By Faith We Understand |
by David A. DePra |
| Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the |
| word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of |
| things which do appear. |
| Today, science demands "proof" that God created the world. |
| They say we have no business believing in God without tangible, |
| scientific proof. Yet they are guilty of the thing they mock. Even the |
| best scientific minds of today admit that they have no proveable |
| alternative for explaining how the universe began. The best they |
| can offer is to say they haven't YET discovered how the universe |
| began without God. But they claim they will discover it. |
| Now, isn't THAT faith? When I don't have an answer for the |
| origin of the universe, but nevertheless say I believe there IS one |
| other than God, I am exercising "faith." I am believing something |
| exists for which I have no current proof. I defend my right to do so |
| because I say "someday" I'll find the answer. |
| This is an incredible cop-out, and is, quite frankly, totally |
| hypocritical. And rather than "faith," it is actually hardness of heart |
| and unbelief. |
| Romans 1 tells us that God is clearly seen, and proven, in His |
| creation. It says that the existance of God is so obvious -- clearly |
| manifested through His creation -- that we are without excuse if we |
| deny Him. Why are we without excuse? |
| Because what we are talking about here is not an intellectual |
| issue. God is not telling us that we need to be smart enough to |
| prove God scientifically from our environment. No. He is telling us |
| that this is a MORAL issue. The existance of God is so obvious |
| from creation that the only way you can deny it is if you begin from |
| the premise of no God -- and refuse to bend. That is a moral |
| choice, based on the heart. |
| Note that it is not wrong to sincerely question whether there is a |
| God -- in an attitude of seeking the Truth. No, that is good. But it is |
| wrong to decide ahead of time what I will accept AS the Truth. That |
| is hardness. And for it there is no excuse. |
| There are other witnesses to the unbeliever that there is a God |
| besides the creation. There is, for instance, the conscience of |
| human beings. Man's conscience, while it cannot tell him what is |
| right, does tell him that he ought to do right. Paul says, in Romans, |
| that this conscience is a kind of "law" which is written upon the minds |
| and hearts of the unbeliever -- for which they are accountable. (see |
| Romans 2:14-15) |
| If a person, who has no knowledge of God, pays attention to |
| conscience, he will eventually understand there is a God. It is |
| inevitable. Why else pay attention to it? What would the motive be |
| other than the fact that he realizes he is accountable to a higher |
| power? |
| So what we have is this: We have the outer witness of God, |
| which is His creation. And we have the inner witness, which is our |
| conscience. We have the measure of faith given to every man. |
| These leaves us without excuse for denying God. |
| Now to our verse. It says, "By faith we UNDERSTAND." It does |
| not say, "By faith we by-pass understanding." Note that -- it tells us |
| something about faith. Faith does not purge us of our ability to |
| understand. It imparts to us understanding. |
| This is so, despite the fact that we must trust God rather than our |
| understanding. It is so even though we must often trust God without |
| any understanding at all. The fact is, if I want to understand, I must |
| first believe. It is by faith, not brains, that I grow to understand. |
| It is "by faith" that we UNDERSTAND that God made what we |
| can see. But our faith is not a mindless acceptance of an unproven |
| theory. No our faith is the moral conclusion of looking at the |
| evidence before us. Then we understand. Our moral openness |
| conditions us to grasp what God has done. This is how it works |
| with all the things of God: By faith we understand. |
This page was created by dave on April 17, 2000.