Hard Facts ...

Monday, Nov 21, 2016. Often people think that faith is something soft - some kind of opinion or ideology. We understand the reason or origin of this opinion: it seems that faith claims things which cannot be touched or shown directly. But it is a misunderstanding of faith as it is understood in the biblical texts.

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Faith …

Faith is a reaction to what someone hears from God. Faith is a decision to trust. Faith is a firm belief, which is rooted in the word of God, in his creation, in what he has told us. We can listen, and believe! And faith is about hard facts!

Faith claims that God is the creator. It claims that Jesus is his son, that in Jesus God came into creation. Faith claims the resurrection, and it claims that Jesus is present through his holy spirit. All these are hard facts, they are not opinion, not ideology, not ethics only. Listen to the letter of Colossians:

15 He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (from Colossians 1)

Christ …

Faith is about hard facts. It is also a hard fact that we can live without God. We can live thinking that there is no God and follow atheism. Or we can believe in various Gods, in the spirits of our ancestors, in the old spirits, which are there everywhere in the world. We can believe in Allah, the God of Islam. We can believe in Buddha's faith, in ethics and a transcendent state of life to be gained by meditation and insight.

Christians claim the reality of God, the creator, one in father, son and holy spirit. And we believe that this faith is consistent, and that is is based on reality. God is there, and the spirit of Jesus is there with those who trust him. We believe that faith is based on his word, which is reaching out to us. We can read the biblical texts, the gospels, the letters of the apostles, the revelation - and all Old Testament texts as well, pointing out to him, to Jesus, and to the salvation which he brings to us, to you and to me.

Faith is about a real person, about God, about Jesus. It is about him being there, answering prayer. Ask him, challenge him in a sincere way. And then start to see how great he is, and that he wants to talk to you! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts