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Friday, September 4, 2015

True Believers

I have more confidence when:.... (recent study group fill-in-the-blank question regarding the parable of the talents).


True Believers of any ilk have the essence of unalloyed  confidence. True Believers lack doubt and fear and operate from an active stance of utter faith and commitment.

A True Believer is a term that raises cautionary flags immediately for history is fraught with sensational examples where extremism has been held to be no vice in the service of the most cruel and hateful of causes.

At the same time, however, it is clear that beneficent belief has showered the human race with unspeakable blessings by the actions of multifarious and countless creative Saints.

It is my purpose here to map out the function of True Belief in Christianity. Paul speaks of faith, hope, and love – with the greatest of these being love. Faith speaks directly to belief specifically in that Jesus is "the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6).  Jesus said: "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10 ESV).  In other words, Christian True Believers believe that the life, teachings, and ministry of Jesus and all that it stands for and represents offers the only way to abundant life.  By its very nature total commitment to this belief excludes commitment to any competing avenue promising (but in the believer's view, not delivering) abundant life.  This belief leads directly to the assured hope that abundant life is completely possible, even present, and that love is the activity in which such belief finds its natural expression.

True Belief leads to absolute confidence which is further buttressed by the indelible worthiness Christ invests (even unto death) in believers through his unconditional love.   This sense of worthiness banishes doubts and fears that could threaten confidence and is mirrored in the behavior of Believers.  In short, True Belief is a high octane stimulus to the pursuit of Christian mission activated by love with the immediate and ultimate objective of abundant life.



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