Absentee Faith

.... Faith is a topic under a great deal of discussion in some quarters of the church today. The truth is vital to our Christian walk because without faith it is impossible to please God, and whatever is not of faith is sin (Hebrews 11:6; Romans 14:23). Obviously therefore, erroneous faith doctrines are among the adversary’s favorite ploys.

.... "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

(Luke 18:8)

.... Today we’ll examine one of the more subtle attack on faith, which comes in the form of an encroachment; and, as incredible as it may seem, this abuse occurs most rampantly among the most diligent students of the Bible.
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.... It is true that God has spoken on many subjects, His words are recorded in the Scriptures, so His basic thoughts are already on record. Therefore, some Christians believe that's all they really need. To them, we may have faith in the same words that were spoken long ago, to guide us in today’s situations, because the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

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.... Although this is a far nobler approach than some others, and it does contain many seeds of truth, it also contains one fundamental flaw. When the position is stated this simply, it means that we have a relationship with the Bible but not necessarily with the Lord Himself (see John 5:39-40). It would mean that He gave us His word, then left the application up to us – like an absentee Lordship. In either case, in the final analysis, this perspective leaves us in control, we are making the decisions, and we are holding the reigns, instead of yielding ourselves to Him:

.... "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me."

(John 5:39)

.... To illustrate this point, let’s consider the example of Jesus Himself. Everything He said or did was foretold by the Old Testament prophets (Amos 3:7). He certainly knew those Scriptures well, for He was the Word become flesh (John 1:14). Yet He never used that knowledge to guide Himself, nor did He speak on His own initiative:

.... "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak."

(John 12:49)

.... and again,

.... "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel."

(John 5:20)

.... Even though Jesus knew the Scriptures perfectly, He waited on the Father and was led by the Holy Spirit when it came to applying them. The point being, that a dependent relationship was maintained in this way:

.... "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."

(John 8:29)

.... So for ourselves, even if we know what the Scriptures have to say on a given subject, we must still connect with God in living terms in applying them. There may be some subtle points we are still missing! For example, let’s say you are with some other Christians when a situation comes up. You’ve thought of a Scripture, and you know exactly what to do. Perhaps you’ve done it before. But just maybe one of those other Christians has never had the opportunity to apply this knowledge before. Just maybe, God wants you to shut up so He can work through them, to help them grow in an area that is new to them.
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.... Or again, let’s say you've thought of a Scripture and you’re about to say something to someone, but God tells you to wait. Maybe someone else will walk up in another 10 seconds, and you are supposed to share it with them as well. If you do not wait on the Lord in these ways, you may actually walk in His word without walking in the Spirit. And remember our example with Jesus Himself: those who are led by the Spirit of God are called the sons of God (Romans 8:14).

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Daily Bible Reading: Romans 14