Tim Hayes – Page 7

What Saith the Scripture?

The Bible is an amazing, self-referencing work of art: interwoven within it are at least 63,779 cross-references which elaborate on and explain what it all means, depicted in this beautiful diagram.

The base comprises a vertical line for each chapter in the Bible, with Genesis 1 on the left, where the length of each line reflects the number of verses in that chapter (the long line in the center is Psalm 119) and complete books alternate in shades of grey. Each cross-reference is depicted by an arc with a color corresponding to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect.

And these are the explicit references, inviting us to explore the innumerable interconnections embedded within and among the various concepts and how they all interrelate with, build on and flesh one another out. (Ps 139:17-18) God has breathed out this entire text: He inspired it (2Ti 3:16), and surgically leverages these living interconnections as He pleases in the hearts of those who are seeking Him. (Ja 1:21)

Through His Word He comforts and guides us in our individual, particular circumstances (He 4:12), enabling us to engage with His Spirit and understand His Heart, to fully furnish, guide and equip us in living with and for Him. (2Ti 3:16-17)

God inspires His Word like this, with infinite depth, precision and scope, so we can meditate on it endlessly (Ps 1:2), comparing Scripture with Scripture (Mt 4:4), searching out all the treasures of His nature and Way. (Pr 2:4-5)

For example, through part of a verse hidden in an obscure, messianic prophecy written by Isaiah hundreds of years earlier (Is 49:8), the Apostle Paul discovers salvation is available now (2Co 6:2) to all who earnestly seek Him. (1)

Moments later, Paul weaves a thread from Leviticus (Le 26:12) into another from Ezekiel (Ez 3:27) to understand how God indwells and infuses the community of believers as a living temple. (2Co 6:16) In his very next breath (17-18) he blends several more distinct references together to call all believers to come out and separate ourselves from the world (Is 52:11) so God will receive us into His family as sons (2Sa 7:14) and daughters, just as He has promised. (Is 43:6)

Paul leverages these exceeding great and precious promises (2Pe 1:4) to exhort all believers to pursue perfect holiness in the fear of God. (2Co 7:1)

How does Paul do this? As he memorizes the Old Testament (Ps 119:9) and meditates on it continually (Ps 119:97), God shows up, teaching him and revealing precious truths to him (Ep 3:3-4), to equip him in his calling to preach the Gospel to the nations. (6-7) God is showing us His willingness to personally nourish and instruct each of us Himself through His written Word. (Ep 4:21)

The Scripture foresees and preaches (Ga 3:8), speaking as though it were alive (Ro 10:11); we’re to let His words dwell in us richly (Co 3:16), saturating our minds and hearts with them (Je 15:16), focusing and seeking infinite riches (Ps 19:10-11): His very words are Spirit, and they are Life. (Jn 6:63) They will never pass away. (Mt 24:35)

What treasure remains hidden in these vibrant, living texts, just waiting to be discovered? (Pr 2:3-6) They are vast, the unsearchable riches of Christ await us. (Ep 3:8) O God! Open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of Your Law. (Ps 119:18)

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Throughly Furnished

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The doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Latin for scripture alone), a pillar of the Protestant Reformation, is a topic of continued debate. The claim is that the Bible is the only spiritual authority we have to guide us in our spiritual walk, and that we are each individually responsible for how we interpret and follow it.

This debate isn’t about whether Scripture is true and profitable to study; it’s ultimately about whether we’re each required to search the Scriptures to find the truth for ourselves (Mt 7:7), or whether we can rightly delegate this to others.

Another way to frame this is to ask whether God holds each of us accountable for our beliefs and actions. (Ro 2:6-9) If God wants us to trust others as a final authority, how can He judge us for doing so and then acting accordingly if we are misled, as long as we do what we’re told?

