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What then must we do? We must commit ourselves, heart and mind, soul and will, home and life, personally and unreservedly to Jesus Christ.
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2).
It is also “supernatural,” because it was given through a process we call “inspiration,” and it found its chief expression in Jesus—in who he is and in what he has done.
Christianity is a religion of salvation, and the fact is that there is nothing in any of the non-Christian religions to compare with this message of a God who loved, and came after, and died for, a world of lost sinners.
It is one of the reasons why Jesus loved children. They are teachable. They are not proud, self-important, and critical. We need the open, humble, and receptive mind of a little child.
We have to be ready not just to believe, but to obey. We must be prepared to do God’s will when he makes it known.
We must set aside apathy, pride, prejudice, and sin and seek God—no matter what the consequences. Of all these hindrances to the search for truth the last two are the hardest to overcome: intellectual prejudice and moral self-will. The reason is that both are expressions of fear—and fear is the greatest enemy of the truth.
We do not find because we do not seek. And the truth is that we do not seek because we do not really want to find. And the best way to be certain that we won’t find is to decide against looking in the first place.
Come with the full consent of your mind and will, ready to believe and obey if you become convinced that it’s true.
God, if you exist (and I don’t know you do), and you can hear this prayer (and I don’t know if you can), I want to tell you that I am an honest seeker after the truth. Show me if Jesus is your Son and the Savior of the world. And if you bring conviction to my mind, I will trust him as my Savior and follow him as my Lord.
The evidence is at least threefold. It concerns the claims he made, the character he displayed, and his resurrection from the dead.
his place after he returned to heaven. This is the Holy Spirit. Christ’s favorite name for him is translated in John’s Gospel as the Advocate, the “One who comes alongside to help.” It is a legal term, denoting a barrister, a counsel for the defense. It would be the Holy Spirit’s task to carry forward the cause of Jesus.
All these miracles are parables, illustrating the truth that as human beings we are spiritually hungry, blind, and dead, and that only Christ can satisfy our hunger, restore our sight, and raise us to a new life.
For a discussion of the authenticity of the New Testament see F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? 6th ed. (Downers Grove, IL.: InterVarsity Press, 1981).
If anything is clear from the Gospels and the Acts, it is that the apostles were sincere. They may have been deceived, if you like, but they were not deceivers. Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff.
Much that we take for granted in a “civilized” society is actually based upon the assumption of human sin. Nearly all legislation has grown up because we simply cannot be trusted to settle our disputes with justice and without self-interest. A promise is not enough; we need a contract. Doors are not enough; we have to lock and bolt them. The payment of fares is not enough; tickets have to be issued, inspected, and collected. Law and order are not enough; we need the police to enforce them. All this is due to our sin. We cannot trust each other. We need protection against one another. It is a
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For us to keep this first commandment would be, as Jesus said, to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind; to make his will our guide and his glory our goal; to put him first in thought, word, and deed; in work and leisure; in friendships and career; in the use of our money, time, and talents; at work and at home.
We may have attended church—but have we ever really worshiped God? We may have said prayers—but have we ever really prayed? We may have read the Bible—but have we ever let God speak to us through it and done what he said? It is no good approaching God with our lips if our hearts are far from him (see Isaiah 29:13; Mark 7:6). To do so is sheer hypocrisy.
To call God “Lord” and disobey him is to take his name in vain. To call God “Father” and be filled with anxiety and doubts is to deny his name. To take God’s name in vain is to talk one way and act another. This too is hypocrisy.
Indeed Jesus said that to be angry with someone without good reason, or to be insulting, are as serious as actually killing someone.
Indeed, the Bible contains many references to this infection of human nature—what we call “original sin.” It is a tendency or bias of self-centeredness, which we inherit, which is rooted deeply in our human personality, and which reveals itself in a thousand ugly ways. Paul’s label for it is “the sinful nature,” and he sets out a catalog of what it produces.
And self-sacrifice is what the Bible means by “love.” While sin draws in to itself, love spends itself for others. The characteristic of sin is the desire to get; the characteristic of love is the desire to give.
