Faith Comes From Believing What Is Written

Jesus had just rebuked Thomas for refusing to believe the resurrection without seeing His crucifixion wounds. In the next verse John summarises his Gospel account by saying that Jesus’ miracles, especially the miracle of His resurrection, were recorded so that we would believe. So is there a contradiction? No! The key to resolving this is in what John wrote: that the miracles were seen by the disciples/apostles and recorded in the books (Gospels) so that anybody could read and believe that Jesus is God the Son. When they believe, they receive eternal life (John 3:16).
 
Think about it. If people could not be saved without having physically seen Him, then very few people would be in His Kingdom! And if believing was dependent on seeing miracles, then why were so many not included in the Gospel accounts? But believing is not about seeing. ‘Believing’ is to accept that what has been written about Jesus in the Bible (His character and saving work) is true; and that He will give new life to those who put their trust in Him. That way, billions of people all over the world can receive eternal life – and they have!
 
The ministry of the church is not primarily to seek miracles, but to let people know about what Jesus did from the Apostles’ eye witness accounts: they prove that Jesus is Saviour Messiah (the Christ) and God the Son. Like that, they are not asked to rely on their own experiences, or on your testimony, however helpful they may be. Instead the people are putting their trust in Jesus, whose life and teaching has been faithfully recorded by the Apostles. Our task is therefore not to encourage people into experiences but to explain the Gospel to them; and encourage them to believe what has been written so that they can put their trust in Jesus. Try introducing them to www.crosscheck.org.uk; it may be a first step for some.