And how might we determine who qualifies to be such an authority (Re 2:2), apart from validating their claims against our own understanding of Scripture? (Ti 1:9)

Jesus calls us to search out the truth in the Scriptures for ourselves (Jn 5:39), and to be wary of those who would mislead us (Co 2:8); if we end up in error, we have no one to blame but ourselves. (2Th 2:12)

Scripture is sufficient to make us wise unto salvation (2Ti 3:15) and to fully equip us for godly living. (16-17) We must each be diligent to understand and interpret Scripture for ourselves (2Ti 2:15), and do the best we can to follow what we learn. (Ja 1:21-22) Believers can hear Christ directly and be taught by Him through the Holy Spirit. (Ep 4:21) We have no need for any other authority. (1Jn 2:27)

God tells us to check everything we’re taught against Scripture and to reject anything remotely inconsistent with it. (Is 8:20) Turning from Scripture is equivalent to turning from God (Jn 12:48); He treads down all those who err from His commands: there are no excuses. (Ps 119:118)

Common opposition to Sola Scriptura focuses on verses encouraging us to follow tradition (2Th 2:15) and apostolic teaching (2Ti 2:2), yet none of these contexts indicate that such teachings or traditions are extra-biblical, or that believers are not accountable to first validate everything for ourselves in Scripture. (Ac 17:11) Scripture gives no man ultimate spiritual authority over another: the right to tell anyone what to believe or how to act. (1Co 11:3)

What mortals are qualified to stand between us and God and tell us all what to believe? (2Co 1:24) How is this different from adding to God’s Word? (Pr 30:6) Pity anyone positioning themselves in this role, usurping the role of the Holy Spirit. (Mt 23:8)

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Pray for Us

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It’s good for saints to pray for each other (Ja 5:16a), and effectual, fervent prayers of righteous souls can make a real difference. (16b) Paul asks his brothers to pray for himself and for those working alongside him (He 13:8), at times even begging in the strongest possible language. (Ro 15:30) So, is it reasonable to ask saints in Heaven to pray for us?

Though all saints are part of Christ’s body, the Church (Ep 5:25-27), including those in Heaven (He 12:23), there are significant difficulties with this practice.

Firstly, it presumes the souls to whom we’re praying actually are in Heaven, that they’re true believers. However, unless scripture explicitly affirms this it’s presumption. There’s nothing stopping God from working through an unregenerate soul (Samson? King Saul? Jonah? Nebuchadnezzar?) to accomplish His purposes. We can therefore safely claim salvation for only very few, such as Abraham (Lk 16:23), the Twelve (except Judas: (Jn 17:12)), Paul (2Ti 4:7-8), etc. For example, scripture doesn’t explicitly tell us that Mary, Christ’s mother, ever came to true faith; she evidently lived many years after His birth without it. (Mt 12:47-50) She’s likely in Heaven, but there’s no way to be sure until we get there.

Secondly, praying to Heavenly saints presumes they can hear us across the immense expanse of the universe, which is, again, presumption; there is zero indication of this in Scripture.

Further, if it’s right to pray to saints at all, it’s right for a billion souls to pray regularly to a given saint (e.g. Mary), yet this is essentially attributing infinite capability to a finite soul, elevating them to godlike status. Distinguishing this from an affirmation of omnipresence and omniscience is semantics at best; the practice is therefore evidently unreasonable and problematic.

So, given such uncertainties, why would we spend any time at all asking saints in Heaven to pray for us? (Co 4:5) If it could be a waste of time (and it certainly could be), can it be excellent? (Php 1:10a) If we can’t prove it’s the will of God (Ro 12:2), why would anyone recommend it? On what authority?

If it’s good and right to ask saints in Heaven to intercede for us, and we’re unable to verify this from Scripture alone, Scripture must be incomplete as a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path. (Ps 119:105) We then require other (and necessarily fallibly human) sources of light. Yet this violates 2Ti 3:16-17; a fundamental claim that Scripture alone is sufficient to perfect us, to equip us to all good works. It’s one thing for teachers to show us how to rightly interpret Scripture, it’s another thing altogether to require secret, extra-biblical revelation or knowledge to live a godly life: this is Gnosticism.

