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DO
YOU
BELlEVE
GOD
?
•
by
Elbert Atlas
Sometímes it's hard to puta
handle on something like
faith.
lt
seems
so
elusive to
most ol us. We try to talk
ourselves lnto believing
something, or we go through
al/ sorts olmental gymnastlcs
to lee/ a certain way about our
problems. But howdoes the
Bible define lalth? And what
does laith have to do
with your daily lile?
30
T
he classic definition of faith is
found in the book of Hebrews,
chapter eleven: "Faith is the as–
surance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen" (RSV
throughout article). Paraphrased in
more modern English, faith is hav–
ing confidence you will receive
something you hope for.
But Hebrews 6 gives an even bet–
ter idea of what faith really is,
clearly showing that it is
belief in a
promise made by God.
This chapter
states that "when God made a
prornise to Abraham, since he had
no one greater by whom to swear,
he swore by himself, saying, 'Surely
1
will bless you and multiply you'"
(verses 13 , 14). Here God says:
"Abraham,
1
am going to give this
to you. This is what you will re–
ceive." Thus He bound Himself to
certain conditions. Note that He had
not already given anything to Abra–
ham, but He bound Himself to do
so in the future.
The passage continues: "And thus
Abraham, having patiently en–
dured, obtained the promise. Men
indeed swear by a greater than
themselves, and in all their disputes
an oath is final for confirmation. So
when God desired to show more
convincingly to the heirs of the
promise the unchangeable character
of his purpose, he interposed with
an oath, so that through two un–
changeable things, in which it is im–
possible that God should prove
false, we who have fled for refuge
might have strong encouragement
to seize the hope set before us" (ver–
ses 15- 18).
In other words, God gave an ulti–
ma te token of His sincerity, honesty
and intent to perform what He had
promised. God is able to go even
above and beyond the greatest oath
that man can muster in confirming
His promise, or attesting to the vera–
city ofwhat He says.
Faith and Christian Living
Notice a very important part of this
statement:
It is impossib/e for God to
prove Jalse,
or lie. Now that is an
integral part of faith - simply
believ–
ing that God
wi/1
not lie
10
you.
If a
person holds that belief and under–
stands it deeply, he will have faith
toward God. Jf you believe that
God will not lie, then you have the
ground, the foundation, for the kind
of faith that God wants you to have.
God is the one Being on whom
you can count; the Being who will
always say and do what is right.
And the degree to which you
believe
that will strongly determine the way
you live.
Here's an illustration: Say I told
you if you walked out on the
freeway in rush-hour traffic and
darted in front of an eighteen–
wheeler, the chances are you'd get
smashed tlat as a postage stamp.
Would you believe me? If you did
believe me, wouldn't that belief in–
fluence your conduct in terms of the
freeway?
Now
a
child might not believe
me. He might not understand, or
think
I
didn't know what
1
was talk–
ing about. He might be tempted to
go out and play on the freeway. But
if he did. he'd be courting disaster.
It's the same with anything God
tells us. If we firmly believe that
God doesn't lie, and that every word
that proceeds out of His mouth is
true, then it will have a tremendous
impact on the way we live- on our
daily conduct.
Now God says He knows how to
live forever-He's got the secret and
He can pull it off. He's doing it al–
ready, and always has been. He sent
Jesus Christ to show that it's pos–
sible for human beings to cross the
chasm between mortality and im–
mortality, and He promises that im–
mortality to every one of us who
believes Him and acts accordingly.
Consider Christ's example of
faith; how He gave up eternallife
to
become
a
human being and die for
a ll of us. He put Himself in quite a
position. What if He had felt a bit of
doubt? What if there had been ani–
mosity between Him and God the
Father?
But Christ knew that God was not
lying to Him. He knew that even
though He were to die and have no
ability to resurrect Himself, He
could trust His Father to keep His
word. He knew that the Father
reaUy loved Him and would cer–
tainly resurrect Him.
God the Father and Jesus Christ
are so honest, so pure and so right in
their ways, motives, and conduct
that they were able to absolutely
believe one another. They had a
The
PLAIN TRUTH July 1977