Tag: faith

Is faith too simplistic?

Some may protest that the Christian message is too easy: is all you have to do to have access to eternal heaven, to believe in Jesus? Is that what Jesus meant when he said, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”? Just believe in Jesus – is that all?

While that appears quite simple, you need to think a bit more: you can’t just decide to believe in something without taking it seriously as true. In fact, faith means trusting in the truth of what is said. And if we consider a speaker to be not serious and trust-worthy we just can’t believe all he says.

On the other hand, there are those who think that becoming a Christian involves a whole lengthy study of all the aspects of deep theology which, like the principles of Buddhism, require considerable effort to really grasp. Of course, when we deal with God almighty we may expect there are issues that cannot easily be understood. Then some would say, “Don’t bother trying to understand – just believe”. That option, however, errs on the side of the simplistic and misunderstands what’s involved in truly believing. 

What we need, for a clear and real kind of faith, is to find the happy medium between the simplistic on the one hand, and the hyper-complicated on the other. What’s necessary in order to have faith that saves the soul? What exactly is that sincere faith in Christ that leads to a real conversion to Christ?

Essentially three things:

  1. To know the basic facts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
  2. To realise that these facts call for a personal response
  3. To make that response in a commitment of repentance and trust in Christ which is formulated in a prayer.

Let’s think those three things through.

First, the Bible itself says, “How are people to believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10.14). Obviously, in order to believe and trust in Christ, we must know who he is and what he has said and done. That’s why the Gospels were written. John ends his account of Jesus’ life saying, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name” (John 20.30-31). Becoming familiar with the Gospel records of Jesus’ life is therefore basic to believing in him. Such biblical information does not necessarily lead to faith, but it is essential to know the Gospel facts about who he was, what he said and particularly, that he died to save us. 

Secondly, Jesus’ teaching calls us to “come to him” (Matthew 11.28), to “trust in him” (John 14.1), “to follow him” (Matthew 4.19), and to “love and obey him” (John 14.21,23). He consistently teaches that his followers must commit to living in a real relationship with him, their risen Lord and Master. He insists there needs to be a turning from all evil and a decision to live a new life following him.

Thirdly therefore, faith in Jesus shows itself by turning in prayer to Jesus, asking him to come into our lives as our own personal Lord and Saviour, promising to put away all sins that he disapproves of, and to live the rest of our lives as his faithful followers.

If you haven’t done that yet, maybe now is the time. 

Clive Every-Clayton

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Ultimate reality

What is finally and absolutely real and true? Philosophers and wise men throughout history have grappled with the “impossible” task of grasping ultimate reality. It appears impossible because no great thinker has ever been able to come up with the complete answer to the enigma of what is really real. After centuries of deep reflexion no-one has brought us the final answer. Renowned apologist Os Guinness gives his considered judgment: “There is no completeness, finality or scientific level of proof in any philosophical argument, and those who have claimed to find one have always fallen on their faces. All philosophical claims can be countered with refutation. All positions can be ridiculed and rejected”.

This sounds a pretty damning assessment, but it is true: history has proved it. All philosophical propositions, and also all scientific understanding, are ultimately based on a faith-assumption. Every foundational proposal is established first and foremost on a postulate taken on faith; why then should the Christian position be excluded because it requires faith? What makes the difference between the Christian worldview and that of all philosophy is that it starts out from a “given” set forth as a word revealed by the all-knowing God. Admittedly this requires faith; but it differs from all the other faith systems proposed by human thinkers in that it postulates an omniscient God, actually there and able to communicate, as the source of the fundamental truths it sets forth.

Let’s put it this way: if there is (as science tends to lead us to believe) an almighty super-intelligent Creator at the origin of this amazingly structured universe, it is well conceivable that he may have communicated some of the truth he knows to us who can receive it. In “Return of the God Hypothesis”, scientist Stephen Meyer sets out three scientific discoveries: the “Big Bang”, necessitating a Beginner; the extraordinary and mind-boggling fine-tuning observable in the universe, indicating an amazing mathematical Intelligence; and the mysterious language of DNA that must require an infinite Mind. Consideration of these scientific facts leads Meyer to conclude that the hypothesis of a Creator God has amazing and unique explicatory power and is therefore a strong contender for foundational truth about reality.

