| MONDAY | April 6 |
The Basis of Our Faith
A famous English hymn that has been translated in countless languages reminds us, “My hope is built on nothing less / Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness” (Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 522). It is important that we never forget this truth. Jesus Christ is the ultimate foundation and source of our faith. But even though the gift of faith is a mystery that remains beyond our comprehension, we have been given some insights into how faith is awakened and strengthened. Some men and women in Bible times had a sudden experience that started them on the journey of faith. Paul is probably the most prominent example. Others tell of a much more gradual awareness of God’s leading in their life, which brought focus and direction in their pilgrimage of faith. No doubt, experience is an essential and powerful component of our spiritual life. But faith also must have content, and the revelation provided in the Scriptures plays the major role in establishing us in our faith.
What role do the Scriptures play in the faith-experience of the believer? John 5:39, 2 Tim. 3:15.
Clearly, the Scriptures are of extreme importance, and if we neglect them it will be at our own peril. But how the Scriptures exactly help to awaken and build our faith cannot be expressed in any human formula. Not even the famous faith definition of Hebrews 11 provides this. “Hebrews 11:1 doesn’t give us a definition of pistis [the Greek word for faith] so much as a description of the way faith works.
Certainly the apostle isn’t advancing a psychological explanation of faith. Rather, he sets out the two cardinal abilities that faith makes possible—turning hope into reality and the unseen into sight.”—William G. Johnsson, The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier: Hebrews (Hagerstown, Md.:Review and Herald® Publishing Association), p. 205.
What does James 2:18, 19 tell us about the character of faith? Why is faith more than intellectual assent to belief in the existence of God and other doctrines?
| Why is Bible reading a life-changing experience for some people while others claim that it “does nothing” for them? What would you advise a person who reads the Bible and enjoys it as literature but claims not to hear the voice of God speaking in it? |
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