Time to Kill some Sacred Cows
For those to whom this is an unknown expression, to 'kill a sacred cow' would be akin to stepping on the 'third rail' of the subway track.... daring to touch that which has been deemed untouchable.... In this case, addressing topics which believers have accepted without question...holding them up to the light of the Word of God to see whether or not they are true.
BLIND FAITH
Have you been taught that you need to have ‘blind faith’ or ‘childlike faith’? Most of us have. Unfortunately, neither of these terms exist in the Bible. Let me even go further – neither CONCEPT exists in the Bible. Are you upset with me yet? Let’s break it down.
We will take ‘blind faith’ first, because it is just far too easy to debunk.
Let’s first define Biblical faith. Far too many Christians go to secular dictionaries to define Biblical terms. That can be an absolutely fatal mistake. At the very least we need to have a concordance, and with so many free resources online there is no excuse anymore (www.blueletterbible.com; www.biblegateway.com and many others).
The transliteration for the Greek word ‘faith’ is pistis. It means a strong conviction of and trust in a person or thing based on knowledge.
Biblical faith (unlike the definition of that word from secular dictionaries), is NOT mere mental assent. It is MUCH MORE. Additionally, Biblical faith is not an emotion. It is not a feeling, nor is it some kind of ‘woo woo’ out in the atmosphere undefinable concept. It is a DECISION to place complete TRUST in someone or something based on KNOWLEDGE (experiential or mental) in or of that person or thing. Does that sound ‘blind’ to you?
For the Christian, faith is not an abstract concept or a ‘tool’ that we pull out of the closet when we are in trouble. Faith is a lifestyle of trust in and therefore dependence upon, God and His Word. Faith is based on knowledge, therefore it cannot be ‘blind’ or baseless, ignorant or mindless for that matter.
BIBLICAL faith is a firm persuasion. If I am persuaded to a belief or opinion, that means I have acquired some knowledge (whether experiential or mental) that has drawn me to think a certain way. BIBLICAL faith is faith IN a person or a thing based on knowledge.
Hebrews 11:1 (NASB) “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” ASSURANCE. CONVICTION. Both of these concepts require a basis – we don’t have ‘blind assurance’ nor ‘blind convictions’. If I have a conviction about something or an assurance regarding something, it is because I have knowledge (either experiential or mental) that has PERSUADED me to have this assurance and/or conviction.
So, can we once and for all please throw out this unbiblical term, ‘blind faith’ and stop extolling it as a Christian ‘virtue’??? If we have blind faith, then we are to be pitied, not exalted.
We are often told that as believers, we must have ‘childlike faith’. This ‘childlike faith’ is equated to unquestioning belief (which is just another way of saying ‘blind faith’). Is this what Jesus was talking about? Let’s look at the passages cited for this: Matthew 18:1-4; Luke 18:15-17 and Mark 10:13-16.
In Matthew 18:1-4 the context is that the disciples asked Jesus who would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus answer was "unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this little child is greatest in heaven.”
That the disciples would even ask who would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven reveals that their hearts were not quite right. Underlying the question seems to be the desire to BE that one who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, especially given Jesus’ answer to them that they needed to turn (repent) and ‘become like little children’ in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, never mind attain any kind of stature there. More on this in a minute.
Jesus’ next statement addresses the disciples’ question: it is the one who HUMBLES HIMSELF like this little child is the one who is greatest in heaven. HUMILITY. The Kingdom of God is always the opposite of the world – our goal is not to be exalted, superior, great. Our goal is just the opposite: to be humble (Matthew 20:25-28). And let me just say that Biblical humility is NOT the ‘I’m just a worm…I’m so unworthy” “poor, poor pitiful me” view of ourselves. That’s NOT what God says about us! Biblical humility is not seeking to exalt oneself (by being greatest in the Kingdom?!), but also not demeaning oneself either (which is actually a false humility – a whole ‘nother teaching!). Just be YOU! Don’t seek position. Don’t elevate OR denigrate yourself! Just be YOU!
Now let’s address the first part of Jesus’ statement, that we must become like little children in order to ENTER the Kingdom of Heaven. This part of the statement relates directly to the passages in Luke and Mark because entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven is gained by receiving it. To this Jesus said: ‘Whoever does not RECEIVE the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’ What does that mean?
Please note that the tense of this verb (receive) in the Greek is aorist, which means it is a one-time action, not a continuous action. We receive the Kingdom of God when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Once. That is our entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Once we enter, then we are in. Again, this is a one-time event.
