FOOLPROOF SALVATION
The faith that leads to righteousness is in the heart, and the confession that leads to salvation is upon the lips. Rom. 10:10, N.E.B.
Most of us become a little suspicious when we hear or read of "foolproof" claims, such as the money-back guarantee that you can lose from two to six inches from your waistline in just one hour if you wear a special body wrap. Or that foolproof plan whereby you can make more than $10,000 a year without leaving your home. We know there's a catch somewhere.
In a similar way, "just believe" has almost become a cliche among Christians. Yet many are sucked heartachingly into this oversimplified injunction. They do believe, but find themselves relying on their own emotional discipline in order to sustain the assurance of salvation promised. And since everyone has "down" days, the assurance comes and goes like the morning mists. That's the catch.
It seems like a cruel trick. Misgivings about God's part in all this can easily give way to outright skepticism and eventual disenchantment. And if not disenchantment, then hopelessness. What is left if God's own foolproof plan has failed?
The problem is not with God's plan, but in our understanding of it. When we put the emphasis on ourselves, our belief, we will fail. It makes a contest of our emotions. To decide, instead, that the contest is with our intellect makes the problem only more complicated, for the intellect can easily serve a selfish heart.
The passions of the heart are unreliable if unguided by the integrity of our rational thinking. Many a child has been nearly ruined by the ill-measured indulgence of his parents. Our great God would have our hearts and minds balanced so as to bring wholeness into all our actions and interactions.
Therefore, He has ordained that with our minds we apprehend Him and with our hearts we hunger after Him. In doing so, we are led back into right relationship with Him. And this is our sure salvation.
The faith that leads to righteousness is in the heart, and the confession that leads to salvation is upon the lips. Rom. 10:10, N.E.B.
Most of us become a little suspicious when we hear or read of "foolproof" claims, such as the money-back guarantee that you can lose from two to six inches from your waistline in just one hour if you wear a special body wrap. Or that foolproof plan whereby you can make more than $10,000 a year without leaving your home. We know there's a catch somewhere.
In a similar way, "just believe" has almost become a cliche among Christians. Yet many are sucked heartachingly into this oversimplified injunction. They do believe, but find themselves relying on their own emotional discipline in order to sustain the assurance of salvation promised. And since everyone has "down" days, the assurance comes and goes like the morning mists. That's the catch.
It seems like a cruel trick. Misgivings about God's part in all this can easily give way to outright skepticism and eventual disenchantment. And if not disenchantment, then hopelessness. What is left if God's own foolproof plan has failed?
The problem is not with God's plan, but in our understanding of it. When we put the emphasis on ourselves, our belief, we will fail. It makes a contest of our emotions. To decide, instead, that the contest is with our intellect makes the problem only more complicated, for the intellect can easily serve a selfish heart.
The passions of the heart are unreliable if unguided by the integrity of our rational thinking. Many a child has been nearly ruined by the ill-measured indulgence of his parents. Our great God would have our hearts and minds balanced so as to bring wholeness into all our actions and interactions.
Therefore, He has ordained that with our minds we apprehend Him and with our hearts we hunger after Him. In doing so, we are led back into right relationship with Him. And this is our sure salvation.
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