Finally, since Christ Himself (He 7:25) and the Holy Spirit (Ro 8:26) are always praying for us, why would we need others in Heaven to intercede for us as well? They certainly aren’t any closer to God than God Himself.

God knows what we need before we ask (Mt 6:8); our prayers don’t inform God. Evidently, the purpose of prayer is primarily to engage us in pursuing and experiencing God’s will, which makes sense for believers on Earth. When we ask according to His will, we know He hears and answers us. (1Jn 5:14-15)

In presuming Christ came to start a new religion, which appears to be inherent in such ideas, we invariably find ourselves in error. He didn’t. (Mt 5:19) Ultimately, if what we’re saying and doing isn’t grounded in Torah itself, it’s darkness. (Is 8:20)

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My Infirmity

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Lamentations is a small book full of grief, mourning and shame, on a level few of us can comprehend. (La 1:12) The first four of the five chapters are elaborate acrostic poems; chapters 1, 2 and 4 each have 22 verses, one for each Hebrew letter; the 3^rd chapter, has 66 verses, three per letter.

Though the verse sequence in chapter 1 follows the Hebrew alphabet, the ע (ain, letter 16) and פ (pe, letter 17) are out of sequence for the rest of the poem. This is striking, and easily overlooked. God is evidently inviting us to pay attention and ponder, offering us a clue into the dynamics of evil and suffering. (Mt 7:7)

Perhaps this is an open invitation to tackle the most obvious and difficult question triggered by unjust suffering: Why? If God is Love (1Jn 4:8), why doesn’t He prevent evil?

Most of us think we already know the answer: How can a good God possibly allow so much cruelty and injustice in the world? Some conclude there is no God, or decide He isn’t good.

But Jeremiah doesn’t ask Why? at all, anywhere in the book, and this is also significant; instead, he freely admits Israel is being punished for her sins. (1:18) He is grounding his grief in the ultimate goodness and justice of God. (3:39)

This may be key to the misorientation of the letters ע (ain) and פ (pe) in chapters 2 through 4: ע (ain) comes from an ancient pictograph resembling an eye and is associated with seeing and understanding; פ (pe) comes from a symbol resembling a mouth and relates to speech, expression or communication. So, the correct order of the Hebrew alphabet places understanding before speaking: speaking without first understanding gets us into trouble. (Pr 18:13)

So, even though Jeremiah gets the alphabet right as he starts out, in the midst of his intense grief he evidently loses focus, putting speaking before understanding. Perhaps he’s saying it’s easier to start out in suffering without claiming injustice (Job 1:8, 2:10), but extended durations of unspeakable horror test what we think we know about God to the core; as we lose trust in God, as our earthly expectations of His protection and love are dashed, we begin to doubt God and put our complaining ahead of our understanding. (19:7) Yet, in the end, regardless what we’ve been through, what will God Himself have to say about it? (38:1-2)

In the midst of Lamentations, Jeremiah finally does remind us of God’s ultimate mercy and faithfulness. (3:23); he’s evidently refocusing on God in the midst of suffering, encouraging us to turn to God in our pain. (40) But he still gets the letter sequence incorrect in chapter 4; in chapter 5 he doesn’t even try poetry, it’s just words.

Similarly, in the midst of intense misery and pain, the Psalmist is troubled at the very thought of God: he’s absolutely overwhelmed (Ps 77:3), speechless. (4) Though he tries meditating on the works of God to reconcile them with his calamity (5-6), he just can’t shake the cruelty and injustice of it all. (7-9)

When he finds he is unable to make sense of his suffering on his own, he concludes it must be his own fault; his lack of understanding amounts to a personal infirmity – he just can’t see things from God’s perspective. (10a)

In faith, despite what he sees and feels, he continues meditating on how God reveals Himself and encourages himself in God. (10b-13) This doesn’t make his pain go away, but at least he can suffer in a little dignity and honor rather than in bitterness and despair. (Job 19:25)

