1 John 5:13

"Through faith we understand…" These words embody one of the most basic principles of spiritual life. We believe God's Word first, then we understand. The world says, "Seeing is believing;" God says, "Believing is seeing." The Lord Jesus said to Martha, "Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see…"(John 11:40). Later He said to Thomas, "…blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (

Some of us will be eternally thankful to God for this verse because it taught us that assurance of salvation comes first and foremost through the Word of God and not through feelings. The Bible was written, among other reasons, so that those who believe on the Name of the Son of God can know that they have eternal life.

We can be thankful that assurance does not come through feelings, because they fluctuate with every passing day. "God does not ask the soul to say, 'Thank God I feel so...

God had given the land of Canaan to the people of Israel. It was theirs by divine promise. But they still had to make it their own. They had to occupy it. The rule of possession was, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you."

God has given us many great and precious promises. The Bible is full of them. But we must appropriate them by faith. Only then are they really ours.

Take, for instance, the promises concerning salvation. The Lord...

By life the Scripture means, true life, life in union to God, in the image of God; life with bliss and purity. An eternity under conditions like those that belong to the life of sinful man, were utterly undesirable. True life includes everything desirable, and the entire universe of God is just one of its perquisites. They that believe in Christ have Christ. They that have Christ have life. They that have life, have it eternally. They that have eternal life may know that they have it, and...