But to our great surprise, at the beginning of the New Testament Gospel of John, we have a statement that in all simplicity reveals Ultimate Reality: “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1.1). Not, in the beginning God created something, or did something; that was already stated in Genesis 1.1. Rather this refers to what was, right at the beginning. John goes on to add, “The word was God”. He is the ultimate reality. 

Is this a mere supposition? John continues: “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only God, full of grace and truth”. Here he states that the Word – God – became incarnate, uniquely, in Jesus. And not only is this a theory: he and the other disciples saw his glory as uniquely God and man, as he walked the roads of Palestine 2,000 years ago, healing the sick , raising the dead, teaching the crowds, giving his life on the cross, and rising triumphant over death three days later to return into the glory that he left in coming into the world. 

John concludes: “We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true” (1 John 5.19).

Ultimate reality has come down to us; we do well to pay attention!

Clive Every-Clayton

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Hidden from the wise

Some people may wonder why – if the Christian faith is true – don’t all the most intelligent people accept it? It is, of course, a fact that many academic intellectuals reject the claims of Christ to be the Son of God, so it doesn’t seem to be obvious that Christianity is true.

Among the many astonishing statements Jesus made is his prayer of thanksgiving to his Father for the fact that “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and have revealed them to little children” (Luke 10.21). Jesus thanks God for hiding the truth from the intellectuals! Now that is decidedly odd, but it should alert us to two important facts.

First, you cannot find God by intellectual reflection or philosophical enquiry. There are several bright minds discussing on the internet the existence of God, bringing all sorts of arguments to bear on this key issue. But it seems they never manage to convince those who don’t want God to exist. Even some openminded people, realising the force of the arguments and even studying the Bible intellectually, fail to surrender to the claims of Christ. They may grasp various facts and reasons put to them, but they remain uncertain, unconvinced. Jesus would apparently be thankful that such is the case! Why?

The second fact Jesus alluded to in the text quoted above is that “God reveals these truths to little children”. The key word here is “reveals”. We know God only by his self-revelation. And it takes the simple-mindedness of a child to accept that revelation as coming indeed from God. 

Let’s take those points again. God cannot be known unless he reveals himself. “Canst thou by searching find out God?” is a question asked in the book of Job (11.7). The answer is no. Human research cannot find God. Human minds cannot penetrate the mystery of the invisible, eternal Creator. But God does reveal himself. How? The intricacies of his beautiful creation reveal something of his profound wisdom, his mathematical genius, his infinite power, and his love of beauty. But he reveals himself in clear words put into the mouths of his prophets by divine inspiration – and inscribed in sacred scripture. He reveals himself ultimately by sending Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, to walk and talk among us, to show us how God acts and to tell us his truth. God has therefore revealed his existence. But do we pay attention?

Jesus said God doesn’t give preference to the brightest minds that may decipher his revelation. Rather he favours the simple believer who, like a child, accepts his truth without contesting it as if he knows better. In other words it takes simple humility to receive God’s revelation: first to take it on board without immediately rejecting it, and then thankfully to believe it. 

Of course that doesn’t mean no questions can be asked. There is a place for serious reflection. But essentially the child sees that if God speaks, he speaks truth; and his truth can be believed. The Bible actually says that God cannot lie; and since he is all-knowing, what he says can be relied upon. The simple-minded child has no problem with that. Neither should the serious enquirer. 

We may take God’s truth on board; but more – we may take him at his word, and when he invites us to open our hearts to his love, to be forgiven by his grace and transformed by his Spirit, we can prove it to be true for ourselves. That is how a person comes to know God, through Christ our Saviour.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Answers? The basics

As people look for answers to our existential questions, the options are fairly easily categorised: there are basically two. 

The answers may come from human beings, or may be given by God. Centuries of human intellectual pursuit have failed to provide the answers that our hearts crave – answers that both clearly correspond to reality and that provide meaning and purpose to our existence. 

God may give answers. Indeed, if he is our creator, he would have the infinite wisdom to know why he created us the way we are; as any human inventor or creator, he would have a purpose in mind for his creation. If he created us with the capacity of communicating, he would logically have the ability to communicate also. So he could get a message through to us, answering our many queries.

But it would seem there are many gods with many conflicting messages about how we are to find fulfilment. How to be sure we have the real God?