Suffering can be bewilderingly debilitating, but defying God in the midst of it doesn’t improve our situation. (Ps 27:13) The key is to keep our eyes on God, trust He knows what He’s doing (14), and expect Him to keep His word (Ps 18:30) to the very end. (Job 13:15)

This is easier said than done; we can’t do this all on our own. Yet Jesus is able to suffer perfectly (He 12:3); He can suffer in and through us (2Co 4:10), giving us grace (He 4:16) to overcome. (Jn 16:33) He is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before God with joy. (Ju 24)

In Heaven, we won’t be complaining about God allowing evil and suffering, even our own; we will have His perspective, that it’s all about Him, and worship Him in glory. (Re 4:11)

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The Beginning of Knowledge

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Knowledge helps us orient ourselves in the world. As our brain stores information from our experiences our spirits and souls interpret it to help us avoid future pain and suffering and benefit ourselves and those around us.

Understanding facts about our world is certainly a type of knowledge, but there are simply too many facts to consider; in order to properly navigate complex circumstances, we must focus our attention and prioritize some facts above others. What we attend to depends on what we value, and this is driven by our moral frame of reference: our world view or story.

So, there’s a certain kind of knowledge which provides a foundation for all other knowledge; it forms the basis of our world view and dismisses facts which seem irrelevant or uninteresting. So, getting our world view wrong corrupts our minds and hearts, literally blinding us such that the facts we value don’t enable us to properly engage reality.

The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge (Pr 1:7); it is the first, foremost, chief or primary type of knowledge. Acknowledging and respecting Who God is, what He is like, and submitting to what He requires of us is the only point of view which makes sense of the world and rightly aligns us with reality. This is the essence of both wisdom and understanding. (Pr 9:10) Failing to choose the fear of God is equivalent to hating knowledge itself. (Pr 1:29)

The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil (Pr 8:13a), to despise the slightest tendency to turn away from God, to fail to love and obey Him with our whole heart. This is, of course, exceptionally rare (Ro 3:18); very few are able to find it. (Mt 7:14)

Consequently, we live in an age overwhelmed with information, and people filled with false hope in having instant access to whatever details they like. But without a suitable foundation we build on the sand (Mt 7:26), grounding our world view in our own pride and arrogance. (Pr 8:13b) It will not deliver in the time of trouble. (Mt 7:27)

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Cease From Anger

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Anger is an emotional response that’s generally destructive; it aims to remove a threat to one’s well-being. But my anger is almost always rising up in me when I’m not in any danger: I’m not actually being threatened at all, yet I feel threatened.

This usually happens when I feel I am being disrespected; I feel disvalued when someone mocks, insults or wrongfully accuses me. Rather than simply acknowledging the offensive behavior for what it is (a broken sinner doing what comes naturally, whom God has chosen not to restrain), I act as if it meaningfully impacts my personal worth as an individual. This is, of course, a lie (1Co 4:3), but it’s one I tend to believe when I’m not grounded, focused and paying attention. (Pr 4:23)

The truth is, of course, God values me infinitely; He went to the Cross to rescue me, to redeem me from all iniquity and purify me unto Himself. (Ti 2:14) Nothing can ever separate me from His love and care. (Ro 8:38-39) All insults, mockings and accusations are irrelevant from a personal value perspective; they are altogether less than nothing. (Ps 62:9) Full stop.

The proper response to offensive behavior is to pay attention: listen and learn. (Ps 39:1) What is this person really saying about me? (Pr 18:17) What are they revealing about themselves? (Pr 20:11)

Are they exposing a belief or behavior in my life which I can adjust to become a better me? If so, this is a precious gift (Pr 15:32): God’s gracious answer to my daily waking prayer, that He would show me where I can improve. (Ps 139:23-24) Others can see our flaws much better than we can (Mt 7:3), so, regardless of the source or how it’s delivered, like finding a big gold nugget in the sewer — sift it out, clean it up (Pr 23:23) and be wealthier for it. (Pr 12:1)

