Belief in Christ
"...though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him...."
. Going back to the second appearance of the resurrected Lord to His apostles.
It was the first appearance of Jesus for Thomas because he had been absent the
previous time. Thomas had doubts about the resurrection. No doubt it was
something he wanted to believe, but it was "too good to be true." Upon seeing
Jesus, Thomas exclaimed to Him, "My Lord and My God!" Notice Jesus' reply:
"Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see,
and yet believed." (John 20:28,29). The purpose of the gospel is to produce
faith. For those of us who have not seen for ourselves, we must depend upon the
things which have been written. It is not necessary to accept them blindly, but
it is necessary to approach the Scriptures honestly, investigating them
diligently and without prejudice (John 20:31). The words of the Lord's apostle
Paul affirm the same thing (Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7).
Along with loving Jesus, trust in Him is necessary if we are going to win the
victory. Our confidence in Him must outweigh the doubt which the world often
seeks to plant within our hearts. When it seeks to rob us of our faith by
mocking us or tempting us, we need to assure our hearts by our faith. The people
to which Peter wrote had been "tested by fire." But faith was enough! Instead of
shame they looked forward to "praise and glory and honor at the revelation of
Jesus Christ."
The victory we have in Jesus must be our source of strength today as well. But
we have not yet "seen" this victory. But we "know" of it. Given the state of our
times, I really do not know how we can expect to make it through without a
similar strength of confidence that our first century brethren had. "For this
reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have
believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him
until that day." (2 Timothy 1:12). Do you trust in Christ?
Jon W. Quinn
The Final Page
From Expository Files 21.3; March 2015
