By Michael Youssef, Ph. D.
Our Western civilization was founded on a belief in the central importance of rational thought, objective Truth, and timeless Biblical principles. For centuries, Christian thinkers—great men of the faith like the apostles, Augustine, Origen, Calvin, Luther, C. S. Lewis, John Stott, Norman Geisler, and William Lane Craig—have taught that the Christian faith is reasonable and based on evidence. The Bible does not tell us to practice “blind faith” but a faith rooted in objective reality. No other religion is based on the objective evidence of history—only Christianity.
Truth is a bedrock concept in the Christian faith. Paul tells us that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). And Jesus told a group of new followers, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Jesus also claimed to be the very personification of Truth: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
The concept of Truth was as essential to the Old Testament as it is in the New. God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, said, “I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19).
You might ask, doesn’t the Bible tell us not to lean on our own human understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6)? Doesn’t the Bible tell us that the just (God’s righteous followers) shall live by faith (see Galatians 3:11)? Aren’t we supposed to simply trust God, regardless of whether or not His Word seems to make logical sense?
The Truth is that all faith comes from God, and God imparts faith to us by many means—through the still small voice of the Holy Spirit within us, through the message of God’s Word, through the gracious words of fellow Christians, through the experiences of our daily lives, and, yes, through evidence and reason. God has many ways to draw us to His Truth and many ways to persuade us that we can rely on His Truth.
So we have faith—a faith that is founded on, and grounded in, reason and Truth.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the gift of faith. Thank You for the evidence and reason found in Your Word, which is Truth. You have given me a sure foundation and a certain hope. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
*This devotional adapted from The Hidden Enemy by Michael Youssef © 2018. Published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, IL. Used by permission.
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