Do you really believe what you hope you believe?
© 2016 by Tom Boynton (editing by Kathy Boynton)
What we think we believe may differ from what we really believe. There’s a story of a boy who wanted to walk on water. He’d heard that, given enough faith, he could do anything. One day, as he walked to a nearby swimming hole with his friends, he decided to prove his faith. Running toward the water he repeatedly shouted, “I can walk on water!” He surfaced sputtering and, after catching his breath, said, dejectedly, “I knew it wouldn’t work!”
True belief is much more than a declaration of what we would like to believe. It’s a settled conviction based on something that has been proven to our innermost being. Scripture makes it clear that belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, as complete payment for my sins, is absolutely necessary for salvation.
“…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Where does such faith come from? Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, was burdened about such matters. He approached Jesus and said,
“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2).
Today, some would immediately urge Nicodemus to pray “the sinner’s prayer.” Jesus didn’t. Instead He said,
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Responding to subsequent questions by Nicodemus, Jesus emphasized that only the Holy Spirit, who moves as invisibly as the wind, can make alive the heart of man. He said,
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
Has God the Holy Spirit breathed true faith into your heart, drawing you to seek Christ, or is your “faith” the work of your own fallen will?
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Please search God’s Word, the Bible, diligently! It is the means by which God the Holy Spirit produces true faith in a person’s heart.
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