Continuing In Faith, Hope & Love (Part 3)
Continuing In Faith, Hope & Love - Part 3
Yeow Chin Kiong
Since faith is based on substantial evidence (Hebrews 11:1) provided by God's creation (Romans 1:19-20) interpreted by His word (Acts 17:11), the growth of the faith of Christians can only come about by their continous keen observation of God's creation (including man's thought and actions) interpreted by a proper handling of God's word, the holy scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15).
We have seen the role of scriptures' APPLICATION to the real world and our personal conduct. This involves cultivating the life-long habit of self-questioning, "What does God's word say about (whatever we observe around us, in terms of God's created order and man's conduct) and "What would our Lord do in these circumstances?" Only by doing this can our faith that propels our Christian life be fruitful to ourselves and others (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 1 Timothy 4:15-16).
The other side of the coin as far as strengthening our faith and that of others is concerned requires fortifying our faith in the reliability and trustworthiness of the Bible,- in its entirety. After all, if faith fundamentally comes from the word of God (Romans 10:17), our faith must not be shaken by alleged Bible contradictions, inaccuracies and difficulties left unanswered. Scripture does contain difficult passages to understand or reconcile (2 Peter 3:15-16). However, only the untaught and unstable feel the need to twist such admittedly-difficult scriptures to their own destruction. Sound and stable Christians put in much effort studying difficult passages of scripture to overcome difficulties and reconcile apparently-contradictory passages because they have faith that God's word,- being truth that sacntifies (John 17:17),- cannot err.
The difficulties within the Bible cannot be handled by merely being ignored. The apostles used persuasive reasoning to allow the scriptures they preached to convert souls (Eg. Acts 17:2; 18:19) and correct others (Acts 18:24-28). Indeed, the regular use of scripture in application to life's changing circumstance and in discussion and debate with those with whom we differ are just the ways for us to strengthen our faith by earnestly contending for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints (Jude 3). One can imagine what happens to a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17) if it is left a long time in its scabbard, unused.
More often than not, it is the misuse and abuse of scripture itself that faithful brethren must oppose, prayerfully (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Such was the case with our Lord in His dispute with the Adversary in Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13. Untangling misused scripture requires considerable effort, as does teaching the Biblical truth of a matter in response to the vanquished error. One who desires to do this necessary task must first ensure his own faith is secure and his handling of scripture is competent before he steps into the arena of contention (Galatians 6:1).