Suppositions Without Support

by David Gibson

Jumping to conclusions

• John the Baptist warned the Jews, “… do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father ...” (Matthew 3:9). Simply depending on physical descent from Abraham without the faith and repentance God requires is a baseless assumption (see John 8:37-42, 44, 47; Romans 2:25-29).
• Jesus said, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7; see I Kings 18:26-29).
• Regarding those whom Pilate killed, Jesus said, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2-5; also John 9:1-3).
• On the day of Pentecost, a huge crowd from many countries was amazed when they heard the apostles speak in languages they could understand. Some mockers in the crowd accused the apostles of being intoxicated. Peter explained, “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose…” He then cited Joel’s prophecy that the Spirit (not spirits) empowered them to speak (Acts 2:6-21).
• An angry mob in Jerusalem nearly killed Paul because “they supposed” that he had brought a Gentile into the temple, which he had not done (Acts 21:27-31; see Acts 24:5-6).

And today ...

Sad to say, many today base their hopes on false premises, such as infant baptism; salvation by faith alone; saying the Sinner’s Prayer; the doctrine of once saved, always saved; reliance on good deeds; acceptance of traditions and writings of human origin; dependence on one’s own subjective feelings; etc.

The Bereans are highly commended for diligently searching the Scriptures to determine truth (Acts 17:10). They didn’t rely on supposition but rather on what God had revealed in His word.

May that describe us as well!