On Believing

“We do not believe in Christ because we believe in the Bible; we believe in the Bible because we believe in Christ.” (Friedrich Schleiermacher) Though faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God…though we can come to faith in Christ by hearing or reading the Bible…we do not stay in the Faith because of the written word; we continue in belief because of the Living Word of God. It is because of what he did for me (for us) that I stand steadfast. He is the Truth that I believe; he is the Truth that Pilate mocked but sustains and sanctifies me. He is the Love that first loved me and that keeps my heart warm to God. The result is that I believe the written word because of the Living Word. I keep the word because of the Word.

This has served me well over the years. Trust in Christ’s declaration that God’s word is truth has helped me to eventually understand difficult matters in the Bible. This is backwards, I know. The world demands understanding first and only then will it believe. Augustine said it best: “Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.”