But suppose in the offense there’s nothing evident for me to work on, what then? Again: listen and learn; rather than trying to even the score or holding a grudge (Le 19:11), try to understand my neighbor a little bit better. Why are they coming against me? (Php 2:4) Do they feel threatened? Are they acting out of a soul wound or a lie? Is there anything I can say or do to bless them, and point them in the right direction? (Mt 5:44) Show them some love and light? (Mt 5:16) How can I overcome evil with good? (Ro 12:21)

It’s hard for me to think of others when I feel vulnerable and threatened myself; my instinct is to protect and defend my own well-being by destroying those who threaten me. But this is sowing evil seed (Ga 6:7-8); it doesn’t help. (Pr 22:8) It’s letting pride get the best of me (Pr 29:28); it won’t work the righteousness of God (Ja 1:20) and I will soon regret lashing out. (Pr 11:2)

When I feel anger rising up in me, I need to slow down (Ja 1:19) and calm myself (Ec 7:9), check my real motives and not act on it right away. (Pr 14:29) If delaying my anger won’t endanger me or others it can wait (Pr 19:11); righteous anger will be so tomorrow, and sleeping on it will help me sort out my motives. (Ep 4:26)

To cease from anger as an instinctive response to personal offenses (Ps 37:8), I must be grounded in the love of Christ (Ep 3:17-18); then, filled with the fullness of God (19), I’m free to consider others in the midst of conflict and focus on helping them find The Way.

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Casting All Your Care

What does it mean to give it to God? It might mean to stop trying to control a particular outcome (become passive), or to stop caring about it (become apathetic), resigning ourselves to the inevitable. But passivity and apathy aren’t virtues.

Identifying areas of personal responsibility, gaining clarity about who and what we are supposed to control, and learning how to control that, is evidently key. (1Co 9:27)

Wisdom teaches us we’re to control ourselves, (Pr 25:28) not others (1Pe 4:15), and to rest in God’s sovereign control of everything (including ourselves). (Ro 11:36)

It is also important to care, to be concerned for the welfare of others (1Co 12:26) even if we can’t control the circumstances. We may be able to influence an outcome by properly directing our own behavior (Ti 3:8), but the result is always in God’s hands. (Ja 4:15) However, we shouldn’t worry or be anxious (Php 4:6); in light of God’s sovereignty, worry is practicing the unfaithfulness of God: it’s a lack of trust in God’s goodness. (Is 26:3)

If we’re experiencing worry, fear or anxiety, we’re either not properly controlling ourselves to influence an outcome for which we’re responsible (Ro 12:11), or we aren’t resting in God to order the outcome for our good and for His glory. (Ro 8:28) In either case, God can help us with wisdom (Pr 13:23) and diligence to plan and work as we should (Pr 22:29), to discretely manage our affairs (Ps 112:5), and teach us how to cast all our remaining cares upon Him. (1Pe 5:7)

If we’re becoming frustrated in a given situation, we’re either trying to control something we shouldn’t, or we haven’t developed the necessary wisdom, maturity and discipline to control ourselves as we should. In either case, God can help us realign our expectations with reality and teach us how to walk in great peace and wisdom, not in frustration. (Ps 37:37)

If we’re being responsible and wise, seeking God’s kingdom and praying about everything, His peace will keep our hearts and minds through Christ. (Php 4:6-7)

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The Foundation of the Earth

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The debate over the age of the earth is significant because it profoundly intersects both physical and spiritual reality. A literal reading of Scripture places the beginning about 6000 years ago, while almost all scientists claim the planet is several billion years old. Where we land on this key scientific question has tremendous spiritual implications. (1Ti 6:20-21)

As in most debates, our ideology, world view or general narrative determines how we interpret reality (Mt 6:22-23), and this particular debate appears to be no different. Young Earth Creationists use a consistent, well-established biblical hermeneutic, respecting the Creation narrative in Genesis at face value. Old Earth proponents tend to align with Philosophical Naturalism, that Earth and all life forms have arisen from random, purely natural causes over long periods of time.