Very few religions teach that God is our Creator. It is on the first page of the Jewish Bible; it is repeated in the Christian New Testament; it is alluded to in the Koran. What makes the difference  between these three? The fact that in Christianity alone, we have God becoming incarnate – coming down into our world in human form in the extraordinary person of Jesus. Both Jews and Muslims deny this; the Christian New Testament affirms, however, that the Lord Jesus Christ was himself the creator: He is presented as “the Word” who one day “became flesh and dwelt among us”; and he, “the Word” was the Creator, because “All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made that was made” (John’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 1-18). “By him all things were created”, the New Testament repeats; “in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1.16-19).

As “the Word”, the Lord Jesus Christ had the divine wisdom of the Creator, and was able to communicate God’s will and truth to us human beings. He himself lived a sinless human life, taught profound truths about God and human goodness and, when he was rejected and crucified, he demonstrated his divine nature by rising alive from the dead three days later.

“I have come,” he said to the people, “that they might have life, and have it abundantly” (John’s Gospel 10.10). “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth” he declared (John 18.37). He therefore communicates truth we need to know in order to have abundant life. In other words, he brings the answers we need to our existential questions. 

By the historic life of Jesus, we can finally have access to the unique source of true answers; all we have to do is read and understand what he taught in the New Testament Gospels which, written by his close disciples, record his words of wisdom and truth. 

Speaking of Jesus, the New Testament explains, “all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1.16). Think about that for a moment: all things – including you and me – were created not only by Christ, but for Christ. We find fulfilment therefore, when we find Christ – for we were made for him. Our human confusion is that we are cut off from the only one – Christ – who can love us, forgive us, cleanse us, make us right with God and even dwell within us when we pray to him and ask him to come and save us from our sins. He is alive; he is divine; he can hear and answer our prayer as we call upon him. This is the way we will find the fulfilment our heart craves.

Clive Every-Clayton

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What about our failures?

There is one further aspect to the Christian’s struggle with ongoing sin in his or her life that I need to deal with. It is the universal experience of believers, albeit born again justified and children of God, that at times they still sin. Indeed, the new Christian may well feel more conscious of his moral imperfection after his conversion, whereas his sins didn’t bother him before. The new believer may be distraught when he sees that despite his conversion, he still falls into sin sometimes. (I refer principally to what we may consider lesser sins such as selfishness, ill temper, untruth, pride, jealousy, and covetousness – though this problem would also arise with worse sins). What does a good Christian do when he is conscious of having sinned? Might our sins annul our justification?

Here again, the Bible has the answer and it is good to read the first letter of John chapter 1 verse 8 to chapter 2 verse 2. This passage shows that no Christian is perfectly without sin. So we all have to deal with our failures as Christians. The passage tells us what to do, and gives a wonderful promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.9).

To confess our sin means to acknowledge the wrong we have done and to tell God we are sorry. We need not confess our sins to any person, unless we have sinned against someone and we feel we should apologise for what we did. But as we confess our sin to God, we recommit to living as best we can without sinning.

God’s promise is that as we confess our sin, “he is faithful and just and will forgive our sin”. He is faithful to his fatherly promises to be gracious to his children; we can count on him to wipe them all away and never to come back at us to reproach us about them. When he forgives, he forgets. More: the promise says he will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. Christ’s blood was spilt so that we might be cleansed from our sins, and God’s faithfulness renews his fatherly forgiveness whenever we confess.

Technically, there is a difference between God’s fatherly forgiveness of his saved children and the full legal forgiveness granted as supreme judge, when he justifies the sinner when he believes, freeing him of all condemnation. God’s legal forgiveness is forever given. God’s fatherly forgiveness is ongoing: as we repent and confess sins committed in our Christian walk, he forgives them and cleanses them away. By this fatherly forgiveness, he renews his love towards us, his erring children, and as we return from our devious ways, submitting afresh to him in repentance, our fellowship with God is renewed.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tacitly recognised the imperfection of his disciples, when he taught them to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we also forgive those who sin against us”. In our confession, we ask and receive by faith the forgiveness our Father promised. But we are reminded in this prayer that we must show to others the like kindness that God has shown in forgiving us. This is a kind of spiritual law: the one who is forgiven must forgive. Indeed, refusal of forgiveness, according to Jesus, is a serious sin. We are to forgive others because we have been forgiven. Harmony is restored in our relationship both with God and with others as we confess our sins and forgive others. 

