“Conviction” is the conclusion obtained by examination of evidences given on a particular matter. The life of the child of God must be lived with convictions in place. These cannot be part of the mind set of the Christian without a careful examination of evidence.
The evidence that we are most concerned with is the scripture itself. Jesus said to “search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life”. Examine the word of God. A casual reading of the word of God will not produce many (if any) convictions, for God does not lay out formula based doctrines; that is to say seldom does a conviction come because of a single scriptural text. Most core beliefs come because of numerous statements of the word of God.
While many may quote a single verse as “proof” of a particular belief (such as the Morman doctrine of baptism for the dead) the more correct way of coming to a scriptural conviction is to examine all the scriptures concerning a particular matter. It may be that a conclusion cannot be derived from any single verse alone but if all verses are considered the conviction becomes very apparent. Thus the multitude of evidences erase all doubt as to the truth of a given matter, this is what in judicial concerns is called the preponderance of evidence. The overwhelming evidence of all the facts (scriptures) produce a conclusion that is without doubt. This is the case as one considers the doctrine of Jesus name baptism.
