Open letter to our small group "Evidence" and to all believers in Christ all over the world and to all those who do not believe. I am writing this to explain to you in simplest words why we believe with full confidence what we believe, why we believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit who leads us in to all truth. This is great stuff. Stay with me please. :)
I hope you enjoyed our first day as much as I did. I'm glad and encouraged to hear from all of you. When I was younger in my faith in Christ, before I had a good foundation in faith, I watched a debate between a born again Christian and a Muslim (who in the end admitted that he was once a Reverend Born-again Christian). The Christian was losing horribly at every point of the argument- the Bible, God, Jesus, everything. Every time he failed to defend the Christian faith, I feel like my heart tears apart because at that time I am starting to really put my faith in God, Bible and Jesus stuff. It's hard to watch something you hold so dearly in your heart fall apart like that. While watching the debate, I was grieving so bad and I almost thought of converting to Islam right there and then. What was the point of clinging on to the Christian faith if it's not true? I would be deceiving myself only together with the other "deceived Christians" if that was the case.
I just wanted the truth. Because of creation and every thing else around me, I believe there is God. Now if there is God, it is evident that He knows more than I do. Unlike other atheists or agnostics, I have no confidence in trusting in my own understanding how to live life. I was willing to submit to some form of higher wisdom. I just wanted the truth, more than anything.
Let's cut to the chase:
To the Christian, Muslim, Jews, Buddhists, Hindu, atheists, agnostics, and people who don't care (who probably did not get to finish the very first sentence of this writing) I have a question for you-
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
I mean, what do you REALLY know beyond a shadow of a doubt? What do you know? To the Christian, you say "Jesus is the Son of God, the only way to the Father." Ok, but how did you know? A lot of other people have different opinions about Jesus. To the Muslim, "There is no God except Allah; Muhammad is Messenger of Allah." Again, how did you know? To the Jews, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." To the atheist, he might politely say, "Enough with the drama. We only have one life and that is now. We just have to love one another. We don't need God, in fact there is no God but I respect your beliefs." Thank you for the kind words but how did you know that?
You see, discussing these things will make you feel like you wanna throw your hands up in the air and say "It's complicated. We don't really know! Enough with the "competition". Just respect everyone's belief and live in peace with one another!" While I totally agree with respecting one another, I vehemently reject the belief that "we can not know for sure." I believe there is nothing complicated. It's just a question of whether we understand or not. If you understand, for sure you can simplify it. As Albert Einstein wisely stated, "Simplicity is the greatest sophistication." Therefore let us simplify.
What do you know? Not the religious belief, nor politics nor science, nor anything "too sophisticated and heavy" to discuss. What do you know for sure? Pick one information you know is true and we will test the truth of that knowledge. Since we want to simplify these complicated things, let us pick YOUR NAME. The very first thing you want someone to believe when you formally meet them. Your name.
How did you know your name? If I chose not to believe your name, it does not change. Right? You might have been bored that is why you are in the "internet" right now. Internet, how did you know that this thing is called internet? You were thirsty and you drank "water". How did you know it's called water? How did you know that "tables" were called tables, "cellphones" were called cellphones, "food" called food. The list goes on. How did you know all these basic things? When did you start knowing these?
Dear human, you were born in this world with no knowledge, therefore no understanding. Do you remember your very first memory? You know your name because your parents told you so. You know that "tables" were called tables because that was what you were taught. You know things because someone else told you so.
Every time we share an information, we don't realize that we have first placed our faith in that person who gave us the information. My name is Ananias (In other words, my name is Ananias because my parents told me so.) The weather is going to be awesome tomorrow! (because the weather app says so) This antibiotic is good for your infection (because the researchers, pharmacists say so). We do not know anything. We just put our faith in the person. In the natural realm, faith in the person precedes knowledge.
If I choose not to believe that cellphones, antibiotics, cars don't work just because I can't understand it, will it change anything? No. My belief will not change the reality.
Let us say someone who never had the luxury of technology comes to me and I gladly share with him what wi-fi is. He does not believe me and starts asking me questions down to the most intricate detail. I am defenseless because all I know about wi-fi is you plug it in, you connect and that's it. I can't fully explain it to him but I know for sure that it works, because I use it everyday. I experience it everyday.
My friends that's the kind of knowledge I want you to have about God, although you cannot fully explain it, yet you experience Him everyday. What good is our knowledge of how wi-fi works but we don't get to actually use it? What good is it if we can explain to the unbeliever what God is like if we ourselves don't enjoy Him everyday? Everything about God will not change just because the human heart fails to believe Him for who He is.
Now, how can we have faith that the Bible or the written Word of God and Jesus, the living Word of God is true? In the same principle we know what our name is- by pointing our finger to the authority. We know by pointing to the Holy Spirit. He is a person. He is the one who dwells in the believer when he humbles himself, repents and turns away from sin and declares with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead. Anyone who does this is Heaven bound, safe from the judgment day.
You might say, I'm good with what I believe. Your faith works for you but I'm good with my comfortable life. My friend, I'm afraid you are in danger of the unpardonable sin- blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
31"Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:31-32)
In plain words, we believe in Jesus not only because the Bible says so but because the Holy Spirit says so. Speaking against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that the more I speak in tongues, the more confidence I have in God.
And like the wi-fi experience, my Christian friend, I would rather have you experience our God everyday than trying to fathom His mysteries. So if unbelievers bring you down with their arguments, your faith will not fail. Instead, you just smile and say "I know God is true because I experience Him everyday." Then you are branded "crazy" before their faces. Do we care? No. When we truly love someone, we just don't care. We become stubborn. We love God back regardless of the consequence. He is infinitely more than worthy of our love.
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
God increase,
Gi
