Thursday, January 19, 2017

The Cold Result Of Unbelief - Mark 16:16

  
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
 - Mark 16:16

    The state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded is simplicity defined. The end all of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is, in its essence, simplicity defined. There are no difficult or complex equations to grasp at. There are no clever semantics to decipher. There is only the command to believe - He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. - John 3:36. Seems simple enough, so why is it so difficult for some people? I said it was simple: I didn’t say it was easy.
    Belief has always been one of those words that bring with it a level of desire. People have to want to believe. If they don’t want to believe in something they will resist belief in the face of all the evidence. Worse, they will resist belief in the very face of proof! We have often heard the skeptic’s common expression of incredulity - “Well, I can’t believe that.” Can’t or won’t?
    We continually see evidence of God’s will around us. Those of us with faith, believe. We share with each other the faith which binds us to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  But there are those who simply cannot breach the chasm between skepticism and belief. “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” - Hebrews 3:19.
    This is not to suggest that many don’t claim to be spiritual. Some even claim to believe in “a god.” They simply (there’s that word again) don’t believe in the one true triune God of the Bible. We hear the regurgitation of excuses - “Why doesn’t He make Himself known? (He has) Why doesn’t he speak directly to us? (He does) Why don’t we see evidence of His work?” We do! “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him . . . . - John 12:37.  Special revelation is what these unbelievers want, no - demand - from God. For them, God needs to show them particular evidence of His existence before they will lower themselves to believe. He won’t. “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. - Matthew 13:58.
    We true believers need no more evidence than God has provided for us in the progressive revelation of His holy word. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” - 2 Corinthians 5:7. Scripture is God’s revelation to us; we need nothing more. And we believe Christ when He says, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” - John 12:48.
    May we always rest in our belief and faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and pray that the Holy Spirit will warm the hearts of those who are cold in their unbelief!

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