Reasoning Faith...Pt 2 of 2
- White Stone
- Mar 31
- 8 min read
You have to have reasoning faith. And then even greater faith to encourage
others to accept this truth that they may be free. Justification makes us free
from the guilt of sin. Sanctification makes us free from the bondage of
corruption. Reasoning makes us free from invalid assumptions. Free from
spiritual enemies. Free from prejudices, mistakes, and false notions, which
entangle the soul. Free to be restored to the government of God. The mind,
by admitting the truth of Christ in the light and power, is vastly enlarged, and
has scope and compass given it, is greatly elevated and raised above things
of sense, and never acts with so true a liberty as when it acts with truth
acquired through reasoning faith with every word of God. Those who accept
every truth of God have the freest reasonings that are guided by faith, and
those are people of free thought, whose thoughts are captivated and brought
into obedience to Christ. Reasoning faith preserves truth!
Consider the wisdom afforded by viewing all things by faith. It affects how we
interact with others. It shapes our understanding of the past, the present, and
tomorrow. We reason in our faith to make full commitment to God, trusting
wholeheartedly to every experience He places us in. We become united with
His chosen because of this committed faith in the truth. This union is a
physical substance that serves as evidence of the ultimately unverifiable. By
faith we are disposed to ascend in allegiance to the Lord and to His cause
and purpose. And the wonderful aspect of such a proposition is this…this
faith we can have in others. Our experiences will be in physical reality and
spiritual reality. Where there is difference of opinion or even controversy, the
core foundational faith in the word of God will remove all arbitrariness.
Take a moment to reason with this truth. There is this collection of sixty-six
separate writings by a variety of authors upon which a determined people
place reasoned faith…why?...because they believe in God and know that
this collection is the revealed word of God for mankind. It records the
dealings of God with humanity and the reactions, the responses of humanity
to the revelation received. Here is what gives faith its power – it is the work
of our reasoning and will, but also with the intervention of the Holy Spirit
specifically granted, supported, and gratuitously offered by God. God
expects us to reason with, to investigate, to study with intense scrutiny and
debate every word. The problem with most is that they know not how to
reason with God. For certain we hear the words written, but God ain’t through
talking yet. He has more of Himself to reveal to us. The Holy Spirit has much
to say that He hears from God. God gave counsel to a woman messenger.
He has stars who are commanded to bring light to the world. Our faith is
heavily impacted by written words. God actually specifically asks people
throughout scripture to write things down. We move from truth discovery
through writing. There's a fascinating connection between our brains and
written words. Writing things by hand actually boosts our memory. Words
written in agreement with scripture, instruct and awaken and delight and
transform people into obedient worshipers of Christ. Writing must become
an instrument in the hand and under the power of the Holy Spirit. It's like God
thought of this stuff before making us.
The word of God engages both faith and reason. Every other aspect of our
life on earth is different from our interaction with the Divine. When we come
to reason with God we are connecting with a concept that we were purposed
to bring pleasure to. God-given light of reason to our minds is to establish
truth that is free from internal contradictions. Reasoning faith renders the
regular avenues of intellectual attainment and marginal things that may
dominate the mind as pale in comparison to the pursuit of divine revelation.
God’s invitation to reason is for proclamation of truth which may be
independent of what any of us think. Yet, with reasoning faith, appropriate
response is instructed by the Holy Spirit. When we come to understand this
reasoning faith we come to God not attempting to penetrate His height, for in
no way can our understanding compare. We come by faith seeking to
understand to the extent He purposes in His truth. And His truth, we both
believe, and love.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. {Isaiah 1:18}
Reasoning faith deepens our experience, our learning, our knowledge, when
presented with situations in that we are able to draw upon foundational
principles that intertwine both in a beneficial way. Some knowledge can only
be arrived at by reason, and some only by faith. We must understand the
balance. Do you need a reason to believe in God or do you know by faith
that He is God? Reason makes certain assumptions; faith is coherent with
presentiment. What comes after is supported by what has come before.
Reasoning faith is a condition for arriving at a fully comprehensive, coherent,
consistent, and true principle. There is an important relationship between
reason and faith. Neither can exist separate from one another. God says
come to reason and with that invitation must be faith in God. Reasoning faith
shores up our strength of testimony. Faith informed by external belief and
reasonable evidence is powerful. Jesus speaks of empowered faith when he
says, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water.”
