Elvispelvis
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- Jul 9, 2010
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"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom.10:17).
Likewise, Isaiah 43:9-12 shows how an understanding of God's prophecies about the future makes us know "that I am he" (Is.43:13) - i.e. that God's Name 'I am that I am' is perfectly true (Ex.3:14). The apostle Paul came to a town called Berea, now in Northern Greece. As usual, he preached the gospel ('good news') of God; but instead of the people just accepting Paul's word for it, "they received the word (of God, not Paul) with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed" (Acts 17:11,12). Their belief was due to their open-minded, regular ("daily") and systematic ("those things") searching through the Bible. The gaining of a true faith was therefore not due to God suddenly making them have it by some kind of spiritual heart surgery, unrelated to God's word. So how can people of the world who walk into a Billy Graham crusade or Pentecostal revival meeting walk out again as 'believers'? How much daily searching of Scripture has gone on in these cases? This lack of a truly Bible-based faith doubtless accounts for the hollowness which many such 'converts' find in their later Christian experience, and why so many turn away from the evangelical movement.
framework for your own systematic searching of Scripture, so that you too may "therefore" believe. The connection between hearing the true Gospel and having a true faith is often highlighted in the record of the Gospel's preaching:
* "Many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8)
* People "hear the word of the Gospel and believe" (Acts 15:7)
* "So we preach, and so ye believed" (1 Cor.15:11)
* The "seed" in the parable of the sower is the word of God (Lk.8:11); whilst in that of the mustard tree it is faith (Lk.17:6), seeing that faith comes from accepting "the word of faith" (Rom.10:8), "words of faith and good doctrine" (1 Tim.4:6), into a heart that is open to belief in God and His word (Gal.2:2 cp. Heb.4:2)
* The apostle John says of the written record of our Lord's life that "he saith true (i.e. the truth) that ye might believe" (Jn.19:35). And so God's word is called "truth" (Jn.17:17) - that we might believe.
The old testament is full of future events, prophecy.
Please study the old testament.
Likewise, Isaiah 43:9-12 shows how an understanding of God's prophecies about the future makes us know "that I am he" (Is.43:13) - i.e. that God's Name 'I am that I am' is perfectly true (Ex.3:14). The apostle Paul came to a town called Berea, now in Northern Greece. As usual, he preached the gospel ('good news') of God; but instead of the people just accepting Paul's word for it, "they received the word (of God, not Paul) with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed" (Acts 17:11,12). Their belief was due to their open-minded, regular ("daily") and systematic ("those things") searching through the Bible. The gaining of a true faith was therefore not due to God suddenly making them have it by some kind of spiritual heart surgery, unrelated to God's word. So how can people of the world who walk into a Billy Graham crusade or Pentecostal revival meeting walk out again as 'believers'? How much daily searching of Scripture has gone on in these cases? This lack of a truly Bible-based faith doubtless accounts for the hollowness which many such 'converts' find in their later Christian experience, and why so many turn away from the evangelical movement.
framework for your own systematic searching of Scripture, so that you too may "therefore" believe. The connection between hearing the true Gospel and having a true faith is often highlighted in the record of the Gospel's preaching:
* "Many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8)
* People "hear the word of the Gospel and believe" (Acts 15:7)
* "So we preach, and so ye believed" (1 Cor.15:11)
* The "seed" in the parable of the sower is the word of God (Lk.8:11); whilst in that of the mustard tree it is faith (Lk.17:6), seeing that faith comes from accepting "the word of faith" (Rom.10:8), "words of faith and good doctrine" (1 Tim.4:6), into a heart that is open to belief in God and His word (Gal.2:2 cp. Heb.4:2)
* The apostle John says of the written record of our Lord's life that "he saith true (i.e. the truth) that ye might believe" (Jn.19:35). And so God's word is called "truth" (Jn.17:17) - that we might believe.
The old testament is full of future events, prophecy.
Please study the old testament.