While there is plenty of scientific data available to help us estimate the age of the earth (Ro 1:20), each world view finds ways to interpret the data according to its own general narrative. The consequences of allowing the data here to actually fundamentally change the way one perceives reality are indeed profound. (2Th 2:10-12)

The stakes are perhaps highest for the atheist: accepting a young earth eliminates Darwinian Evolution as a plausible explanation for our existence, leading us to wrestle with Divinity defining a moral standard and holding us all accountable for our actions. This is so offensive and unpalatable to hardened atheists it blinds their minds, literally rendering them incapable of rationally evaluating the facts. (2Co 4:4) So, when we discover soft tissue in dinosaur bones, for example, any explanation at all, even if it’s a wild stretch, satisfies sufficiently to dismiss the evidence. (2Pe 3:5)

Yet decades of extensive Origin of Life research now demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that life could not possibly have evolved naturally, exposing Darwinian Evolution as an elaborate hoax and eliminating any rational basis for Philosophical Naturalism. (Ps 139:14) Consequently, an old-earth interpretation of the scientific data no longer supports any rational world view (Ps 102:25); we should all be free to consider faith-based, young-earth interpretations of the scientific data without being mocked and ridiculed.

Even so, many Christians depart from a biblical hermeneutic in Genesis to accommodate an old earth, hoping to be respected by the general scientific community. However, in doing so they unwittingly undermine the very foundations of the Christian faith: that God actually made Man in His own image from the dust of the earth; that He actually formed Woman from the rib of Man (1Ti 2:13); that God actually rested on seventh literal 24-hour day of Creation and sanctified it (Ex 20:11); that Adam actually brought sin into the world by eating of the forbidden fruit (1Ti 2:14), and death by sin, actually passing spiritual death on to all of us, who are all his descendants (Ro 5:12); that God actually cursed the ground for Man’s sake, and prophesied that the Seed of Woman will bruise His heal while bruising the head of the serpent who deceived them. Allegorizing the Creation story leads one to presume all of these foundational historical events didn’t actually happen as they are recorded, but that they merely evolved over millennia as pre-historic humanoids passed on oral traditions trying to make sense of their chaotic world.

Yet Jesus Christ Himself evidently accepted the Genesis account as literally true (Mt 19:4-6), as did His apostles. (1Ti 2:13-14)

This debate is surely not without consequence. If we don’t take the writings of Moses at face value, how are we to believe the words of Christ? (Jn 5:46-47) Grounding ourselves in the facts and understanding how and why they are interpreted by each side, will help us be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks of us a reason for our hope with meekness and respect. (1Pe 3:15)

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All the Fullness

If we’re filled with all the fullness of God (Ep 3:19b), if Father God is strengthening us with might by His Spirit in our inner man (16), if we’re continually conscious of the indwelling Christ living in and through us (17a), if we’re firmly rooted and grounded in love (17b), comprehending the deep things of God (18), if Christ’s love for us energizes, motivates and overwhelms us (19a), then we’re rightly enjoying God’s salvation and redemption.

Otherwise, we’re leaving much wonder and glory on the table, not pursuing God’s kingdom and righteousness with our whole heart. (Ps 119:5)

Perhaps we’ve become lukewarm (Re 3:15-16); perhaps we don’t yet fathom what’s available to us and how to obtain it. (Ep 4:17-18)

We might start by asking God to begin deepening our hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt 5:6), that He would begin inclining our heart towards Himself (Ps 119: 36), renewing our mind and helping us put on our new nature. (Ep 4:23-24) This would start stirring up our appetite for holiness (Ps 119:32) and awakening us to our need. (Re 3:17)

We could then start asking Him to help us become more aware of ourselves (Ja 1:23-24), to help us begin noticing how we’re feeling and thinking and reacting, to perceive what’s energizing and motivating us throughout each day (Ps 19:12), especially when we’re under stress. (Pr 20:27)

Then we could start asking Him to show us any areas He would like to cleanse and renew, any consistent patterns which are misaligned with Torah: His perfect standard of righteousness. (Ps 139:23-24) As the Author and Finisher our faith (He 12:2), He knows how to take us to the next phase of our particular journey, what areas we should be working on next.

