Ron Hughes: There seems to be some confusion about how faith is expressed in our day-to-day lives. Some seem to keep it locked up in the realm of ideas. But, David, there’s a real experiential aspect to faith in the Lord Jesus.
Dr. Humphreys: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I am a Christian because of some objective evidence that Christ’s claims are validated, that the evidence for the resurrection is not just mythology and so forth. But having said all that, the fact that I’ve exercised faith in God through Jesus Christ has to have a sort of working reality to it.
The best evidence, actually, for a Christian Gospel, for me, is something that wouldn’t convince anybody else: and that’s the fact that it works. But I use that in science all the time. I mean, why is science so powerful and so believable? It’s because it works! We’re surrounded by devices all the time that are the products of scientific research; the transistors and gizmos that make this broadcast possible (so that everybody can listen to me today) is all part of the working results of some equations from years ago. So science works and that’s one reason why we believe in it. Because of it’s accomplishments in practical ways. And that’s exactly the same sort of evidence that is important for me as a Christian.
I have to say the bottom line is – not that this and this reason why Jesus Christ is the Son of God – or these are 25 more reasons why I believe the Bible is the word of God and give you a big lecture – I have to say the bottom line is that walking with God is a joyous experience; that prayer turns out to be a reality; that in fact I have daily experiences of God’s intervention – but they are more subjective things. So, it’s a bit like me saying, hey, you’ve got to believe in science. It works. Look at all the results of science. I say, you must believe in the reality of Christ, not only because of these theological, theoretical, apologetic reasons, but because putting your faith into practice everyday of your life – it works!
Ron Hughes: David, it occurs to me that some of our listeners may be wondering, ‘well, that’s fine for you people on the radio, but how do I get into this?’
Dr. Humphreys: What we’re talking about in terms of joyful experience and a working relationship with God is not the province of university professors or ministers or clergy or people that talk on the radio. In fact, the great statement of the Bible is “God so loved the world that whoever, whoever, believes on Him shall have eternal life. (John 3:16).
This promise of joy and life is an unrestricted, open promise. If you have the desire for God, the Bible said, ‘seek and you’ll find’ – to reach out in faith. To realize He isn’t far away. He’s not far away because He came in Jesus Christ. And so really what Christianity is all about is not a complicated philosophy, it’s about an invitation: to just come.
And we simply just have to express our need. Realizing the Bible makes it clear that we’re not worthy to be accepted by God, that we’re sinners. But we just simply got to express the fact that we recognize our need, to respond to the invitation and invite God through Jesus Christ into our life. It isn’t complicated.
I came as a rather young person, but I validated that step of faith through a lifetime of experience. But it was in a very simple way as a young person, to just invite God to take over my life and express the fact that I wasn’t able to job myself. And, of course, that’s why Jesus had to die, because we can’t do that ourselves. And that’s really all there is to it. After that there’s a growing – hey, like all relationships, it goes someplace. It develops. It grows. But the first step is just a willingness to go with God.
