Evidentiary Faith
Being a Christian
requires us to have faith in two things, the Bible, and in Christ.
We’ll start with a
Biblical faith in the Bible, because if we don’t have faith in the Bible
what it tells us about Christ is moot.
The Greek word most
commonly translated to faith in the Bible; the word is pistis
which means most literally translated an “active trust.”
Webster’s similarly
defines faith as “the assent of the mind to the truth of what is
declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on the reliance of
testimony.”
The bible tells us this
also most notably in Romans 1:19-20:
“Because that which is
known about God is evident within them; for God made it
evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen…”
NASB
The bible says the world
itself is evidence of God and that we are expected to see it.
Further the Bible tells
us to test it. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 “Do not treat prophecies with
contempt but test them all; and hold on to the good, rejecting every
kind of evil.”
Many Christians however
feel that building a faith based on evidence is somehow wrong. That
building this kind of an evidential faith is the same as asking for
proof. The presence of proof destroys faith. John 20:29 is a great
example of this, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Here Thomas demands
that Christ prove who He was and that He was who they saw crucified
before he would believe. Many Christians use this verse to say, we
should have faith only because the Bible says have faith. This “Blind”
faith is what Christ was calling for in all future Christians. The
problem with this argument is that many books call out for the readers
to have faith, the Bible, the Quran, the Hindu Scriptures and even the
Book of Mormon.
Yet unlike all the
others, the Bible is supported by history, by having histories of other
cultures in time periods running parallel to specific portions of the
Bible. Some examples here would be the Egyptian history noting the mass
exodus of the Jewish people. The Persian Histories which have a story
matching the book of Esther almost exactly. And these are only two of
many.
The Bible is supported by
archeology, if the bible says something is somewhere, when people dig
there, they find what the bible says is there. Many famous digs over
the years have proven this. Jericho was dug up in the 1950’s despite
being called a Judeo-Christian fairy tale before its discovery. And
most recently the city of Sodom has been uncovered so recently in fact
that they are STILL working there… And guess what, it is right where the
Bible says it should be.
Finally, the Bible is
supported by the test of time, from Genesis, to Revelations a time
period of more than 1500 years passed, and there is a consistent history
given. The United States has only existed for 242 years, the history
books written even as short of a time ago as 30 years; don’t match
exactly with the ones being written today. In 1500 years the facts of
US history may look very different than they do today. Yet the Bible
has stayed not only consistent but unchanging for more than 1900 years
(since Revelations was written).
Now today we have NO
proof that Moses went up onto that mountain long ago and brought down
the Ten Commandments. We have NO proof that the altar built by Elijah
and flooded with water was consumed right down to the bed rock. We have
NO proof that a man was born to a virgin one night. We have NO proof
that He died and rose again 3 days later. And we have NO proof that the
church began that Pentecost. What we do have is overwhelming evidence
that the Bible in its entirety is true, and that allows us to have FAITH
that the things we don’t have proof of did occur. So now we know what
Biblical faith in the bible is.
Let’s look at biblical
faith in Christ.
Here again, the argument
is for “Blind” faith. If I have faith in the Bible and the Bible says I
should have faith, then I will have faith. A bit of circular reasoning
but it works for some people. It’s weak but I have heard it used.
Another favorite verse for arguing for a Blind faith is Hebrews 11:6 “I
walk by faith not by sight.” Here though I can actively demonstrate
this verse in a way that should be very clear, if you’ll let me use an
analogy. When my wife or son leads me by sighted guide I am LITTERALLY
doing this. Walking forward of back having complete and active trust
(Faith) that they will guide me when my eyes can’t be trusted. Here I
have NO proof that in the path ahead they aren’t going to run me into
one of the big red balls in front of Target. I do have faith that
neither of them will though; because, in the path behind they have
earned that faith, by the evidence of their deeds.
A good example of this in
the bible is found in Exodus 14:31
“When the Israelites saw
the mighty power that The Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they
were filled with awe before Him. And they put their belief in Him and
His servant Moses.”
Clearly, the Israelites
had evidence that God existed and was helping them escape Egypt and yet
the text says they put their faith in Him because of the evidence.
Now let’s see what Christ
himself had to say about an evidentiary faith. In John 14:11 Christ is
talking to his disciples, though this answer is directed to Thomas again
actually, in the upper room. Here he says this, “Believe me when I say
that I am the Father and the Father lives in me; or at least believe
(have faith in) on the evidence of the works themselves.”
Christ was subject to
providing proof, or evidence, that he was the Messiah. Over 300 such
prophesies were made and Christ was REQUIRED to fulfill them all. Why?
So that our faith would not be blind, but that it would be in a Savior
whose love and sacrifice would be beyond all doubt. So that our faith
could be supported by the evidence of the whole Bible, and our Salvation
through Christ could be eternal.
If anyone would like to
respond to the call please come forward as we stand and sing.
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