"But [Thomas] said to them, 'Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.'” John 20:25
Dear friends, if you began to seek signs, and if you were to see them, do you know what would happen? Why, you would want more; and when you had these, you would demand still more. Those who live by their feelings judge of the truth of God by their own condition. When they have happy feelings, then they believe; but if their spirits sink, if the weather happens to be a little damp, or if their constitution happens to be a little disordered, down go their spirits, and, straightway, down goes their faith.
He that lives by a faith which does not rest on feeling, but is built upon the Word of the Lord, will remain fixed and steadfast as the mount of God; but he that craves for this thing and that thing, as a token for good at the hand of the Lord, stands in danger of perishing from want of faith.
He shall not perish, if he has even a grain of living faith, for God will deliver him from the temptation; but the temptation is a very trying one to faith.
Crave, therefore, no sign. If you read a story of a person who saw a vision, or it you hear another declare that a voice spoke to him—believe those things, or not, as you like; but do not desire them for yourself.
These wonders may, or may not, be freaks of the imagination. I will not judge; but we must not rely upon them, for we are not to walk by sight, but by faith.
A Sermon (No. 2061) C. H. SPURGEON
"Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" John 20:27-29
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
If I do not know the one in whom I place my trust ...
“No faith is grounded in the self and is thus an ‘absolute’faith;3 instead,
- there is only a faith that is grounded outside one’s own self,
- grounded outside the self,
- a faith grounded outside the center of one’s being,
- a faith that is in this sense is determined by its content.
It has its basis in the object: ‘Jesus Christ, my Lord,’ through whom, as his Son, God conveys himself as Father through the Holy Spirit and allows himself to be addressed.
Faith is in fact completely an act of trust, but it is a trust that is grounded and connected.
If I do not know the one in whom I place my trust and what I entrust to him, then faith relationship – no matter how sincerely and earnestly it may be – remains empty and aimless.
Luther’s explanation to the first commandment in the Large Catechism thus does not call attention primarily to the preparedness of the human heart, to observe one’s striving, as such, but from first to last it deals with that upon which I can place my trust …
One is reminded here of what Luther said in his interpretation of Jonah 1:5: the sailors’ prayer of faith, which showed that they all knew about God, ought not be any less intensive and upright than the faith of the Christian; but the sailors do not have a ‘certain God’ and thus they also have no certain faith.”
3 … Luther confesses that he would not choose to have free will, even if it were possible, since the certainty of salvation can be grounded only in God himself – not in the human subject.’
From “God’s Presence: The Holy Spirit” in Martin Luther’s Theology by Oswald Bayer
Eerdmans - English Translation 2008
Please know, I have bolded sections for emphasis.
- pmwl
- there is only a faith that is grounded outside one’s own self,
- grounded outside the self,
- a faith grounded outside the center of one’s being,
- a faith that is in this sense is determined by its content.
It has its basis in the object: ‘Jesus Christ, my Lord,’ through whom, as his Son, God conveys himself as Father through the Holy Spirit and allows himself to be addressed.
Faith is in fact completely an act of trust, but it is a trust that is grounded and connected.
If I do not know the one in whom I place my trust and what I entrust to him, then faith relationship – no matter how sincerely and earnestly it may be – remains empty and aimless.
Luther’s explanation to the first commandment in the Large Catechism thus does not call attention primarily to the preparedness of the human heart, to observe one’s striving, as such, but from first to last it deals with that upon which I can place my trust …
One is reminded here of what Luther said in his interpretation of Jonah 1:5: the sailors’ prayer of faith, which showed that they all knew about God, ought not be any less intensive and upright than the faith of the Christian; but the sailors do not have a ‘certain God’ and thus they also have no certain faith.”
3 … Luther confesses that he would not choose to have free will, even if it were possible, since the certainty of salvation can be grounded only in God himself – not in the human subject.’
From “God’s Presence: The Holy Spirit” in Martin Luther’s Theology by Oswald Bayer
Eerdmans - English Translation 2008
Please know, I have bolded sections for emphasis.
- pmwl
Friday, April 8, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
While in the way of wickedness, it can never be seen as wickedness
Why is it that when caught up in some sin or powerful desire to sin, we are unable to see it for the sinfulness of what we are doing or desiring?
SIN IS ALWAYS BLIND TO ITSELF AS SIN.
This excerpt helps answer this question.
"Untruth remains undiscovered because, as Paul says, truth is held down and suppressed in unrighteousness. Being in untruth conceals untruth. The same applies to evil. It is of the essence of wickedness that it cannot see itself. In this, it resembles stupidity. Stupidity cannot see itself because some unattainable intelligence is needed to see it, to confess knowledge of one’s own ignorance. That wickedness cannot see itself but must be opened by the Pneuma (Holy Spirit) to do so finds striking expression in its constant justification, exculpation, and validation of itself. In its own eyes it is not wickedness. A related fact is that the demonic power behind wickedness shares this fate of invisibility, or better, initiates it. It is a power in the background and not in the objectifiable foreground. People never see the devil even when he has them by the throat."
-Helmut Thielicke, The Evangelical Faith Vol. 3
reposted here from Robert Bennett post on facebook - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 11:03pm.
.
SIN IS ALWAYS BLIND TO ITSELF AS SIN.
This excerpt helps answer this question.
"Untruth remains undiscovered because, as Paul says, truth is held down and suppressed in unrighteousness. Being in untruth conceals untruth. The same applies to evil. It is of the essence of wickedness that it cannot see itself. In this, it resembles stupidity. Stupidity cannot see itself because some unattainable intelligence is needed to see it, to confess knowledge of one’s own ignorance. That wickedness cannot see itself but must be opened by the Pneuma (Holy Spirit) to do so finds striking expression in its constant justification, exculpation, and validation of itself. In its own eyes it is not wickedness. A related fact is that the demonic power behind wickedness shares this fate of invisibility, or better, initiates it. It is a power in the background and not in the objectifiable foreground. People never see the devil even when he has them by the throat."
-Helmut Thielicke, The Evangelical Faith Vol. 3
reposted here from Robert Bennett post on facebook - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 11:03pm.
.
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