What is the Basis of Our Faith?

If I were to ask you how much you know about God and how you got to know what you know about God, what would you say?

Where is the source for what we believe? Well, God, of course, but where do we receive the authority for the things we believe in? What is the standard which tells us whether we’re on target or not?

Some say that tradition is of equal value to scripture when it comes to authority for our faith. We may often hear someone say they believe something because their parents said so. Others believe things based upon what their church or denomination has traditionally taught.

Many people believe that their heart will tell them what is right. It is supposed that intuition or a “burning of the heart” will lead us to the truth. This is the mystic conception of knowledge of God. However, the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17.9)

Many others will hold to what they perceive to be the majority opinion about God. This often leads to ups and downs concerning our beliefs. Once, it was thought normal to not accept fornication or homosexuality. Nowadays, it is considered by many, perhaps most, to be unkind and intolerant if we do not only accept but also affirm such deviant behavior. This is because the tide of public opinion has shifted. We may often feel that our beliefs should change with this shifting tide.

Is there a standard for what we should believe? I believe there is. I have placed my confidence upon God’s written word, the Bible – sixty-six books from Genesis to the book of Revelation.

Martin Luther said, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.” And “Let the man who would hear God speak, read Holy Scriptures.”

The London Baptist Confession of 1644 states:

The rule of this knowledge, faith, and obedience, concerning the worship and service of God, and all other Christian duties, is not man’s inventions, opinions, devices, laws, constitutions, or traditions unwritten whatsoever, but only the word of God contained in the … Scriptures.

Just a small portion of the Westminster Confession of 1647 (Presbyterian) says:

The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

The Second London Confession reads:

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.

The New Hampshire Confession of 1833 acknowledges:

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction;  that it has God for its author, salvation for its end,  and truth without any mixture of error for its matter;  that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried. 

We could talk about Wesley’s Twenty-five Articles of Religion, Institutes of Calvin, and dozens of other great teachers of the Reformation, but I think it is best to let the scripture speak for itself.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (Jesus; John 5.39) 

Jesus prayed:

Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. (Jesus; John 17.17)

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (Paul; 2 Timothy 3.16-17)

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (Peter; 2 Peter 1.19-21)

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (David; Psalm 119.105)

These are only a few of many, many places where the writings of the scriptures affirm themselves. The claim of the Bible is very bold. That claim is that those words, recorded there, are the very words of God.

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2.13)

Look no further than to God’s word. Let it speak to your soul.

Do you want eternal life? Let God’s word, pointing to Jesus, show you the way.

Do you want to know God’s will? The Bible  is the recording of God’s revealed will.

Do you need wisdom? God will give it to you through the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

Do you wish to know what the future holds? Find out by reading the Bible.

Let us return to the Bible, God’s written word.