Jesus did not say, ‘unless you become a child in your faith’. He said ‘unless you become like a child.’ While I don’t think He was specifically addressing faith (or He would have used the word ‘faith’), I do understand that the way we enter/receive the Kingdom of God is by faith through grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), so in that sense I would concede that a faith which is like that of a child could be construed here. But I would also say that it is much MORE than faith being addressed.
So the question becomes: why did Jesus use children as an example for how we are to receive the Kingdom of God?
Think about how children come to one they particularly love – the run to that person and basically throw themselves on them or jump into their lap. They want to be close. They want to be held. They want to give and receive love. I really think, after all the commentaries and theology and opinions and interpretations of men, this is what it comes down to --- in order to enter the Kingdom of God (be born-again) we have to throw ourselves upon Jesus – in humility, in poverty of Spirit (Matthew 5:3), knowing that we cannot do anything to earn His love or to merit salvation, but also knowing that He loves us so much that He paid the ultimate penalty for our sins so we could be restored to the family. I really do think it is this simple.
This childlike ATTITUDE /HEART of complete trust in and dependence upon God as our good Father who loves us and always gives us good things (Matthew 7:11), is one that we should always seek to maintain, and yet we are to grow up into Christ (Eph 4:11-16); we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We are to GROW UP in Him. We are to mature in faith.
I go back to the Biblical definition of faith discussed in the article on ‘blind faith’. Faith is based on knowledge, both experiential and mental. Our faith in God and His Word is based on His character as revealed both in the written Word and in His faithfulness to us in our life experience and that of others. As we gain more experiential knowledge, our faith grows. But also, as we have deeper revelation and understanding and experience of God’s love for us, our faith grows because ‘faith works by love’ (Galatians 5:6).
So, yes, we should keep that childlike attitude/heart that causes us to run to Jesus. That causes us to just want to BE with Him because He loves us and we love Him. That causes us to depend on Him and not on ourselves, other people or the world. And yet we must also grow in our faith and not remain ‘children’…not remain immature. We must take hold of the authority Jesus gave to us on this earth to bring the Kingdom of God wherever He sends us. Yet the paradox is, the more we grow in our faith, the more we realize our utter dependency on God. Our heart/attitude towards God should always remain ‘childlike’ – trusting, dependent, causing us to run to Him just because we love Him and He us – and our faith should mature as we grow up into Him.
CHILDLIKE FAITH
Is that true? Actually no. You see, if you are born again, then the truth is that yes, you WERE a sinner, and yes, you WERE saved by grace (Eph 2:8). But NOW you are no longer a sinner. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21) and are a saint ( Rom 15:25)! . Do you sin? Yes. Otherwise 1 John 1:9 would be unnecessary. But the question is: what is your IDENTITY and your LIFESTYLE? Sinner or saint? You cannot be both simultaneously.
Let’s look at these terms in the original language:
Saint = hagios = holy, set apart, devoted to God
Sinner = harmatolos = ungodly, one who habitually sins, unbeliever
It seems pretty clear even just by the definitions of these terms that you cannot be both at the same time. You cannot be both set apart to God and ungodly. They are polar opposites.
Let’s take this apart in detail…
Behavior (lifestyle) flows from identity. I am not declared righteous before God because I behave righteously. I am declared righteous before God because of what Jesus purchased for me on the cross. Righteousness is the gift of God. It is the legal standing of being in right relation to and in covenant with, God. And it is because we are POSITIONALLY righteous (2 Cor 5:21) by faith in Christ, not in ourselves, that we can LIVE righteously.
Similarly, it is because we ARE saints, set apart by and for God in Jesus Christ, that we can LIVE holy lives. So many people get it backwards. They think they must first LIVE perfectly righteous and holy lives in order to be proclaimed as such. In fact, they are trying to EARN right standing with God by their WORKS (behavior). This, we know, cannot be done. But sadly, so many Christians fall into this lie. Why? Because they do not believe the love of God for them, because they do not believe that Jesus really did ‘do it all’ in our place on the cross, because they do not understand that God’s agape is nothing like human love, because they do not believe that ‘nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus’, because they have believed the world’s definition of ‘saint’ as one who has to be proclaimed as such posthumously by the church because they lived such a holy life…..and then when confronted with the truth of the Word of God, they say, ‘yes but’, and choose to continue believing the lie… there are many excuses for holding on to this lie of the enemy that does nothing but steal from you and keep you from the abundant life in Christ that is truly yours. Why continue to cooperate in your own destruction?
