Man's critical choice of faith

Man’s critical choice of faith

Another critical choice that every individual has to make is that of choosing whether to have faith in the wisdom of men or, having faith in the power of God. There is no correlation between the wisdom of men and the power of God for thus says the Lord; “I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.” God does not share His glory with machines, robots and the science of men because, there is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the way of death. On the other hand, the way of God is narrow and difficult but leads to life, and there are only few who will find it. So let us not make the mistake of associating man’s progress in science with God.

From the very inception, man has been given the prerogative and the power of choice to choose so that in the final analysis he/she has no one to blame but him/herself. This started from the Garden of Eden when the Lord gave Adam the choice to choose between all the trees that were in the garden including the tree of life which would have him to live forever, or the choice of partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which would cause his death on the day that he partake of it.

The rest of the story we know because, we are all paying the consequences of this decision which was made by the first Adam. Then, when the Lord chose the children of Israel as His chosen people He gave them the choice saying; “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.” Then He went on to say; “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you, life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19)..

Now in our New Testament dispensation with the advent of the last Adam who paid the price for the transgression of the first Adam who chose death over life, we now have the choice to choose between the life which is in accordance to the flesh which we inherited from the first Adam or the life which is in accordance to the Spirit which we inherited from the last Adam and so, we have been duly admonished saying, "For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1Corinthians 15:21-22).

So now, we have the contrast between the wisdom of men and the power of God. The same way we have been duly admonished saying; “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:16-17).

In like manner, our faith should either be in the power of God which is the way of life in the Spirit or, having faith in the wisdom of men which is the way of life according to the flesh and so the crux of the matter is, faith in the power of God is contrary to having faith in the wisdom of men because, they are contrary to each other and therefore, has absolutely no affiliation or cohesion.

For example, faith which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen is demonstrated and manifested in the application of vaccines and boosters as the solution to curb and defeat the deadly Corona Virus pandemic.  And therefore, the substance of man’s faith in the wisdom of men relating to this pandemic is vaccines and boosters.

 On the other hand, believers are not to have their faith in the wisdom of men but rather to have faith in the power of God, so the way believers ought to express their faith in the power of God is diametrically opposite to the way one expresses his/her faith in the wisdom of men. The way one expresses his/her faith in the power of God in relation to this pandemic and everything else it is to believe that God is who He says He is because, without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Believers therefore, have the alternative to exercise their faith in this time of global pandemic in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men and the way this faith is administered and demonstrated is by having complete trust and confidence in the power of God because, He endowed His disciple with power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease (Matthew 10:1).

Believers have also been given the antidote to counteract every type of situation he/she faces in life by applying the formula which states; “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:13-15).

Prayer and fasting is the remedy that Jesus Christ gave to His followers to combat all manner of challenges that they may have to face in life and He is displeased with those of us who are weak because when the disciples could not cure an epileptic who suffered severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water, Jesus said to them, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me."

Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:17-21).

And so, the admonition to all professing believers is, “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” But the crux of the matter is, God created us as free moral agents not to choose for ourselves what is right and what is wrong or to walk after the imagination of one’s evil heart: But He created us as free moral agents to choose between good and evil, between being slaves of righteousness or slaves of sin, between being citizens of the kingdom of light or citizens of the kingdom of darkness, between having faith in the power of God, or having faith in the wisdom of men.

The choice is for every individual to make because ultimately, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. There is absolutely no excuse and let us not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

It is imperative therefore, that we examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith, we should all test ourselves, get to know ourselves and know that Jesus Christ the Creator of heaven and earth is in us unless we are disqualified and allow science to defile the temple of the Holy Spirit.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph