I JUST KNOW

The one difference about being a Christian in Australia is that the response ' I just know' isn't quite enough here.

When I was home in Malaysia, quite often my explanation for believing that Christ died for my sins is simply, "I just know".
I did not quote Scripture. I knew vaguely that the Bible was historical but I couldn't quite tell you how it withstood the scrutiny of historians. I'd never read the book of Revelations in it's entirety. In fact, I had very minimal bible knowledge apart from the firm conviction that I, belonged to Christ.

Then, I came to Australia.
Predestination, propitiation, evidential apologetics, ontological Trinity.
Excited by the amount of careful study people placed into the Bible, I threw myself into it. People actually studied whole BOOKS of the Bible instead of singular verses taken out of context.
In fact the first book we heard preached about was every preacher's nightmare : the book of Revelations.

Almost 4 years down the road, I think I know the Bible a bit more than when I first came.
I've read Revelations and Romans in its entirety.
I believe in predestination.


But somehow, sadly, I find it hard to say " I just know" anymore.
It scares me that I agree so easily that we need to fear God but somehow cannot nod my head in agreement when someone says God loves us.

This week at church , we learnt that we need to fear God because God is wrathful and powerful.

But the Bible, also speaks about His great love for us.

¹How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 1John 3:1-3

³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Eph 2:3-5

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

³⁴Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Romans 8:34-36

I guess, 'I just know' isn't really a complete response.
We know because the Holy Spirit convicts us.
The Holy Spirit convicts us because of the Father's great love for us.

And how blessed are we when we can say, I just know.