The most straightforward and uncomplicated acts of obedience are what will lead people into God’s truth and align them with God’s promises.
There is a principle known as Occam’s Razor. This theory originated from a man named William of Occam, who lived in the 14th century. He was a philosopher and theologian. His philosophy still holds true for today.
The phrase “Occam’s theory” has been used today to support the value of simplicity. It attempts to explain something in the simplest of terms, using only the necessary elements required to accomplish or explain something.
Occam’s razor is a philosophy that attempts to keep things as simple as possible. It reveals that the understanding with the fewest number of assumptions is the truth. It resists the demand for complexity, not allowing more assumptions than are necessary to uncover the truth.
The more complicated our understanding of God and His Kingdom becomes, the more it is possible we will wander away from the truth. Scripture is our anchor point, keeping our faith simple and focused on Jesus, not on an array of human assumptions. Scripture becomes our Occam’s razor, able to cut through the assumptions we have added to our faith.
When the writer of Hebrews wrote about faith, he referenced those in the past who had faith on an “assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1). These heroes continued to move forward because it was faith, not a sea of assumptions, that kept them anchored to God’s promises.
They exhibited the essence of Occam’s razor. They had a simple word from the Lord and did not fail to move forward under the instructions of that word. In a colloquial definition, it means, “If God said it, it is true.” That lifestyle is what made them the heroes of our faith, and it is what defines a follower of Jesus in a complex and confusing world.
“All these people died still believing what God had promised them” (vs. 13). We cannot get to the fulfillment of God’s promises by being led by a complicated theology about God. We don’t need a theological expert to explain to us what we need to do to move forward and fulfill God’s will in our lives. We need the simple truth.
That kind of faith is what defined the pioneers of our faith. “By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength” (32-34).
The Lord could use these heroes of faith because they continued to follow God’s uncomplicated and straightforward word, which led them to a promise they could not see when they took the first step on their journey of faith. It’s what defined their lives. It was a simple faith that no human logic or added complications could overcome.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
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