Faith # 2

Question: I would like to believe, but I cannot. Will God condemn me for something I cannot do?

No, God will not condemn you for something you cannot do, but you can believe. Anyone can believe. There is plenty of proof that the Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God - proof enough to convince anyone who really wants to know and obey the truth.

In my book "Powerful Faith", I have given conclusive evidence that the Bible is God's Word and that Jesus Christ is God's Son. However, one does not need to read books like this to find this evidence. There is plenty of proof in the Bible itself. John said in John 20:31, "These are written [the things contained in the gospel of John] that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." We see in this verse that life comes through believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, comes through studying what is written. If anyone will take the gospel of John and read it in the right way, he will know and believe before he finishes reading that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and he will have life through believing it.

Now, what is the right way to read it?

First of all, surrender you will to God. Jesus said, "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own" (John 7:17). One can read the gospel of John again and again and not come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, if he reads it with an unsurrendered will. However, if a person will first surrender his will to God to obey God, no matter what it may cost him, he cannot read the gospel of John through once without coming to see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Second, each time you read the Bible, look to God and ask Him to show you how much truth there is in the verses you are about to read. Then promise Him that you will commit to what He shows you is true. Do not read too many verses at once. Pay careful attention to what you read. Read with a real desire to learn the truth and to obey it. By the time you get through the gospel, you will find that you can believe. In fact, you will find that you do believe.

The reason people do not believe is that they are not living up to what they do believe, they have not surrendered their wills to God, or they do not study the evidence that is intended to produce belief. Men neglect their Bibles and read all kinds of trashy, unbelieving books and then keep saying, "I can't believe! I can't believe! A man might just as well feed himself on poison instead of food and then complain that he is not healthy. There is abundant evidence that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and faith is a willingness to yield to sufficient evidence - it is a matter of the will. Unbelief is the refusal to yield to sufficient evidence. Unbelief is a matter for which every unbeliever is responsible.

God demands that we believe, that we yield our wills to the truth that He has abundantly revealed. Faith is the one thing that God demands of man, because it is the one thing above all else that we owe to God (John 6:29). Without the faith that is due to God, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).

~R. A. Torrey~