I wrote the following post December 30th, 2006 at my old site.
Just as God sent Abraham on a journey that he was completely unaware of where it would lead him, we too have been sent on our own journey and each of us must find our way. Every journey is unique with its own unique set of circumstances. Who is able to understand such a unique journey as this? The answer is easy and yet many still do not understand it.
The answer I am referring to is “God”. Only God knows where we came from and where we are going, and yes, he knows every step in-between. I am not saying we can’t help each other along the way because I know this pleases God when we love one another and seek to lighten the load of a burdened soul. But there is a big difference in helping another fellow traveler and forcing him to walk with us
Abraham’s great journey is filled with personal mistakes, bad judgment, and even weak faith, and yet he is held up as an example of the kind of human faith God would have us all to have. Was that faith based on law? I think not, because the law didn’t even come into play until many years after Abraham. Just what was it based on then? Paul says it best in Romans 4 talking about just what did Abraham believe?
Rom 4:5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
Abraham believed in a God who would justify the ungodly. I too have come to this same faith. But one major difference I have with most institutional churches is that I believe he justifies the ungodly regardless of whether they have faith or not. Now I’m not saying faith is not required, I’m just saying no human being outside of Jesus Christ has the faith that justifies the ungodly.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Did you get the part in the verse above that says it is not of yourselves? It is a gift from God. I have yet to meet the man or woman who would tell me their personal faith was strong enough to make them right with God, and yet we hear pulpit after pulpit proclaiming that you must have personal faith to be acceptable to God. Well, my friends, we do have faith, all of us, and it is the Faith of Christ. It is a gift to every man.
Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Paul says that the promise by faith OF Jesus might be given to all them that believe. Yes, it is given to them that believe, and just who is that? I am becoming more and more convinced that none of us living in the flesh has any personal faith of our own that has any power what so ever to justify us before God. What we have is HIS FAITH. He is the one that believed, and he has been given the promise of the Father. And as in Adam ALL died, so in Christ ALL shall be made alive. All will believe. All will fall down on their knees in absolute praise to their Savior. As Tim King says: God doesn’t shove us on our rebellious faces — he melts our clueless hearts.
All the prophecies of old proclaimed a Savior who would rescue all. We know that even God himself proclaimed his purpose in sending his son into the world..
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
Yes, we journey on, each of us on our own unique path. I am convinced we will never fully understand all the difficulties along the way, or the suffering that we both see and experience. But I am also convinced that when we close these physical eyes for the last time we will then understand maybe for the first time what LOVE really is.
And I should add one more small observation.
If I am right then it means God is all powerful and did overcome every obstacle that man threw his way, rescuing even the worst of us from our sin, and he did that without our help completely through the efforts of his Son Jesus Christ.
If the institutional church is right, then even by the most liberal standards more then 80% of all human beings will be sent to an eternal hell to suffer for ever and ever because they didn’t have the right faith. There are now at least 30,000 different branches of Christianity. Is it possible that mankind will ever get it right on his own?
Impossible with man, but with God all things are possible.
