Tuesday, January 22, 2013

In spite of puzzles




We should not abandon faith in anything that God has taught us
merely because we cannot solve all the problems which it raises.

Our own intellectual competence
is not the test and measure of divine truth.
It is not for us to stop believing
because we lack understanding,
or to postpone believing
till we can get understanding,
but to believe
in order that we may understand;
as Augustine said,
“unless you believe, you will not understand.”
Faith first,
sight afterwards,
is God’s order,
not vice versa;
and the proof of the sincerity of our faith
is our willingness to have it so.
Therefore,
just as we should not hesitate to commit ourselves to faith in the Trinity
although we do not know how one God can be three Persons,
nor to faith in the incarnation,
although we do not know how the divine and human natures combined in the Person of Christ,
so we should not hesitate to commit ourselves to faith in Scripture
as the infallible Word of the infallible God,
even though we cannot solve all the puzzles,
nor reconcile all the apparent contradictions,
..in our present state of knowledge..
On all these articles of faith we have God’s positive assurance;
and that should be
enough.

 - J.I. Packer

Be not afraid, only believe.~ Jesus
Mark 5:36

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