Being sure of the truth

I fully believe that Jesus is my Savior, that's not the question. The question is, How do I know that what I have been taught is the true word of God? There are so many religions that claim to be the true religion. How do I know that the WELS is?

Christian faith is a matter of the heart, isn’t it? Christian faith is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in a person’s heart through the word of God. Because of that, Christian faith is not arguable or debatable. What I mean is that I cannot convince you or anyone else of the truths of Scripture; only God can do that. And God does that.

God can do that because his word is truly unique. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The Emmaus disciples understood what the living word of God was all about when the risen Lord spoke to them: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) When you read Scripture, the Holy Spirit convinces you that it is truthful and that Jesus Christ is the world’s only Savior (John 14:6).

Beyond these matters of faith, I can point out these contrasts between Christianity and all other religions. Only Christianity speaks of a God who freely offers salvation (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). Only Christianity speaks of a God who gave of himself because he cared about people in their lost condition (1 John 4:10). Only Christianity speaks of a living Savior—one who willingly died and rose from the dead (Revelation 1:17-18). Only Christianity speaks of the testimony of many witnesses who saw their eternal Savior (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

When it comes to visible Christian churches, you and I need to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1). We need to examine the confessions and doctrinal statements of churches and compare them to what the Bible says. Then we will recognize true and false churches. And then we will know whether or not to join together with them (Romans 16:17).

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”
(Hebrews 11:1). Christian faith is Spirit-worked confidence and trust in what God says in his word. That same word is what God uses to create and strengthen faith (Romans 10:17). I encourage you, then, to “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly…” (Colossians 3:16) and to be a frequent guest at the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:25), so that the Holy Spirit has opportunities to convince you all the more that “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).