By This We Know

by Chuck Cordon

“For this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.” (2 Pet 1:12, NKJV)

In the song by Sam Cooke “What a Wonderful World,” he sings: “don't know nothin' 'bout no rise and fall, don't know nothin' 'bout nothin' at all.”

But I do know, thanks to the great assurance that love provided through the Word of God. The Scriptures assure us that we can know through faith, (e.g., Rom. 10:17; Heb. 11:1) and that we may obtain the faith which is of God in Christ, unto salvation and eternal life with Him (Rom. 1:16). This faith, rooted and grounded in knowledge (Tit. 2:11-12; 2 Pet. 2:2-11), is of such importance to God that He provisioned for it before creation, within the creation, and enduring throughout every age (Heb. 1:1-2; 1 Pet. 1:20). The assurance of knowing is meant to be not only faith-producing and sustaining but also is both the express will of God for man (Acts 17:26-31; 1 Tim. 2:3-6), and the inherent desire of all men everywhere (Heb. 2:1-4). “To know” is hard-wired within us.

In contrast to the common use of the term “faith,” biblical faith is not an emotionally-sourced “feel good” relationship; yet it can certainly provide all those good things we long for: security, contentment, and joy. The facts of the Faith of God in Christ (Rom. 3:22; 5:1-2; 1 Cor. 2:5; Eph. 2:8; Phi. 3:9; Col. 2:12) as revealed in the Word of God are in such stark contrast to the world’s perception of faith, that the supposition itself is ludicrous to many (1 Cor. 1:18-31; 1 Cor. 15). Rejection is a conclusion reached in ignorance and/or rebellion.

Worldly faith (used colloquially) is simply a belief system: A thing or place in which a person may place their hope and trust; or it is a developed belief by adherence to a doctrine or dogma upheld by a belief system through actions or behavior consistent with its teachings.

But the Faith, ordained by God in Jesus Christ is the only system of righteousness revealed by God in Jesus Christ, foretold by the prophets, made manifest in and by Jesus Christ, and codified in the Scriptures. The Gospel is the faith that saves.

A faith without substance, power, and authority can do nothing. But citizenship and inheritance in a system that is backed by Him, who is both willing and able to save us and who cannot lie and has no reason to, is another matter entirely and eternally.

“… but I do know that He loves me” and thus we love Him (1 John 4:19), and what a wonderful eternity it can be (1 Cor. 2:9)