Does yearning to know more about God for a stronger relationship leave us hanging in confusion?

Question

Many times we try to ask questions not to challenge the Christian faith but rather to know more and perhaps draw closer to God.

How can one get the confidence in trying to explain to and convert a learned and highly educated unbeliever who always has strong reasons from philosophy, logic, psychology etc to support his rigid stand?

The bible actually seem to halt us in seeking to know more from God.

who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (Romans 9:20, KJV).

Romans 14:5 also says:

Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

And then we have this:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. [...] so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9).

These and many more make me feel incapable of winning souls for Christ and often leaves me hanging and tongue-tied myself. How do we manage this as Christians?

Answer 1

This is one of my favorite scriptures to turn to with questions like this.

James 1:5 if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6) But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

So James tells us that we should ask God for any knowledge that we don't know. But with a condition attached. You need to ask in faith that God will answer your question. If you do so its promised that the Lord will give to you freely. And He always keeps His promises. I would add that @San Jacinto was right on in that you need to be humble in asking as well.

Answer 2

The Bible is certainly not seeking to stop people finding out more about God.

Romans 9:20 is rendered by more modern translations as "But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?". It's not speaking against enquiry, but against trash-talking or accusing God (the previous verse makes that clear).

Romans 14:5 is talking about something else completely, whether or not to celebrate special days. Paul is saying to make up your own mind, and then stick to it.

Isaiah 55 8-9 is simply pointing out that God's mind and thoughts are greater than ours. That doesn't mean we shouldn't improve our own minds or our thoughts, but it does point out that they will not be equal to God's.

Answer 3

Jesus said "Seek and yee shall find." It is in fact the way to get closer to God. It is your personal road to travel.

There are some "givens", things I no longer question. I have my own list:

There is a Creator who made everything. He is perfectly good. He loves me more than I could ever imagine. He has forgiven me of all my sins. Jesus was God, and He died for me. Jesus is the supreme teacher, the ultimate authority on everything.

I have very good reasons why I believe them to be true. Those questions have been answered for me for a long time. But it took years of "seeking" to get to the point where I believe them as strongly as I do.

Answer 4

John 20:29 NET Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Apparently, those who accept without proof are more blessed than those who are filled with doubts. What is the blessing?

They don't have to be burdened with the need to satisfy those who feel lost without the answers! ;p

Hope you don't feel lost about the answer to this question now!

NASB Luke 11:9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Galatians 3:5 NET Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?

What should we seek? The Holy Spirit.

The Kingdom of God is easier to enter for the foolish, the humble, the weak, the poor. Rightly so, because God loves those who believe in Him and depend on Him with a simple faith.

That's why the Gospel is such good news for such as they. All it requires is for people to understand that those who turned to God can now be vindicated. That which is foolish to the wise, the message of the Cross, has long been recognised to be the only way to live by the disadvantaged: unless a seed dies, it cannot live.

I have a hard time accepting that salvation is to be entered through getting doubts cleared. Think about it: if the latter were true it would mean that a huge swathe of mankind would be excluded from salvation because clever people are fewer than the simple. It also means that God only intends to save the clever, because intelligence is a gift, not a result of hard work.

After studying Scripture, we reach the conclusion that all that is required is to acknowledge God's goodness in helping us, through the Cross, and telling people to turn to Him. The details of the process are unnecessary and not useful:

Luke 7:31-32 NET “To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.

You will find that when you reach your destination, the simple folk are already there:

Matthew 18:2-4 NET He called a child, had him stand among them, and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven! Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.