John 20:29 “Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
1 Peter 1:7-9 “that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (8) whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, (9) receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls.”
In the first scripture quoted above our Lord appeared to Thomas, one of the twelve. Thomas had not been present the first night that our Lord appeared to the other disciples and had made the comment that he refused to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead, unless he saw Him with his own eyes and handled Him with his own hands. Our Lord then appeared to Thomas eight days later and Thomas believed in Him. Nevertheless our Lord said to him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. In the second scripture quoted above the apostle Peter echo’s our Lord’s comment, for he tells the church, “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls”. And so even though from the first day that our Lord was raised from the dead there have been those who have been chosen by God to see His Son, for the clear majority of the church however, we simply believe their eyewitness testimonies. The reason we do that is because as believers we live by faith. And so as much as it was a blessing for those who have seen our risen Lord, there seems to be an even greater blessing pronounced on those who have not seen our risen Lord, and yet believe in His resurrection. Both our Lord Jesus and the apostle Peter testify to this fact in the above quoted passages of scripture.
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul has made it perfectly clear in the above quoted passage of scripture, that a key truth that we must believe if we are to be saved, is that God has raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. The world denies that Jesus was raised from the dead, which is why they cannot be saved and already stand condemned before God. There are many in the world today that call themselves “Christians”, and yet deny the truth of the resurrection of Christ Jesus. Calling oneself a “Christian” is not the criteria for being saved however, believing that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead is. And so when these individuals find themselves cast into hell at the end of their lives, along with all the other unbelievers, they will finally realise just how deceived they were.
Michael E.B. Maher
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