TOZER DEVOTIONAL Mon, June 23, 2014 Incredible and Impossible What God declares the believing heart confesses without the need of further proof. Indeed, to seek proof is to admit doubt, and to obtain proof is to render faith superfluous. Everyone who possesses the gift of faith will recognize the wisdom of those daring words of one of the early Church fathers: I believe that Christ died for me because it is incredible; I believe that He rose from the dead because it is impossible. That was the attitude of Abraham, who against all evidence waxed strong in faith, giving glory to God. It was the attitude of Anselm, the second Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers of the Christian era, who held that faith must precede all effort to understand. Reflection upon revealed truth naturally follows the advent of faith, but faith comes first to the hearing ear, not to the cogitating mind. The believing man does not ponder the Word and arrive at faith by a process of reasoning, nor does he seek confirmation of faith from philosophy or science. His cry is, O earth, earth, hear the world of the Lord. Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. Is this to dismiss scholarship as valueless in the sphere of revealed religion? By no means. The scholar has a vitally important task to perform within a carefully prescribed precinct. His task is to guarantee the purity of the text, to get as close as possible to the Word as originally given. He may compare Scripture with Scripture until he has discovered the true meaning of the text. But right there his authority ends. He must never sit in judgment upon what is written. He dare not bring the meaning of the Word before the bar of his reason. He dare not commend or condemn the Word as reasonable or unreasonable, scientific or unscientific. After the meaning is discovered, that meaning judges him; never does he judge it. The doctrine of the Trinity is truth for the heart. The spirit of man alone can enter through the veil and penetrate into that Holy of Holies. Let me speak Thee in longing, pleaded Anselm, let me long for Thee in seeking; let me find Thee in love, and love Thee in finding. Love and faith are at home in the mystery of the Godhead. Let reason kneel in reverence outside. Verse By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 Thought Faith does not follow deep mental work or reasoning. No, faith precedes all effort to understand. Prayer Lord, enlighten our understanding a bit so that we realize that we can never arrive at faith by reasoning, nor from philosophy, nor science.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:48:28 +0000
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