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"I really DO want to believe
but it is so hard!"
There is a reason why the
bible is so hard for everyone to believe:
Not everyone is supposed to believe
it!
Does that statement strike you as odd? Have you ever considered
the fact that the Bible is unbelievable by design?
The truth is this: the Bible IS unbelievable to the "natural"
or "unspiritual" man! The only way you CAN believe the
Bible is if God Himself has empowered you to do so. Without that
God-given ability, NO ONE could believe and be saved.
Which means this: God alone decides who will be saved and who will
not. It isn't based on how good a person is or what good deeds they
have done or what church they go to. God sets the criteria for entry
into eternal life as belief, or faith, in His Word. He then gives
the ability (and the desire) to "believe the unbelievable"
to those whom he has decided will be saved. He does this for His
own purpose and pleasure.
This may come as a shock to those who have grown up hearing sermons
like this: "God loves everyone - He doesn't want anyone to
perish - but there is nothing He can do about it. His hands are
tied. He sent Jesus to open the door to salvation but you have to
walk through it. It is all up to you and your freewill to muster
up the faith to choose to believe."
The faulty assumption in this line of thinking is that we ALL have
faith and the ability to believe in God but sadly, many people just
stubbornly choose not to "make a decision for Christ".
But according to the bible, we CANNOT believe unless God has decreed
it. It was a decision He made before the universe was ever created,
before we were born or had done anything good or evil!
Contrary to what passes for Christianity today, God has never intended
for everyone to believe or to be saved. Jesus did not die on the
cross to simply make salvation a "possibility". Jesus
died to give eternal life to those people in particular who believe.
And GOD decides who will believe. Jesus does not sit by His Father's
throne in Heaven, biting His nails and wondering if someone is going
to come along and "choose" to make Him their Lord and
Savior.
Jesus IS Lord of ALL. But He is Savior only to those whom God
has given the ability to believe.
The Bible reveals that God is Sovereign and He is in control of
every single detail of His universe including every person in it.
He has predetermined from before the creation of the world exactly
WHO would be saved. This group of people is called the "church"
(or "ekklesia" in Greek meaning an assembly or gathering
of "called-out ones"). God calls out to those who He has
set apart for His purposes and when they hear His voice, they respond.
It's like being a fireman. When you hear the siren go off, you naturally
run to the firehouse. Everyone in town hears the siren but only
the firemen respond.
God the Father has given these people - the Church - to Jesus the
Son as a "bride" who will love and serve Him forever for
the great mercy and grace by which they have been saved. But since
these particular people were sinful by nature (due to the Fall of
Adam), they were separated from God's Holiness. Jesus came in the
flesh to take on the sins of His bride, to suffer and to die for
her on the cross so that she would be spared from God's wrath. Jesus
was then raised from the dead to give eternal life to His bride.
Once this was taken care of, Jesus then sent the Holy Spirit to
come and give New Birth to these particular people - empowering
them to not only hear the siren call of the Gospel... but to respond,
to believe.
The Spirit is at work in a person long before they "make a
decision" to give their life to Jesus. If you believe in God,
Jesus, the Bible, the Resurrection, etc. it is because God has made
you to believe. If you don't believe, and could care less, then
it is because God has left you in your natural-born unbelieving
state and He intends to let you pay for your own sins. (OR perhaps
He is just not done with you yet!)
But what about ME? I don't know if I
believe everything in the Bible but I really WANT to believe!!
I don't want to pay for my own sins in hell forever! I want God
to choose to save ME! What if I am not chosen!?!?
The Good News is this: even if you only have the faintest desire
to truly know God - exactly as He is revealed in the Bible
- then that is pretty good evidence that you too may already have
your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life - a member of the Church,
the Elect - and the process is already at work to turn you into
a believer.
Faith only comes by hearing the Word of God. If you have not heard
(or read) much of the Word then you should expect that your faith
would seem small. The more you hear (or read) the more you will
believe.
Due to this lack of exposure to the true gospel, the ability to
believe is often preceded by the simple desire to believe. In other
words: you don't know what you don't know but you DO know you want
to know more! If that is the way you feel right now - "I
want to know God as he TRULY is" - then you are
on the right path and you can be sure that the God who started this
good work in you, will see it to completion.
But sadly, too many people do not want to take the time to find
out for themselves who the real God of all Creation is. It is easier
to make up a god after their own desires and emotional needs. Even
worse, they buy into some pop-culture, well-marketed idea of who
God should be. But this is called idolatry - making up your own
god to worship.
All men seek to worship something... it is how we are made. But
there is only one name under heaven whereby we must be saved and
that is the name of Jesus.
Can you believe
that?
If not, perhaps you might want to say a simple prayer and ask God
to give you more faith. That is a prayer that He will always answer
if it is prayed in honesty. It is also a prayer that you can not
pray unless He has already decided that you WILL be saved. Here
you go:
Sovereign God and Father of All Believers,
I really don't know who you are. Please reveal Yourself to me.
I really want to believe in your Word because it says that Jesus
came to give eternal life to those who believe and I want that
gift. But it is so hard for me. Please give me a greater desire
to read the bible. Please lead me to a man of God and a church
that teaches the Absolute Truth of the Bible. Please let Your
Holy Spirit live in me, to give me wisdom and understanding
of scripture and to draw me closer to Your Son, Jesus. Thank
you for already answering this prayer.
Amen!
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