Foundation Elements

The notion of the foundation of our Christian life has continued to roll around in my thinking for the past several days.  1 Corinthians 3:10 – 16 has been part of that thinking.  In the passage Paul clearly states that the foundation of the Christian life is Christ.  Obviously I agree with that, I am sure Paul is relieved.

In another sense however as believers we have to build our relationship with our Lord through and on the foundation of the Scriptures.  That seems to be the consistent response of those who were exposed to the gospel in the book of Acts, look at 17:11; and the exhortation of the writers of the New Testament, look at John 15:7, Hebrews 4:12, 5:11 – 14, 2 Timothy 3:14 – 17, 2 Peter 3:14 – 16.  Perhaps it is because we only can know Christ through His Word that I am struggling with this.

It seems however that there are many of us who are building our understanding of Him through other means than the Word.  There are many resources available to us today through Christian bookstores, the internet, television, and radio that are presented as Biblical and helpful that are of, at best, uneven quality.  Many are in fact helpful, many are in fact harmful.  How can we know the difference?  I would suggest the answer is our starting place.  If we come to the plethora of resources available to us having first grounded ourselves in the Scripture, we are less likely to be led astray by the resources that are less than helpful.

The Word of God has to have primacy in our walk with God.  It rather than the words of others about it, is the way we lay a firm foundation of faith in Christ.