definitely don’t go a day and rarely go more than a few moments without it. Sometimes we fool ourselves into buying into the notion that we don’t need faith, but this is little more than playing a game of philosophical Opposite Day where we just stake out whatever is the opposite position the people around us hold. It’s silliness masquerading as seriousness. I wonder if part of the reason faith is such a central aspect to our lives isn’t because God designed salvation to operate on faith. Let’s talk about one reason faith is so essential.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 14:19-22

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“Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the Sea. The Lord drove the Sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the Sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that can be so hard for someone who has been thoroughly trained in a secular worldview when considering the Scriptures are stories like this one. I remember watching a documentary years ago on the History Channel (which used to be a very consistent source of demythologizing-the-Bible specials, especially around Christmas and Easter) that was offering up all kinds of natural explanations for how this could have happened. It was entertaining, but not terribly informative. It wasn’t very information because its baseline assumption was a naturalistic worldview. In other words, it started from the position that what Moses wrote wasn’t true, and went from there. The trouble with a naturalistic worldview is that sometimes God simply does a miracle. Let’s talk about this one.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 3:16-19

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“For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses? With whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The idea of Hell bothers us. It bothers us a lot. And…it should. The notion that anyone is going to suffer for eternity is an uncomfortable one. Sure, there have been some particularly egregious moral monsters throughout history who we expect to be there, but for most folks (especially including ourselves) we try to justify why they shouldn’t. We look to excuse all manner of sin and bad behavior so that it does not exclude us from whatever version of Heaven we imagine. The author of Hebrews here is talking about a whole generation of Israelites who were separated from God. That’s an uncomfortable enough thought by itself. The reason he gives for their exclusion is even more so. Let’s talk a bit today about the sin of unbelief.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 9:22-24

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“‘And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘”If you can”? Everything is possible for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the boy cried out, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief!'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What does it mean to believe something? There’s a nice, deep thought to get you started on your day. It’s worth some pondering, though. It’s worth some pondering if for no other reason than we are on the cusp of celebrating the historical event in which belief grants us eternal life. Or at least, belief pared with a confession of Jesus’ Lordship will. That’s what the apostle Paul said. If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Boom. So, what does it mean to believe? Jesus’ interaction with a father who didn’t here gives us a good opportunity to do some thinking together.

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Morning Musings: Hebrews 11:1

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“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

As the writer of Hebrews defines it here, faith is, by definition, a conviction about the positive existence of something we have not seen.  For instance and as the writer observes in v. 3, it is by faith that we conclude the world and everything in it was created by God.  We weren’t there and so we could not possibly have seen it.  And yet we believe it all the same.  The question here we must address in light of modern misunderstandings about the nature of faith, though, is this: Is it reasonable? Read the rest…