Reason and faith have each been considered to be sources of justification
for conscientious belief. Reason properly employed and faith properly
understood, will never produce contradictory or competing claims. God’s true people possess a domain of thought rightly governed by faith, asserting that
all meaningful and truthful statements and ideas are accessible to thorough
examination by reasoning. How powerful becomes the mind when reasoning
faith is the source of development for every thought. Faith and reason are
both sources from the authority of God upon which beliefs can rest. Reason
is understood as the principles for a structured procedure of inquiry, whether
intellectual, moral, visual, or spiritual. Faith involves a stance toward an
assertion that is not, at least presently, demonstrable by occasion. So, faith
is a kind of attitude of trust or assent. As such, it is ordinarily understood to
involve an act of will or a commitment on the part of the believer. Faith
involves a belief that makes either an implicit or explicit reference to a
transcendent source. The basis for a person’s faith usually is understood to
come from the authority of revelation. And revelation is either direct or by
infusion based on the testimony of an other. Reasoning faith comes from the
fact that the revelation or set of revelations on which most beliefs are based,
is usually described and interpreted in sacred pronouncements, either in an
oral principle or undisputed writings, backed by divine authority.
God tells us to reason. We are to have a good reason for what we believe,
and we are to be ready always to share that testimony with other people. So,
we attempt to show unbelievers that our belief in the scriptures is reasonable,
justified, and logically and spiritually sound. But what of those who read the
words and are not able to understand? Are they to live by reason or by faith?
Are they supposed to rely upon their intellect, drawing rational conclusions,
rejecting those things that don’t make sense? Or are they to accept the
teachings of scripture without regard to logic and reason, even if it does not
make any sense? If God says it, that’s it! Faith is not believing what you don’t
know. Faith is strongly warranted confidence. It is not wishful thinking. It’s a
confident expectation: the kind of confidence we have through reasoning
with the truths of scripture. Biblical faith is the act of believing in something
unseen for which we do have a good reason. Every word that God has ever
spoken has been demonstrated. Reason is a means given us that allows us
to draw conclusions and inferences from other information, such as the
information God has given us in His Word. We reason from the principles of
God’s word. You believe you are saved by faith…what’s your reason? In
reasoning faith our unquestionable starting point must be with God’s word
and not what we think. In order to reason about anything we must have faith
that there are laws of common sense which correctly prescribe the correct
chain of reasoning. Since laws of logic cannot be observed with the senses,
our confidence in them is a type of faith. Laws are an expression of the self-
consistent nature of God. We should not conclude from this that we can think
exactly as God thinks; after all, He is infinite and we are finite, He knows all
things, and we must learn of things. Nonetheless, we are able to line up our
thinking with God’s nature and God’s word. That is why we have the Holy
Spirit. That we do not distort the truth. The bible makes sense. And that is a
good reason for our faith.
We study the bible to show ourselves approved of God. There is a difficulty
about disagreeing with God. He is the source from which all our reasoning
power comes. We could not be right and He wrong any more than the sky
could fall. When any argue against Him they are arguing against the very
power that makes them able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch
you are sitting on. Faith holds on to things our reason has accepted as truth,
in spite of our lack of understanding. The battle is between faith and reason
on one side; and emotion and opinion on the other. Faith comes before
reason and then reason allows faith to grow. Faith enables a believer to
understand further truths that could not be discovered through reason alone.
Both faith and reason lead us to the one Truth who is God.
Reasoning faith is the extension of spiritual dialogue. God’s people commit
to dialogue to show the worth of revelation. All expressions of truth as
manifested in the word of God are to foster authentic, good, and mutual
enhancement in the unity of the faith. The united endeavor of reasoning faith
will enable people to come to the full measure of their humanity created in
the image and likeness of God, renewed even more marvelously, after sin,
in Christ, and called and purposed to shine forth in the light of the
Spirit. God’s people are challenged to be a community whose members
discover truth by ardent development of faith and by rigorous exercise of
reason. In this challenge important questions are considered. And so God
counsels us to plead together, putting Him in remembrance that we may be
justified. Christ is looking for faith. His Father wants us to reason with Him!
When we give Him sound, spiritual reasons for our requests, He can gauge
very accurately our growth in grace, knowledge, and faith. He can see if we
are still carnal and self-centered, or if we are showing love for our brethren.
Let us reason faithfully with God according to His will.
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