For me, one of the most delightfully exciting parts about scripture is that it confirms itself. The confirmation comes from scripture and also along with our experiences.
“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] [a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate
the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17, AMP)“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies; and everyone who lives and believes in Me [as Savior] will never die. Do you believe this?'” (John 11:25-26 AMP)
First we have Father God telling us about His Son and what He will do and then we have Jesus, the Son, confirming this declaration by God. This is only one example. When you read the Old Testament, you see all of the prophecies that were a foretelling of what would come. In a different context, Hebrews 11 gives us all the information about our ancestors’ beliefs and the subsequent confirmation we need. [Excerpts from the AMP]
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.(v. 1-2)
[Verses 2 through 12 list some of the people who died strong in their faith not experiencing the results.]
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (v. 13-16)
When we read in scripture something that we need to be or to do, we need to be able to act on this with confidence. When we aren’t certain then it’s impossible to be single minded about (fill in the blank). Many people enter into these types of situations with an escape plan. Again, option planning is always a good approach. But… we need to act confidently. We need to know our foundation from which we are acting and speaking – and our actions must express our words.
We are the Lord’s Ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) so our level of confidence is critical so that we don’t provide mixed messages. Though our roles in the Great Commission differ, our focus is the same – to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Together we can do our part(Ephesians 4:16) and with excellence! Undergirding this is confirmation – confirmation from a trusted source is always a comfort, an incentive. Scripture provides this. AND, we can point to the confirming scripture to nay sayers!
