A Prerequisite to Knowing God – Trust

Today we are going to be discussions the third part of the series on prerequisites of knowing God. Technically, we could have begun with any of the three points and ended with any of them. There is a sense where they are all circular in their reasoning. We would be wise when we realize that though the world suggest that they are above circular reasoning with their scientific method, evolution cannot be argued without applying circular reasoning. For example: carbon dating gives ages that correspond with fossil layers, which were used to test carbon dating. Somewhere along the line, assumptions had to be made.

In the flow of the argument thus far, we have determined that truth can only be determined through a rigorous pursuit of logical reasoning and discernment. Secondly, before one can know God, one must first believe that He is, requiring faith. Finally we are going to look at the evidence, the Bible, which must be accepted as true, before we can proceed to truly knowing God.

The Bible has been brought under great scrutiny over the years. Non-Christians have levied attacks against its integrity, suggesting that it contains errors and inconsistencies. But these arguments are simply a smoke screen and logical fallacy that people will throw up into your face to get you to rest on your defense and give up the offense. I have not studied where every supposed inconsistency exists. I have one response when confronted with this attack, “Have you studied those inconsistencies in depth to make that statement, or did you just hear that from someone else?” Unless their lying, they will admit that they have simply trusted the word of someone else without doing any work themselves. This presents a perfect opportunity to defend the authority of Scripture because, in essence, we are trusting the Word of God to be undeniably true by faith, but we are also applying logical reasoning. Point – Christian.

The argument for the authority of Scripture naturally flows out of a belief that God is real. If you haven’t yet read the previous post from Wednesday, you really should before proceeding here.

If we accept the existence of God, we must ask how it is we are able to know him. If you haven’t yet read the post on Monday, you might want to do so to understand that there must be a definitive answer between truth and falsities.

Now, if those arguments are solid, there must be a way of knowing God that is the final authority.

Is it relative to human reasoning? This is illogical because God cannot exist in the contrary notions of two people who think of Him differently. If God is determined by what we think of Him and feel about Him, then we could never actually know anything certain about Him. If we are all, as individuals, the final authority, then our authority would be naturally negated by the authority of another. This is not common ground, and primarily why I don’t agree with any private interpretations. There must be a universal authority to actually knowing about God and it can’t proceed from one person’s ideas about Him.

One of the remarkable testaments of Scriptures validity is the 40 authors who are surprisingly consistent on the character of God. Nowhere else in the major religions of the world has there been such a broad collection of writers who have agreed on the same subject. You can’t even get ten Baptists in a room to agree. Most religions are based of the teachings of one man, and even then there are inconsistencies. If nothing more, the Bible is an amazing literary accomplishment to be so concise.

If God is sovereign, why would He misrepresent Himself in the only Book that describe Him as he truly is? This is an amazingly profound argument for anyone who says they believe in God and Jesus, but don’t believe His Word. How can anyone even give validity to God without trusting His Word? If we proceed from the argument on Thursday, we must conclude that there is a definitive source for knowing God. Without that common authority, no one could accurately know anything about Him.

Conclusion

There are a lot of Christians who do not have a clear understanding of what it means to actually know God. They are not discerning and many of them function with a mystical idea of Him without actually knowing Him personally. They may have faith in God for salvation, but they don’t seek Him to be renewed by His presence. They may trust His Word, but they don’t spend time to understand what it teaches. As a result, it is no surprise that most Christians are not evangelistic and wouldn’t even know what to say when sharing the gospel with a non-Christian. This series has a lot for the non-Christian, but even more for the true Christian who has a lot to learn about the prerequisites for knowing God.