Clive Every-Clayton

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Already saved? So why not sin?

The believer may count on the promises of the saviour, that he is saved, forgiven, and has eternal life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5.24). The believer who is justified by faith in Christ is accepted by God as righteous and needs fear no final condemnation in God’s ultimate judgment. 

So one might wonder: why not therefore sin as much as I want, since I am justified and accepted at God’s final judgment? This question has its full answer in the teaching of the Bible. 

First, as I wrote in the previous post, the justification of the one who repents and believes in Jesus remains intact. God has promised it and we can count on him. Jesus in the verse already quoted promised “he will not come into judgment”: the ultimate salvation of the true convert is assured.

Two factors in our experience confirm this truth for us: first, at conversion, we repented and made a commitment not to sin any more. We obviously cannot stretch out our right hand to receive God’s forgiveness while our left hand continues committing all kinds of sin. We are saved from sin – not only from its punishment, but also from its grip on us. We dedicate ourselves therefore, as sinners forgiven by grace, not to betray God’s kindness. Rather, motivated by gratitude for our salvation, we will honour our commitment to follow Jesus as our master and Lord by doing his will, overcoming temptation and refraining from sin.

The second factor is vital in this: no-one is justified by faith who is not also, at the same time, born again by the Holy Spirit. They are both operations of the same conversion experience. And being “born of the Spirit” is a life-changing dynamic, as the Holy Spirit comes to make his dwelling in our hearts, and there proceeds to the work of purifying us. He gives new aspirations for a holy life, new love for God and a desire to please him. The Holy Spirit communicates the presence of Christ within us: the result is that we no longer desire to sin, but rather to obey and please our saviour. This is, in fact, the deep reason why the true believer does not continue in sin. The believer who experiences this has reassuring proof that the Lord Jesus has indeed saved him.

So God justifies you by granting you full legal forgiveness and a status of being accepted as righteous before God; he can do that because he also gives you the Holy Spirit to energise you in the way of holiness with new desires and new power to conquer sin. You have to commit to continual repentance, of course, taking a stand against all sin in your life. You will understand progressively what that entails, but conversion involves the decision in principle not to displease your Saviour. He has called you to be his disciple, he has called you to holiness, and your growth in Christian living involves further repentance of whatever sinful deed the Holy Spirit reproves you of.

Having said that, we are not totally delivered from sin in this life; there will always be a struggle between the old sinful pre-Christian nature, the “flesh”, and the nature renewed by the Spirit: hence the call and the promise, “Walk according to the Spirit and you will not fulfil the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5.16).

Clive Every-Clayton

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What does salvation mean?

The Bible makes clear that everyone needs salvation, and it is wonderful to know that “By grace you have been saved, through faith” as the apostle Paul writes to believers in Ephesians 2.8. The Bible word “salvation” summarises a number of spiritual blessings that every believer receives from the moment he is touched by God’s saving grace. 

Notice three things of importance in that quote from Ephesians. First, you “have been saved”; salvation has happened to you if you have repented and believed in Christ. It is no longer something you have to seek after or try to obtain. The verb is in the past tense: you have been saved, or as Jesus put it, you have “passed from death to life” (John 5.24). Secondly – the reason for that is that God has blessed you “by grace”. That means without you having to deserve it. God is so kind, he grants salvation freely by pure grace to those who could never deserve or merit it. Paul adds in Ephesians 2.9, “it is not because of works, lest anyone should boast”. So, thirdly, salvation is by faith, the faith that receives Christ as Saviour and Lord. Saving faith is not merely believing some facts; it is entrusting your life and your eternity into the hands of the Lord Jesus, beginning a new life in relationship with him. It is called “saving faith” because by that commitment or conversion a sinner is saved from sin and its consequences.

What does salvation mean, then? It means the believer, counting on Jesus’ promise, may know that he has become a child of God, that he has eternal life; he is saved from being eternally lost at the judgment. He is now reconciled to God, in good relationship with God. Salvation sums up all that and more: specifically the forgiveness of our sins is an important part of salvation.

When we are saved we receive the full forgiveness of all our sins. God wipes them all away. Furthermore, the Lord declares the believer in Christ to be acceptable to him in the day of final judgment. We are saved from the eternal negative consequences of our sins – we are free from condemnation. We have been saved from hell. 

