Pascal's Wager: You are going to have to have FAITH!!!

1. "God is, or He is not"
2. A Game is being played... where heads or tails will turn up.
3. According to reason, you can defend neither of the propositions.
4. You must wager. (It's not optional.)
5. Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.
6. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. (...) There is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. And so our proposition is of infinite force, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain.

Well, I am going back on my word to stop at 100 blog entries, but this just bothers me! I

don't know how many of you are familiar with this "Wager" by Blaise Pascal, a 17th

century French philosopher, and I am not totally sure of its intent, but I do not like it!

All of us tend to lean toward proof; it is a human trait to want to prove that something

exists before we grant belief. Unfortunately, for people who need this type of proof, God

as an entity does not provide proof of His existence outside of belief and faith. If you

were to read R. C Sproul or listen to one of his many tapes, you would associate the

Latin term Sola Fide with this theologian. We are saved by faith alone and by grace

alone. 

Somewhere in the walk of a Christian, he or she simply must have and declare FAITH

in God and Jesus Christ. You have to be willing to allow yourself to jump off that

diving board into the water. We have the Bible, God's word spoken through the Holy

Spirit, and we have His creation which shouts His existence. But we will reach a point

where we simply have to believe and have the faith that He exists, is sovereign and

alive forever. 

Leaning on a wager, it seems to me, is not having faith; instead, it is playing things

safe. 'Well, I might as well cast my vote for God because, if I lose the wager, I have

really lost nothing!' But careful now. Playing a wager on the existence of God surely

does not translate into allowing Him into ones life, depending upon His grace

and loving-kindness. And what about Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross? Where does

a wager put ones appreciation for the atonement earned at the foot of the cross?

Don't wager on the future existence of your soul! Don't wager on your ability to

fend off the Devil by allowing yourself to make a wager on your eternal soul! 

Faith is the key. In your walk, this faith will increase and you will reach a point where

this type of philosophy seems both rediculous and very very dangerous!

Praise our God!