The Importance of Faith

Like many in today's society I often wonder if faith really doe matter. Are Creeds and Doctrines really necessary? Does it matter what a man believes? Many of these questions have already been asked before, and in most cases the answer is no. Where religious belief seems to them little or no importance. So long as their neighbor is nice, decent and honest, it doesn't matter what he or she believes. So long as they are employed, their employer provides fair conditions of work and pay a salary, his belief or want of belief is immaterial.

So in a sense we are just a number, or at best a given commodity, and electrician, a plumber, a nurse or an accountant. But many happenings in the world today are causing people to begin to realize that the nature of the beliefs of men and women are paramount and are fundamentally important due to the fact that they affect our conduct and the ways we behave in society, Where it has come to everyone's notice that conduct and belief cannot be separated.

Hence there is a new interest in religion and a growing demand for a clear statement concerning the Faith of the Church, and the beliefs of individuals. Stuck in the mud are the traditionalists, and the self righteous, the fundamentalists, in which their conduct and their beliefs are pragmatically related.

Many feel, also, how unsatisfactory it is that people should become members of the church with only a vague idea of the beliefs which they have, which their membership implies. As if saying being in the possession of a mobile indicates that you have all the intelligence that has gone into the design of that mobile. Yet far from the truth. Thus many people simply inform themselves by google, Instagram, and Youtube of their latest back-up or desires which provides them with information or a means that informs them of what they believe concerning themselves and the doctrines of the church.

So there is little fear to-day that anyone will be led into the mistake of thinking that conduct is less important than exact ideas concerning faith, for actions speak louder than words. And the one religious aspect of religion which has seized our imagination of late is the fundamental beliefs of others, and their actions. But it is unclear to many that our faith or a sure faith in Jesus Christ can only be founded on a sure and certain faith in Jesus Christ. And so what we believe is fundamentally important to us.

You can disagree with me, all you like, but as Jesus spoke, " the words I speak unto you are not of my own". One can escape the convictions of the world, but one cannot escape the convictions of the heart. As my grandmother always said, sooner or latter no matter the smoke screen you will always be found out.

So we are the product of what we believe, and that is why I have concentrated my last few blogs on the discourse of our beliefs, because religion is the sum of what we believe and our conduct is how we openly express to the world what we believe.

Efforts of all kinds are being made to secure such things as social betterment, economic stability, want and care, political reorganization, but we are what we believe. Where no one can escape who they are, nor the convictions that the world has endorsed upon us today. In which mankind is not merely the chance result of blind forces swirling about in time and space. Where its also a common mistake for men and women to become obsessed with the idea of getting rid of one particular evil and devoting their energies to another. We have to think the faith that is needed in this sudden whirl wind of destruction we live in today, is a faith that recognizes that Jesus Christ is the revelation of God to men.

The Gospels record that god so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believed on Him might be saved. Is that true? I ask you because have you ever sat down with pen and paper and asked yourself the simple question what do you believe?

If we do not believe the Gospel of God's love in Christ, if we deny that there are any signs of God in Christ, or in universe, or that God can call men and women to his service except you, then this question is obviously vital. Thus we must be sure of what is behind our faith, and that what is behind our faith is a faith that stands firm in Christ.

We have to think, too, not only of the difficulties we ourselves have to face. Christian men and women have often thought it their duty to seek to force others to accept their beliefs, and have been so ready to persecute anyone who has not readily accepted the bible or their beliefs. But that is not what belief is about, because belief and conduct cannot be separate.

So how do we come to believe? We come to recognize that Jesus Christ is the revelation of God to men, and the source of that knowledge is our faith and our bible.

So why do we have Creeds? We have them because they are the sum total of what we believe.