How to Live a Holy Life VII: By Faith, Not Man

How do you live?  As a Christian, our hope and faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins so that we may have eternal life with Him.  It’s by faith that we are saved and blessed because we believe without seeing. (John 20:29).  It’s no surprise to many that science looks for proof in all areas of study.  From biology to astronomy, science continues to grow in its understanding of many subjects.  However, the line is crossed when scientific theory is posed as fact when, in many cases, evidence is simply incomplete, untestable or even unreproducible.

Did the Big Bang create the universe and everything we see?  Are we all made of “star stuff”?  Are humans direct ancestors of chimpanzees?  Has the Earth really been around for 4.5 billion years?  Is the universe really 13.5 billion years old?  These are many of the scientific “truths” that have infiltrated our education systems today when, in fact, none of these items are remotely testable.

The obstacle preventing many in the field of science from believing in God is the perceived lack of proof.  But as Christians, we are to live by faith and not by sight, so proof for us is not a requirement of belief.

Let me make a few examples to demonstrate how faith is not a foreign concept to science, even though their faith is misguided:

- Astronomers believe there are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way without ever having counted them.  They have faith that their calculations are correct, even though they cannot possibly count every star.

- Scientists believe the universe is approximately 13.5 billion years old.  They have faith that calculations based on background radiation are correct.  No one was there to witness the theorized event.

- Scientists also believe humans evolved from chimpanzees some five million years ago.  However, carbon dating former living things makes many assumptions about the equilibrium of carbon isotopes in the atmosphere in the past and, therefore, makes any conclusive attempts at dating fossils speculative at best.  The process of dating rocks using other isotopes makes just as many assumptions as carbon dating and, thus, is speculative.  No one has witnessed evolution on a macro scale.

So you can see that science does indeed participate in faith, but their faith is based around the assumptions of fallible humans.  Scientific discoveries occur on an on-going basis, often rewriting previous scientific attempts to explain events.  While science continues to evolve in its understanding, we as Christians have all of the truth we need.  Science wants to continue to proclaim their wisdom and have humans lean on them for understanding all the while condemning those of the Christian faith for believing in a God who created everything (Hebrews 3:4).  1 Corinthians 1:18-19 says, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’”  1 Corinthians 3:18-19 reads, “Let no man deceive himself.  If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolish before God.”  1 Corinthians 3:20 reads, “…’The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.’”

Those who reject the Holy Spirit are fools, according to scripture.  1 Corinthians 2:14 reads, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  Jude 1:18 reads, “…’In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’  These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.”

Now is all of this to say that I personally despise science?  Not at all.  I find science, particularly astronomy, to be a fascinating subject.  But there’s nothing new under the sun; supposed revelations made by the scientific community that explain the origins of the universe and the age of heavenly bodies earthly items I take with a very, very light grain of salt.  The Bible tells me in Genesis how long it took to create the heavens and the earth.  Anything contradictory to that is deception.  So how do you live?  By faith.  Romans 5:1 reads, “Therefore,having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Go forward today in your faith in God’s word and not in the faith of fallible men.  For the Bible was only written once and remains true.  Scientific theories are revised constantly and ever-evolving.  Where is your faith?