The things of which we have been speaking are those rather dry, external facts which serve to confirm the authenticity and reliability of the Scriptures. Millions of lost souls have placed their faith in various false writings and are either ignorant of, or have been misled, concerning the true Word of God. And, in countries where Christianity was once widely professed, we now find a generation growing up with the belief that the Bible is a book of myths. These rather dry facts are, therefore, important in helping to sweep away the rubbish that has been heaped against this book. However, in themselves they cannot and will not save a person. For that, one must open the Word of God and read it.
It has been said that the Word of God is like a lion; if you want to know its power, release it from its cage! Scripture itself uses the analogy of a sword: “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Man sits in judgment on the Word of God, whereas, he needs to bow to it and let the Word judge him.
The Beginning of Wisdom
The Word of God is like no other book; it cannot, therefore, be approached like any other book. If we take it up in a natural way, we will never rightly interpret it. In Proverbs we find our first key to understanding God’s Word: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). To fear God is to reverence Him. By nature, however, we are a law unto ourselves and God is not even in our thoughts. “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18). How can one know the things of God when God means nothing to them? And worse than that, when God is dismissed altogether? “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psa. 14:1). No, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; He has spoken and we need to listen.
Faith
The second key to our comprehension of the Scriptures is faith: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). It is not good enough to simply believe that God exists. In the United States much of the population believes in God (or at least, a god) but there is no relationship with Him. We must believe that “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” God is intensely interested in each one of us and will never disappoint the earnest soul. A lost child runs about frantically and becomes increasingly disoriented; the father, on the other hand, seeks with purpose and does not give up until the child is found. Zacchaeus “sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not” (Luke 19:3). But, “when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him” (Luke 19:5). Every seeker is sought of God, and He will find them. “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
What is faith? It is taking God at His word, and not just in the head but in the heart and feet also. Faith acts upon God’s word. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Paul said: “I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me” (Acts 27:25). In the Gospel of John we have a good definition of faith: “He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true” (John 3:33). In receiving God’s testimony — no matter the dispensation, and no matter the nature of that testimony — we set to the seal that God is true. This is faith. “By [faith] the elders obtained a good report” (Heb. 11:2). It wasn’t by the works of the law that they pleased God, but rather, by the walk of their faith. Faith and believing are closely related. However, we often make the great mistake of supposing that understanding is believing — that understanding is necessary for belief. Even in natural things, there is much that we do not understand — perhaps the vast majority of things we encounter — and yet, we believe them. No one has managed to explain the brain and how that jelly-like mass relates to my sense of consciousness — but I’m not about to abandon it! Faith believes and then comes the understanding: “I believed, and therefore have I spoken” (2 Cor. 4:13).
In these two things — the fear of God and faith — we have that which is prerequisite to our understanding of the Scriptures. God has spoken and we are to listen; anything less than this only serves to exalt man and discredit God. Furthermore, the Word must characterize our life and walk if we wish to be kept in the power of it and to grow spiritually. In writing to Timothy, Paul says “But the end of what is enjoined is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith; which things some having missed, have turned aside to vain discourse” (1 Tim. 1:5-7 JND). Obedience to Paul’s charge results in love out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith that is real. In the verse prior to this, he had spoken of speculative subjects which only serve to generate more questions — questions which people love to discuss and debate. These, however, do not act on the conscience, nor do they bring us into the presence of God. God does not take up man on an intellectual level — if He had done so, Christianity would have been an exclusive club of those with a high I.Q. Instead we read: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). At the end of that first chapter, Paul exhorts Timothy: “maintaining faith and a good conscience; which [last] some, having put away, have made shipwreck as to faith” (1 Tim. 1:19-20 JND). Here faith is the doctrine of Christianity — and yet it is by faith that we receive it as from God Himself. But there must also be a good conscience. Without this, communion with God is broken, and there will be no strength to keep us in the faith.
Since faith rests upon God and His Word, it is not shaken by circumstances. There is much that we encounter which stands in opposition to the Word of God. These aren’t necessarily evil in themselves, but they call into question the veracity of the Scriptures — it could be the latest archeological discovery which supposedly refutes this or that, or perhaps a scientific breakthrough which calls into question some other point of Scripture. True faith, however, never waivers — it is true that sometimes our thinking must be adjusted, but this is a question of interpretation and not of substance. Invariably, it is man’s latest theory which turns out to be wrong. Faith takes the position, “let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). We must always remember that our faith isn’t resting on natural evidence or this or that proof. It rests upon that which God has revealed to us in His Word. When natural things are correctly interpreted, they confirm the reasonableness of our faith.