The technical word for this is “justification”: “Since we have been justified by faith,” Paul writes in Romans 5.1, “we have peace with God”. We do not have to fear final rejection at the judgment day; we are accepted in Christ. We live our Christian lives therefore not in order to be saved from that judgment, but because, by God’s grace, we are already assured by his word that we are saved, justified, accepted as righteous, and free from ultimate divine condemnation. This is no small blessing!

Justification abolishes our guilt before God. Forgiveness clears our conscience from all that might accuse us. It’s all gone; our salvation is assured, so Paul uses the past tense when he writes to his colleague, “God saved us and called us to a holy calling” (2 Timothy 1.9). And note, he calls us to a holy life.

You might be thinking, “If my final salvation is assured, I could commit any sins I want, because I’m already justified”. Interestingly, Paul saw that response coming: “Shall we continue in sin, so that grace may abound?” His answer is categorical: “By no means!” (Romans 6.1, 2). For as God saves, forgives, and justifies us, he also calls us to holiness, giving us the Holy Spirit to transform us into saints! My next post will explain that more fully.

Clive Every-Clayton

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What is repentance?

In upcoming posts I shall show how God responds to the believer – all the blessings he showered upon you when you believed; but before that, there’s one more aspect to what’s involved in opening your heart to Christ in faith: you also make a decision to repent. This decision may or may not have been accentuated in your thinking, but it is part of the Christian commitment of faith and conversion as announced by the first apostles: “Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3.19).

Coming to Christ involves and leads to a profound change of life. We come to him for forgiveness because we are sinners. We will consider later what that forgiveness is, as it is important to understand it. But it is obviously illogical to expect to receive forgiveness of our sins while we continue to sin as much as we want! We must play fair! “Sin no more” was Jesus’ way of putting it (John 5.14, 8.11). 

So as believers ask Christ to save and forgive them, they also commit to repenting, which means turning away from sin, to follow Jesus and obey his teaching.

It is good, wise, and proper that you should tell the Lord in prayer that this is indeed your decision; you will need (and obtain) his help to overcome the pull of sin that we all feel.

Repentance is involved therefore in your decision to follow Jesus. It means taking a stand against all evil in your life. It may well take time for you to understand that you are habitually falling into sins of thought and desire, but the amazing and wonderful thing about receiving Christ in your heart is that his Spirit begins to pin-point those areas, habits, sinful reactions, and deeds that you are used to doing without your conscience complaining. But the new presence of Jesus within you alerts you when you do things that displease him. This means that new converts, to their surprise find all of a sudden that they are not as good as they thought they were. This can be disconcerting, but don’t worry – it’s quite normal. It is how God begins (and will continue) to clean up your life.

So initial repentance at conversion must be followed by regular self-checking and confessing to God and repenting before him of any sin you may become conscious of having committed. The more conscientious and honest you are in your heart before God, the better your life as a Christian will proceed. I can scarcely emphasise that enough!

You don’t have to confess all the sins of your past life, because conversion wipes them all away: they are “blotted out” (Acts 3.19). But it is helpful to realise that you are called now to a new life.

“Sin no more” is, of course, an absolute high standard, and no Christian reaches it perfectly in this life. The important thing is that our heart’s commitment is henceforth not to sin, but rather to live a life that Jesus would approve of. And that’s a whole life-long programme!

We do, however, benefit from God’s gracious help. He gives us the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ by faith. Jesus comes to indwell us by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third member of the divine Trinity, is the Spirit of Christ and it is thanks to his ministry in us that we are changed to become more like Jesus.

So, welcome to your new life, learning to follow Jesus and “walking according to the Spirit” (Galatians 5.16).

Clive Every-Clayton

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What is this new Life in Christ?

The Bible says we are to welcome those who are not yet strong in the faith, and as a mature believer I would welcome you if you are starting out as a Jesus-follower. New believers require help in reorienting their lives, both to understand what it’s all about, and to discover the steps towards spiritual growth. 

A new believer, returning into her habitual milieu, was asked after a while, “What’s happened to you?” She didn’t need to say she had turned to Jesus, but it became evident to her friends by a certain joy and peace that now characterised her life. But how would she – or you – answer that question: what’s happened to you? 

Well, the first thing that I trust has happened to you is that You have heard the good news of Jesus.

