The Use of Reason in Our Faith

FAITH AND REASON: THE USE OF REASON IN OUR FAITH
FALL/WINTER 2008/2009
MARCH 11, 2009
I. REASON IS A WONDERFUL GIFT FROM GOD
   A. In the image of God, our reasonable, omniscient Creator-see Gen. 1:26,27
   B. Our mental or intellectual capacity employing rational thought and communication
   C. Like every other gift from God it is to be used to serve and glorify God…1 Cor 10:31
   D. God loves our use of reason
      1. We are to love the Lord our God with our mind…Mt 22:37
       2. He delights in our discovery of the things which He has made…Prov. 25:2
       3. The man is blessed who uses his faculty of reason to meditate on the Word of God …Psa 1:1-3
       4. God calls us to reason with Him indicating that He has given us the gift of rationality that is able to grasp what He is saying when we sit down with Him and listen. He is not unreasonable or unable to be understood
… Isa 1:18
       5. Paul used reason with revelation to persuade men of the truth of the gospel… Acts 17:2; 18:4; 18:19; 24:25

II. SINCE REASON WAS GIVEN THAT WE MIGHT GLORIFY GOD, AND SINCE THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY, REASON IS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REVELATION OF GOD
   A. To use reason independent of God and His Word invites destruction… Gen 6:5; 8:21; Deu 29:14-20: Psa 2:lff
   B. To use reason independent of God and His Word leads to idolatry, futility, loss of life direction and ultimately to gross sin without a conscience to prevent it…Rom 1:21-32
   C. To use reason independent of God and His word causes one not to recognize the obvious gifts of God… Mt. 21:23-27
   D. The use of reason independent of God and His word cheats humans of their reward, of true life and of sound truth being founded on philosophies that are based on the traditions of men and the basic principles of the world. Col 2:8, 18-23
   E. The use of reason independent of God and His word leads to faithless wickedness…2 Thess 3:2
   F. The use of reason with the revelation of God gives one direction, meaning, and purpose in life…Prov 3:5-8
   G. The use of reason with His revelation is the proper means to give a reasonable answer to any man who asks for the reason of our hope… l Pet3:15
   H. The use of reason together with the revelation of God tears down strongholds of bondage and tyranny and things which exalt themselves against the knowledge of …2 Cor 10:3-5
…Reason and Revelation are both gifts of God!

III. GOD INTENDS US TO BE REASONABLE MEN WHO COUNT ON THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO CONVINCE MEN OF THE TRUTH B UT WHO ALSO USE THE REASONABLE WORD OF GOD AS OUR SOURCE.
   A. Our lives must start with the knowledge that the new man is created by God and that God's revelation is total, absolute Truth
   B. Our presentations of the truth whether verbal or life lived should be thought out and rational
   C. Our presentations of the truth whether verbal or by life lived should be based on reasonable study of the Word of God
   D. Our presentations of the truth whether verbal or life lived must be done under the power of the Holy Spirit of God…2 Cor 2:
   E. Our presentations of the truth whether verbal or life lived must hold to the sovereignty of God, the sufficiency of Scripture and the autonomy of God's Word not the autonomy of reason.
   F. Some presuppositions that we must have in order to make a truthful presentation (one in which God, not reason, is autonomous) *
       1. God must sovereignly grant understanding
       2. One must believe in order to understand
      3. Total reliance upon God's word to create faith and not our own clever arguments; God's word is self-attesting
       4. There is no neutrality; neutrality equals unbelief
       5. Unbelief rests in intellectual foolishness
   G. Conditions necessary for the believer
       1. All knowledge is in Christ; we must trust Him as Lord
       2. Total faith in the sufficiency of Scripture
       3. Humble boldness, not arrogant confidence

*These have been garnered from Greg Bahnsen, Always Ready, edited by Robert R. Booth, Covenant Media Foundation, Nacogdoches, TX., 2000, pp 81-106