What Happened to Your Belief

03.10.12

Galatians 1.24 24 And they were glorifying God because of me. NASB

There are some folks who are just troublemakers. They seem to live solely for the purpose of coming up with some new scheme to wreak some kind of havoc in the lives of others. And then, one day they bump into Jesus Christ and everyone says, “Him!? It can’t be, not him!” For Paul to become a believer was like for some vile politician to become a believer – everyone is shocked that someone so odious could become other than what he is: trouble.

What was most troublesome about Paul was his zeal. He was so convinced he was right that it was hard to be around him. And he hated believers. His hatred was such that he would have some killed and others put in prison. And he didn’t care who: man, woman, boy or girl, rich or poor, young or old. Prisons in those days were horrible places; beyond imagination.

In Paul’s defense of himself to the Galatians, he stood on one solid foundation: belief. If Paul was going to be accused by anyone for anything it was that he believed in Him whom he preached. His only defense against his detractors was also belief. Paul was shocked that the Galatians had so quickly fled the Gospel for ‘another’ gospel. His main question was, “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BELIEF!?” The same question was asked of Paul when he bailed on Judaism for his faith in Christ.

Interestingly, today in my reading plan I read in Deuteronomy where it says: “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut. 13.1-3) We need to zero-in on four little words: the wonder comes true. Even if a wonder comes true, that is still no excuse for departing from the truth. What happened to your belief?

Relationship with God is based upon coming to the place where one believes that He is, and all that He says is true. Belief, in the life of a person, is based upon revelation. God reveals Himself to someone and that person is changed forever. And not the pressure of the denomination or a ‘wonder’ coming true will change that belief. What happened to your belief? Why are you a child of God?

Of course, the opposite is true as well: what happened to your belief that God is either not or not the person you once believed Him to be? They were astounded at Paul that he was apparently not the person he used to be and those who knew him from before said the same thing…on group praised God over it and the other cursed Him for it… Do people praise God over our belief? Some certainly should! Why are you different now than what you used to be?