Whether you heard it on the internet, in a local meeting, or read it in a book, you have come to understand that “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1.15). This is the essence of the Good News (which is what the word “Gospel” means). It is good news because we are all to some extent sinners and therefore we all need to be “saved”.

When Jesus’ mother Mary was still a virgin, Jesus’ arrival by a miraculous birth was announced to Mary by an angel. Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, was stunned and confused by the news, until he too had an angelic visitation.  An angel appeared to him in a dream, explaining that it was God’s miraculous work that had made Mary pregnant: “she will give birth to a son,” said the angel of God, “and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1.20-21).

Jesus came, therefore, to save people from their sins. When you heard this message, you began to understand  that in God’s sight you were in the category of “sinner”. Probably this was quite a humbling experience – no-one likes to be called a sinner; but the Bible is clear: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3.23). None of us is perfect as we should be; we all have a bad conscience and know we have done wrong. 

Not only that, but you were made to realise that you were in a serious predicament before a holy and just God. You needed his forgiveness. Then you heard the Good News, the essence of what the apostles preached: “Christ died for our sins… and was raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Though our sins deserved God’s just punishment, Jesus stood in for us and bore that penalty by dying “for our sins” on the cross. This is the message that Jesus wants diffused throughout the world: “preach the Good News to all creation”, he said, adding, “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved” (Mark 16.15-16).

As you heard this message, you were encouraged to turn to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. You opened your heart to him in prayer and faith, calling on him to save you. You put your trust in Jesus and he welcomed you as one of his followers, his “disciples”; this essentially means a learner, an apprentice in the art of good living. Your new life had begun, developing into a process of spiritual growth.

At Jesus’ school there is a lot to learn: spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time; the important thing for you today is to say to yourself, the process has begun.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Blog new orientation

Up until now on authentichopeforanswers.com I have sought to enlighten those in the darkness of secular materialistic thinking, to save them from their incipient hopelessness by pointing to the only True Source of valid, true, fulfilling answers – the One and only true living God, revealed in Jesus Christ. I thank those who have been following me and I hope you have found my writing helpful.

I have become aware of what seems to be a cultural movement away from empty atheistic answers; thinkers these days want something more serious and solid on which they can build their lives. I hope my posts add a small contribution to this fresh hunger for Truth to satisfy the heart as well as the mind. 

Glen Scrivener comments on this new openness to the Christian worldview, that people are more open to wanting to check out the Bible, find out more about Jesus, and some have started attending church. A friend locally has typified that movement from discontent with superficial answers to grasping the life-giving truth of the biblical Story, and it makes me think and hope that out there in the blog-reading world there may be others who, having found the Christian answer more satisfying, desire to become followers of Jesus.

I want for some time to come to reorient this blog therefore, so as to help such new believers who may or may not have much background knowledge of biblical things. Having turned to pray to Jesus for light and salvation, these believers have set out on a new path; but for many it is unknown territory. There is a lot to learn as a new believer, and it takes time to assimilate all the blessing we receive through faith in Christ and what exactly is the life that Jesus calls us to when we trust in him.

As I give thought to the forthcoming posts, I envisage maintaining the orientation of giving authentic answers, but no longer so much addressing those still in the mists of vain relativistic ideas and scientific materialism; rather I will seek to deal with the questions of those who set out on the new path of faith in Jesus. I will seek to answer the key question a new believer might ask: “What exactly is the new life in Christ?” I will share advice that helped me as a young believer, and some essential truths revealed in the Bible that will help the Jesus-follower to grow both in faith and in living as a child of God. 

To live in harmonious relationship with God, as I have often mentioned in previous blogs, is the real purpose of our existence. To find this is to enter into the fulfilling life that God envisaged for us in his love when he created us. While the mass of humankind drifts far away from such a relationship, those who hear Jesus’ call, “Follow me” and respond with repentance and trust in the Saviour, start out on a life where at last they begin to find and fulfil the meaning and purpose of our lives.

St Augustine said it well long ago in a prayer in his “Confessions”: “Lord, You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You”. Jesus invites everyone to come to him and learn of him, promising that rest of soul (Matthew 11.28-30). Through his saving work, and through faith in him, believers experience that rest of soul; they will enjoy it and develop it as they learn to walk with Jesus day by day.

Clive Every-Clayton

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