Then we could prayerfully start considering any scriptures which come to mind (Ps 119:18), which expose any part of our lives as misaligned with God’s Way. (Ps 119:105)

Then we could start memorizing these verses (Ps 119:11) and meditating on them (15), comparing our beliefs, affections and desires with what He reveals. (9)

Then we could begin visualizing ourselves walking in more obedience to God in these specific areas, setting our minds on our destiny (Re 3:18): to be more Christlike, and begin aligning our behavior moment by moment with that holy vision, asking God to order our steps in His Word, to not let any iniquity have dominion over us (Ps 119:133), and to continue making us go in the path of His commandments. (35)

We may persist, asking in faith, knowing He is with us and continually helping us, because that’s precisely why He gave Himself for us: to redeem us from all iniquity and purify us unto Himself. (Ti 2:14)

Yet, as we’re praying and looking to Him to deliver us (2Co 7:1), God expects us to strive to cleanse ourselves (He 12:4), even as we’re asking Him to cleanse and strengthen us. (Jn 15:5) If we’re earnestly seeking Him and His righteousness (Mt 6:33), we’ll do whatever we can to pursue holiness as a manner of life (1Jn 3:3), as we depend on Him to deliver us. (Php 2:12) In our striving He works in us both to will and to do as He pleases (13), ordering our steps according to His perfect plan. (Ps 37:23)

And all along the way, we can be praying for ourselves and others, and asking others to be praying for us (Ja 5:16), that we might be continually filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. (Co 1:9-11)

In this way we can be adding to our faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and agape love (2Pe 1:5-7), for if these are abounding in us, we’ll not be barren nor unfruitful in our knowledge of Christ. (8) Without them we’re blind and forgetful, wandering in the twilight, wanton and dissatisfied in God. (9)

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Give an Answer

As we share our faith, we should be mindful of our objectives and motives. Trying to convince others through logic and evidence may lead to frustration, anxious tension, defensiveness and other uncharitable emotions. We’re called to present the evidence which convinces us, not necessarily change anyone else’s mind; repentance is God’s work, not ours. (2Ti 2:24-25)

God tells us to always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks us for a reason we believe, why we have hope of eternal life (Ti 1:2), and to answer them with meekness and respect. (1Pe 3:15) What evidence do we have for our faith? Why do we believe what we do? Why are we so convinced? We should be able to articulate this clearly and rationally.

Some may claim our reasons for faith are grounded in ignorance or lies, and we should listen carefully and try to learn, checking out the truth for ourselves. Everyone knows something we don’t, and no part of reality should intimidate us; we should try to reconcile all of our experience and knowledge into a coherent worldview. This is how truth-seekers live; asking God to reconcile apparent contradictions and inconsistencies (Mt 7:7-8) so we may live according to knowledge and understanding. (Pr 4:7)

But we should not be surprised or concerned when others remain skeptical, especially when this is not grounded in objective reality; unbelief is the norm: it is expected. Those who are not seeking truth are already blinded by a love for darkness (Jn 3:19); they cling to lies regardless what evidence is presented. Blind people can’t see light, regardless how brightly it shines into their eyes. They need to be given sight, to be regenerated, quickened. (Ac 26:18)

Trying to determine whether someone else loves the truth as we converse with them may also be inappropriate. If they do love the truth, and if our answers have merit, they will likely continue asking questions. If they don’t like our reasons, and have rational grounds for skepticism, perhaps we need to keep digging and ask them some questions.

Yet our focus should not be debate, but living so others can sense our hope; our joy in Christ should be evident. Hope is attractive in ways scientific, logical arguments aren’t. People without hope may be looking for rescue from the madness of this world. (Ro 8:24)

The more we seek the more we find (Pr 2:3-5), and the better answers we’ll be able to give to the next one who asks. It is a journey, and we must be patient with ourselves and others along the way.

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