How is Complete Faith in Jesus’ Claims Possible?

Articles

Gary Henry
02/23/04 - The Exclusive Claims of Jesus

Introduction

Text: Jn. 3:36.
The "faith" spoken of in the gospel of Christ is the conviction that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He came into the world to bring salvation from sin - Jn. 11:27. Cf. 6:69.
This is a radical, exclusive claim. In the modern world, is it possible to have real faith that this claim is true?

Jesus Christ, God's Revelation of Himself to Mankind

The Gospel of John tells us that by taking upon Himself fleshly form in the person of Jesus Christ, God "declared" or "interpreted" Himself to mankind in the clearest way possible - Jn. 1:14,18.
When Philip asked Jesus to show the Father to the disciples, Jesus answered, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (Jn. 14:7-11). Cf.12:44,45.

Jesus' Testimony to the Truth About God

But Jesus did far more than simply live as an example of the character of God. He went so far as to claim that His words were the testimony that God wanted given concerning Himself to the human race - Jn. 7:16.
- To a world cut off by sin from direct contact with God, Jesus came to bear witness to the truth about God, truth that He had direct, personal, and even intimate, knowledge of - Jn. 8:25-27,38. Cf. 6:46; 7:16,28,29.
- His claim concerning His teaching was very bold - Jn. 12:44-50.
This, then, is what "faith" is: knowledge of truths about God that we are not able to verify personally, but which we are asked to accept on the basis of testimony from a credible Witness, Jesus Christ, who has personally seen and heard the things of which He speaks.
Jesus' claim concerning His direct knowledge of God is the most astonishing thing anyone has ever been asked to believe - Jn. 10:30.
Obviously, it would have been unreasonable to expect His hearers to take what He said on blind faith, without any evidence or authentication. So several lines of evidence were provided to support His claim to be speaking from God:
- The witness of John the Baptist - Jn. 1:29-34. Cf. Jn. 1:6-8,19-28; 5:33-35.
- The signs and miracles, or "works," that Jesus performed - Jn.20:30,31. Cf. Jn. 2:11,18,19; 3:2; 5:20,36; 7:31; 9:16; 10:25,37,38; 11:47; 12:37; 14:11,12; 15:24.
- Jesus' perfect fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures-Jn. Cf. Jn. 5:39,45-47. Cf. Jn. 1:45; 2:19-22; 7:42; 13:18,19.
- The audible testimony of God Himself that Jesus was His Son - Mt. 3:16,17, Cf. Mt. 1 7:5; Jn. 5:37.
Thus Jesus' claim of identity with God is not only the most radical claim in history, it is also the most well-supported. Hard-to-believe testimony concerning worldly matters is frequently accepted on far less evidence than was provided for the claims of Jesus -1 Jn. 5:9-11.

The "Faithful and True Witness"

When any witness gives testimony about matters that he has personal knowledge of, it is always important for the witness to accurately represent what he knows to be true. A faithful witness will never say anything that is not a "faithful saying" (1 Tim. 1:15; etc.), that is, something that can be counted on as being true.
In Revelation, John describes Jesus as "the Faithful and True Witness" (Rev. 3:14). Cf. 1:5; 19:11; 21:5; 22:6.
On our part, faith means that we acknowledge the "faithfulness" and "truth" of this Witness. To believe is to take Jesus Christ at His word in everything He says about the Father.
It should be noted that we, as Jesus' followers, are commanded to pass along His testimony to others. The truths about God that Jesus brought to us must be kept faithfully and faithfully represented to others, no matter what temporal consequences may threaten to silence us.

The Apostolic Witness to the Testimony of Jesus Christ

But this brings us to an important question: how can we be sure of Christ's testimony concerning Cod?
- Not only are we, as sinful creatures, removed from any direct knowledge of Cod ourselves, as those who live when and where we do, we are removed by two thousand years from Jesus' witness to Cod.
- Since we were not present to hear Jesus, we have to rely on witnesses who did hear Him to tell us what He taught.
Fortunately, it is just this difficulty that is met by the work of the "apostles" commissioned by Jesus. The apostles serve, for all time to come, as the appointed, authoritative witnesses to the witness of Jesus - Acts 1:8,21,22; 2:32; etc.
John, as one of the apostles, claimed to be giving believable testimony concerning the words and deeds of Jesus. He said, "And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe" (Jn. 19:35). Cf. 21:24,25.
Jesus bore witness to God (accompanied with signs) > the apostles bore witness to Jesus (accompanied with signs) > we today either accept or reject the apostolic witness - Hb. 2:1-4.

Conclusion

Concerning the apostles, Jesus prayed to God, "For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me" (Jn. 17:8).
Many years later, one of these apostles would write: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. . . . I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (1 Jn. 5:11-13).
We can know that the gospel is true!