"True faith, strictly speaking, does not do anything; it does not give, but receives. So when one says that we do something by faith that is just another way of saying that we do nothing- at least that we do nothing of ourselves. It is of the very nature of faith, strictly speaking, to do nothing. So when it is said that faith works through love, that means that through faith, instead of doing something for ourselves we allow some one else to help us. That force which enters our life at the beginning through faith, before we could do anything at all to please God, and which then strengthens and supports us in the battle that it has enabled us to begin, is the power of the Spirit of God." J. Gresham Machen, What is Faith? Eerdmans, 216. Found in the Sonship manual, 133.
In our discipleship class this week, we discussed the two natures of the flesh and how they interact with each other. The two sides of the flesh are sensuality and self-effort. We discussed how the "Christian" community condemns and identifies sensuality as a sin, but we rarely see religious self-effort (or self-effort of any sort) as true sin. Why? The answer is too varied for one post! Today I will share some thoughts concerning the flesh, self-effort, and the nature of true faith.
Have you noticed how the churches and individuals who speak out the strongest against sexual sin are often marked by sexual sin? Have you ever wondered why those who build large ministries or "successful" Christian businesses are often undone by greed, embezzlement, sex scandals, or some strange deviant behavior that was kept hidden until it appeared and suddenly destroyed their lives and testimony for Jesus?
I have often puzzled over these questions! I know there are always many reasons for every event, but I believe one of the clearest issues is that many of us do not understand the gospel nor do we understand the way our religious self-effort cannot "kill" sensuality within us.
What do I mean? Most of us have been taught that if you struggle with some outward sin, let's say over-eating, we must have the will power to overcome it. If we are strong people, we can do this. Some of us can keep our New Year's Resolutions for months on end. Others give up quickly. But the strong keep going. Our churches are often full of "strong" people who can act the part demanded. Through self-effort they can change their behavior- at least for awhile!
So, we exercise and eat right. We read books about diet. We do well. Then the Little Debbie snack cake appears in the middle of the afternoon when we are hungry. We take a bit. We eat the rest. It is so good! The sugar does great things for our attitude. We now start thinking about food and sweets again. We might talk the talk with our friends and family, but we are secret eaters! Then at a barbecue, a vacation, or a buffet we finally throw off the act and eat like we wanted to. We keep it up. Eventually we have regained our weight. We envy those with the strength to keep it up.
What happened? When it comes to over-eating, we never dealt with our heart issues. Why do we over-eat? Does it give us comfort? Do we really hate ourselves? Do we believe we deserve to be unattractive and fat? Or do we just like food? Is our eating a good good and balanced desire for God's good gifts? In other words, we rarely ask why we have these desires?
Deep within us is a very real need to find our core affirmation and love in our relationship with God. John Calvin tells us that faith was one of the items completely lost in the fall. I have often found this observation intriguing. Don't we all know that God exists and call upon Him in need? Yes, we do. The problem is really believing and resting in His love for us. Such a faith is radically different than calling upon Him in a time of trial. It is not momentary and fleeting but abiding. It is based upon repentance of self-effort and trust in the completed work of Christ.
Ultimately, it is life-changing because such faith is heart-changing. With the flesh, we cannot defeat the flesh. It will always work behind the scenes to undo us. The only way to defeat the flesh is to allow the Spirit to deal with our heart. We cannot deal with our heart on our own! When our internal desires change, our behavior changes in healthy and good ways. It truly changes. We do not have to "keep up the appearances" but we truly want holiness and God's presence. We find our deepest needs met in the Lord and the sensual sins are no longer attractive because they do not satisfy!
Such a faith is receiving Christ's finished work and His love. It is actively passive before the Lord. May true faith and trust mark each of our lives today!
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