Archive for May, 2010

IF I WALKED BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT, THEN my faith would be the glasses for my sight. My eyes would look through the lens of faith. Faith would determine what I really see. My eyes would see, but my faith would interpret. My eyes would gaze, but my faith would discern. Rationalization, however, blinds me to this truth. My eyes simply represent one of my five human senses as I desperately want to see, touch, smell, hear, and taste my way through life. Oh, how I want to lean on my own understanding.

If I walk by faith and not by sight, then I will understand that I am to taste and see that the Lord is good. My human senses are not bad. They are God-given gifts in order to get around in this physical world. But they are not good interpreters of the deeper issues of life. Faith allows me to see beyond my natural horizons. When it is said of Abraham in Hebrews 11:10 that he was “looking for a city,” it is not referring to his eyes but to his faith in what God had promised. Jesus also referred to this great man of faith when He said “Abraham saw my day, rejoiced and was glad in it” (John 8:56). It is said of Moses that he could “see Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27).

Faith does not nullify nor replace our human faculties. It simply goes beyond what our senses can perceive. My human wisdom can tell me how much I have in the bank, but my faith can tell me the only One I can bank on. My human wisdom can tell me how strong I am, but faith can tell me “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). My human wisdom can tell me how smart I am, but my faith tells me that I have the mind of Christ. My human wisdom can tell me how healthy I am, but my faith tells me that I will live forever.

I will never walk totally by faith. I must learn to grow in this area. Jesus, however, lived in total dependence upon the Father. He never allowed His senses to get in the way or blur what He could see by faith. The gospel places to my account the faith in His account.

Thank God for this sixth sense of faith.

IF I WERE UNBIASED, THEN I would be able to make proper judgments in life without any thought of personal gain. A predetermined outcome would not be colored by desired results. If I were unbiased, then I would always work from the context of what is true and not what I want to be true. I would see all situations that demand me to make a decision as not being influenced by personality, people, friendships, personal benefit, political leanings, or the fact that I live in America. Rationalization says, “Let’s get serious. Who could possibly live under such constraints?” No doubt, being unbiased will be a threat to our character as long as we live.

If I were unbiased, I would want to make sure that I don’t use excuses for my personal prejudices but weigh all matters on the scales of biblical justice. If I love hymns, am I biased to the point that any songs written in the past twenty years must be shallow and lack doctrinal content? If I love praise songs, am I biased to the point that anything written prior to this century must be stodgy, unexciting, and boring? If Scripture is silent on such issues, then preference may rule what I like – but I should never allow bias to rule out what I don’t like. Do I ever find myself interpreting Scripture through the lens of my favorite theological system rather than letting the Scripture speak for itself? Such bias is rude, as I am interrupting God when He is speaking to me, and if not careful I will find myself telling God what He should be saying to me rather than what He is saying to me.

If I were unbiased, then I would work from a level playing field and not from the rocky soil of prejudice. But I don’t even know when I am being biased because my bias overrules any thought that I could ever stoop so low as being controlled by such a demon. I am so thankful that there is one in which “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). It was said of Jesus in John 1:47 that “Here is an Israelite in whom there is nothing false.” He leveled the playing field and helps us have our minds renewed day by day through His unbiased word.

IF I WERE DISCERNING, THEN I would know the difference between Law and Grace. I would certainly know that the law can’t save me, but my discernment would need to go much deeper than that because my entire Christian life is based on keeping these two in balance. Balance, however, has never been the Christian norm, so in order to make myself feel good, I lean on my trusted friend Rationalization to come to the rescue. It helps me feel good about keeping the law because it appeals to my self-righteousness. It convinces me that by keeping God’s law I will move up the ladder of righteousness a few rungs and can then look down on the rest of the motley bunch below me. It tells me that grace is my ticket to do whatever I please.

If I were discerning, then I would know that I am not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). I would also know that Jesus said He did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law (Matt. 5:17). The law is also holy and just and good according to Paul (Rom. 7:12). So how do I put these together? Not being under the law does not mean I am free to break the law, but should I do so, it can no longer condemn me. It is not a means by which I obtain God’s approval. God’s grace is the power to live the life that he has called me to live (I Cor. 15:10).

If I were discerning, then I would know I need to have a right relationship to the law and to grace which is provided in the person of Christ. However, if you are like me, then you realize we all lack discernment to fully understand all there is to know about law and grace. But there is one thing I am confident in: I am rightly related to the law and rightly related to grace because I am rightly related to Christ who kept the law for me and by his grace gave me the righteousness that the law demands.