Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
God has inspired His holy word, the Bible, for "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16). But He has not made the Bible difficult to understand! He has promised, "Turn at My reproof; ... I will make My words known to you" (Prov. 1:23).
One of those "words" that He "will make known" to us is "justification." Ask Him to! The root idea is to make something that was crooked become straight. On the sixth day of creation week God ended that work; when sin entered planet earth, He turned His infinite power into re-creating sinful human hearts. Justification by faith is the sinner receiving this mighty power of re-creation, that is, the new birth. The sinner's faith is awakened by his "beholding" the love of Christ revealed in His cross, just as the stricken Israelite bitten by poisonous snakes was healed by beholding, looking at, the brass serpent lifted on the pole.
You watch a hero or heroine in a movie; now spend your time more wisely by "watching" Jesus Christ. "Eat" the Bible story of the cross. Turn off your electronics; just patiently, in prayer, read about Jesus straight from Scripture. Wait before Him. God wants to hear a sincere, honest, unhurried prayer. He responds because He loves you.
I have never heard the literal voice of God, but I want to encourage those people who also must confess they haven't either; the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual life through the word, the Bible. He wants your faith to be established on the solid rock of Bible truth, not on dreams or impressions or "voices."
Will the one who is "justified by faith" live in obedience to God's word? Yes, obedience is the direct fruit of the experience of justification by faith. It has now become your joy.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 11, 2005.
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