The glorious beauty and functionality of faith could only be God-created.  Faith alone is the bridge that man must travel to commune and to make peace with his creator, the God of the Bible.  God did not choose intellect, beauty, strength, power, or riches as the medium of exchange in His Kingdom.  He chose childlike faith.  As paper money and precious metals, etc., are the currency of this world, faith is the currency of the invisible Kingdom of God.  Without faith purchases can not be made in the eternal realm—purchases that have very real and measureable physical benefits.  Faith is Kingdom Cash.  No matter what your status is intellectually, ethnically, economically, etc., faith is the only God-accepted common denominator.  It is the leveler by which all must pass if a very real and present access to God is to be realized.  All people, from the poorest, smallest, forsaken child to the grandest of men among us, the same offering to faith must be made, and that offering is something we all possess.  It is our soul, our very seat of being.  Hebrews 11:6:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Faith is the bridge to God.  Without faith we are without hope.  It is impossible. 

Faith is not wishing or magic.  Faith is a spiritual reality that transcends the natural dimensions.  Its definition is found in Hebrews 11:1:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

GodSaidManSaid received the following e-mail from Howard:

Proof and faith cannot co-exist.  If the job of your website is to prove the existence of God, assuming you are successful, aren’t you dooming all the souls who you convert?  They will no longer believe in God because of faith, but because of proof.

Howard, faith and proof not only do, but must, co-exist.  I Thessalonians 5:21:

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Faith, in order to open the door to glorious results, must be fact.  King Jesus said in Mark 11:23:

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Note that where there is doubt the mountain won’t move.  Faith must be fact.

Childlike faith is not dependent on natural outside sources, but is sustained from within by a supernatural reinforcer.  Romans 8:16-17:

16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The proof of one’s acceptance into the family of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, is not a certificate of baptism or the right hand of fellowship from any particular congregation, but the proof is inward.  The Spirit of God bears witness with an individual’s spirit that he or she has become a child of God.  The believer’s proof and truth are certified by the source of ultimate proof and truth, God Almighty, the creator of every good and perfect gift.  This fountain of life is accessed by faith alone, man’s bridge to the Father.

Howard questioned the purpose of GodSaidManSaid.  The real purpose of this website is not to prove there is a god, but to affirm the absolute inerrancy of Holy Writ.  I’m sure it will be a shock to most that the battle for our eternal souls began as an issue of faith in the inerrancy of God’s words.  Our great-grandparents, Adam and Eve, were immortal and dwelt in the Garden of Eden—Paradise.  God, the Creator, instructed them to be fruitful and to multiply, to tend their beautiful garden, to have dominion over all the earth, and to have life and have it more abundantly.  Every day was a beautiful postcard sky.  They were given only one “don’t.”  Genesis 2:16-17:

16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

While the first voice was obeyed, our grandparents dwelt in Paradise.  One day a second voice was heard in the midst of the garden—Satan’s voice.  He camped out at the forbidden tree.  Our mother drew close and Satan engaged her in conversation.  He challenged the inerrancy of the Words of God.  Listen to what he said to Eve, Genesis 3:1:

Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Note that with one word, hath, and a question mark, Satan changed the entire paradigm of man’s existence.  Eve, through an act of unbelief in the inerrancy of the Word of God, disobeyed and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  She also gave it to Adam to eat.  They both died spiritually that day, and years later died to the flesh as well.  They no longer had the Spirit of life to pass on to their children.  Consequently, their progeny were spiritually stillborn.  Thus, we have the need to be born again as Jesus declares—to be born of the Spirit.  John 3:3-6:

3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The issue with Eve was unbelief (non-faith) in the infallible inerrancy of the Word of God.  The situation has not changed.

Several years ago, GodSaidManSaid was banned from advertising on the radio in England.  First, the censors challenged several statements made in the commercials.  We supplied them with the documents necessary to support the statements.  The censors’ second challenge was, “Which god are you referring to?”  This is the issue.  GodSaidManSaid is a proof text that proves that the one true God is the God of the Bible.  Presently on this website, there are 413 subjects in text and streaming audio that prove the faithful veracity of the word of God.  Every Thursday eve, God-willing, it grows by one.  Howard, the purpose is to affirm inerrancy.

The vast majority of this world believes in a god.  India alone is reported to have 38 million registered gods.  The question is: which god and whose book?

In summation, faith, fact, proof, and truth are one and the same to those who have entered the invisible Kingdom of God.  Faith harnesses the power of God, His Spirit, His angels, and His promises.  Faith harnesses our spiritual nomenclature, interacting with our physical form even down to the effective use of the God-designed placebo effect.  But in order for faith to function, it must be fact, and the certification of that faith doesn’t come from outside natural sources, but is spiritually certified by the God of all spirits, and this certification is done personally and individually.  Yes, one on one.  Imagine such a marvel. 

Finally, the purpose of this website is to affirm the inerrancy of God’s Word.  God’s Word is not paper and printer’s ink.  To the childlike surrendered, it is the living Spirit of God.  Of the Word, John 1:1 reads,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Of the Christ, Revelation 19:13:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

The living inerrant word of God stands supreme.  Psalms 138:2:

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

GodSaidManSaid does not purport that this short feature on the subject of faith, proof, and purpose is an exhaustive account by any means, but it is a starting point from which to revel in the beauty of God’s handiwork.  Grow in faith. 

References:

Authorized King James Version