It is because of who we ARE in Christ that we can live holy and pleasing to God. Identity drives behavior. You can tell who I am at my core by my lifestyle. If I steal it is because I am a thief. If I am generous with my time and finances, it is because I am a giver. You might argue that my behavior over time has caused me to become identified as a thief, a giver, etc. But what is the root of that behavior? My heart. What's in my heart? Who I believe I am. Remember, we are talking about LIFESTYLE here, not occasional behavior.
This is not a technicality. This is a critical distinction.
If I identify myself as a ‘sinner’ (whether or not I attach the caveat ‘saved by grace’ to it or not), then I am saying that my lifestyle is sin. You can tell who I am by the way I behave. So, if by my behavior (my lifestyle), I show that my identity is ‘sinner’, then I am in fact, not saved at all. 1 John 3:6 (AMP) says ‘ No one who abides in Him [who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin. No one who habitually sins has seen Him or known Him.’
The key here is HABITUALLY. Some translations just say “No one who sins” rather than ‘no one who habitually sins”. In this case, we must examine the grammar. The word in the original Greek for ‘sins’ is in the present tense. That indicates ongoing, continuous action. So, he is not saying that if you sin occasionally you are not saved, or you lose your salvation every time you sin and have to ‘walk the aisle’ every Sunday. Neither is he talking about having a stronghold of sin in a particular area of your life that you are having difficulty overcoming and thus continue to fall into. What He is saying is that if you sin habitually, continuously…if your total lifestyle is sin, then that behavior, that lifestyle, is showing that you do not know God, that your heart has not been changed because your lifestyle is ungodly.
Although you, as a born again Christian, may still sin occasionally, your IDENTITY is no longer that of a ‘sinner’. It is not your habit of life. You do not live a lifestyle of sin.
Neither are you an ‘improved version’ of a sinner. That person is dead (Rom 6). You are a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17). “New” does not mean improved, made-over or patched-up. It means brand new, having never existed before. Completely new. Blank slate new. The blackboard of your life has not just been erased, there is a whole new blackboard! Our spirit has been ‘born again’, God has given us a new heart, and placed His Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit prompts us to desire the things of God, to be holy, to obey and to please Him. Of course our soul (mind, will, emotions) does NOT get instantly reborn, as well we know! That is what the lifelong process of ‘sanctification’ is all about… renewing our mind with the Word of God, allowing it to change the way we think from the world’s way to God’s way. But our ‘inner man’ our ‘true essence’ is spirit. And that is the part of us that was recreated in the image of Christ when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
When we think of ourselves as a ‘sinner’, not only do we give ourselves permission to sin but we diminish what Jesus did on the cross. We are in fact choosing to remain in our ‘old’ identity and choosing to not embrace our new identity in Christ. Think about that for a minute. That is not humility. It is a tragedy.
On the other hand, when we think of ourselves as the righteousness of God in Christ, we embrace our new identity that Jesus bought for us on the cross and give ourselves permission to live holy and righteous lives (not in our own strength, still, only by and through the Holy Spirit and being in the Word and fellowship with the Lord of course!).
It is actually a false humility that is behind the proclamation ‘Well, I’m just a sinner saved by grace”. It may sound (and feel) like that person is so humble because “Jesus is so awesome and I am so worthless”, but that person is self-deceived. Yes, Jesus IS awesome, but no one is worthless. We are all unworthy of His sacrifice and love in the sense that we could never do anything good enough to earn salvation. But that is different than saying we are ‘worthless’. We are of inestimable worth to God. We have been bought with a price … the precious blood of Jesus. YOU are worth Jesus leaving the majesty of heaven, taking on human form, enduring rejection, torture, physical death, temporary separation from the Father…. Would He do that if you were worthless? So, what that expression of false humility most frequently serves to do is to excuse the choice to sin. It is another way of saying, ‘Don’t expect too much out of me….” It is merely a Christianized version of a victim mentality. We are overcomers, not victims!
Rom 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” While we WERE STILL sinners. We are no longer sinners.
Let me ask you a question: Did Paul EVER address a letter to ‘the sinners saved by grace at XYZ city’? NO! It was to the church or to the saints. Look at Ephesians: To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus... 1 Corinthians: To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling…
So, if God calls you a saint, why do you call yourself a sinner?
How we identify ourselves determines how we live. If we desire to walk in the fullness of all that God has for us to be and to do on this earth, then it STARTS with embracing our new and true identity – I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am a saint, a holy one, set apart by and for God. I will live in accordance with my identity. What about you? If you are taking your identity from any place other than the Word of God, I challenge you to begin to ask the Lord to show you who you REALLY are. The first two chapters of Ephesians is a great place to start.