A few parting thoughts...
1. Have you wondered why God instituted the One Minute Procedure whereby truth can be so simply communicated, received, and acted upon? I have. At first, it may not seem logical, especially to those who are gifted in their intellect, education, or physical abilities, and pride themselves on challenge and achievement. This may include many who are reading this book.
Well, I have discovered the answer, and it is infinitely logical. Sometimes we forget that the range of human intellect and ability varies greatly. Your own ability may allow you to grasp the depths of theological truth or accomplish great things for the Lord, but many people in the world have limited intellects and physical abilities. A vast number of the people of the world have little or no education and cannot even read or write their own language. Many people are retarded, or infirmed, and handicapped. Some people just can't do anything.
Therefore, any fair and universal method for obtaining God's favor and grace must totally exclude any human activity! True Christianity is the only belief system which recognizes this. Virtually all Christian cults and nonChristian religions place primary emphasis on human activity-that favor from the Creator must be earned. And in His infinite wisdom and love, God has given a method which is nondiscriminatory and is a common denominator regardless of intellect, education, age, economic status or physical condition-faith.
Faith transcends all boundaries. Anyone can approach God with it, and on equal terms with all other humans. Only God could have devised such an ingenious method! Even a little child can do it, and sometimes more easily.
Unfortunately, the simplicity of God's method is often a stumbling block for sophisticated people who pridefully want to interject their superior abilities and involve their egos. But Jesus warned, "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."1
True faith will always produce some corresponding action, or evidence, in a person's life, but it's the faith that is key.
2. Belief is a decision. We discussed in a previous chapter how the word "believing" from the Greek carries the meaning of entrusting and committing.
Thus, those who truly "believe" in Jesus, the Christ (Messiah), actually entrust their lives to Him. It's more than just an intellectual acceptance. For example, believing that a parachute will work is only an intellectual exercise until you decide to really entrust your life to it by jumping out of an airplane. The parachute saves you. You make a decision to really believe-to entrust. You literally throw yourself on the trustworthiness of the parachute. The same with Christ. You throw your life on Him. You jump out of your former life and into Him. He saves you. The objective evidence of Jesus' messianic claim is overwhelming. To ignore or reject this fact, one has to make a conscious decision in the face of all the evidence. Or one makes a decision to believe the evidence. It's purely a volitional matter, and one for which we accept the consequences. Such a decision should not be based on emotion, although emotion may be involved. It is a conscious, rational decision to believe or not to believe based on the evidence. Of course, we know from the Bible that it is the Holy Spirit who helps and reveals, but when His job is done, a human decision still must be made. That decision has eternal consequences.
3. Probably the most profound question in the world is "What is truth?" Everyone seems to disagree on everything: politics, economics, religion, psychology, and every other subject. We live in a world full of disagreement. And just when a person thinks he has discovered a fact, a theory, or a strategy he can believe in, he later finds it was flawed. It really never was truth. As science makes new discoveries, even so-called physical laws that were thought immutable are found to have been in error. Recent discoveries show that even the most basic physical laws exhibit unexplainable patterns. How much more illusive is truth concerning nonmaterial reality.
Does truth really exist? What is truth?
That is the question the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, asked Jesus just
before Pilate sentenced Him to death.2 Ironically, Pilate
was looking truth in the eyes and did not recognize it, or Him.
He was face to face with truth and could not see Him. Many are that
way even in our day.
This book is about "the world's greatest truths," but it's really
about just one Person.
According to the Bible, truth is not an abstraction. Truth is a Person. Jesus said, "I am the truth."3 I hope you have found Him in the preceding pages.
It's been fun sharing Truth with you.
May He bless you richly .