Got It All Figured Out

Good Evening,

This is a deviation from the usual time that I post my blog.  All day today I've been attending a political event and will also be doing the same tomorrow.  So, I've waited until tonight to have my personal devotional time.  Not the best practice, but as I'm sure is the case in your life, "some days are just like that".

The text for today is 1 Corinthians 2:14-16.   Here it is in The Message version:

14-16 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.

There are people who say they will not come to Jesus Christ until they have all their questions about Him and the Christian faith resolved.  More than likely, those people will never come to Christ.

Let me explain why I believe this.  Great amounts of factual knowledge never brought anyone to salvation through Jesus Christ.  An evangelist almost never "reasons" someone into being saved, although that is not because our faith is unreasonable.

First of all, some people are disingenuous when they say that they'll come to Christ when they get all their questions answered.  They use this as an excuse, to keep Jesus Christ "out of their hair".  At their core, they are rebellious, not wanting to submit to anyone, much less to a God.  They are their own god, and that suits them just fine.

Second, while ours is a defensible faith and a reasonable faith, a person can never get enough "facts" to enable them to avoid "the leap of faith".  God planned it that way.  The scriptures say that "without faith, it is impossible to please Him; for he who comes to God must believe that He IS and the He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).  God desires that we trust and depend on Him, not on facts we can amass.

This is why the Holy Spirit is crucial to our coming to Jesus Christ.  Unless the Holy Spirit draws a person toward Christ, we in our unregenerate state are unable to receive Him.  God has promised that the person, however, who diligently seeks Him will surely find Him.  God doesn't play "gotcha".

So, what is it that the Holy Spirit uses to draw a person to Jesus Christ?  From my observation, it is the love and grace of God, demonstrated in His forgiveness and restoration through His Son, to which we are drawn.  Factual, "empirical" evidence is insufficient.  The Law is certainly a distinct turn-off.  (No one is attracted to the "thou shalt nots"!)  The Law is useful to the extent that it shows us what sin is (Romans 3:20, 7:7); but, it does not redeem or restore.

Do you remember the extravagant woman, in Luke 7:36-50?  You remember!  The one who crashed the dinner party, poured expensive ointment on Jesus' feet, crying hysterically, kissing His feet...
Who was she?  What drew her to Jesus? Did she come to Him because she had studied the facts and had it all figured out?  Doubtful. Scripture does not identify her other than to imply that she was well-known, infamous even.  Either she was someone who was keenly aware of her desperate need for a Savior; or, she had already encountered Jesus and was expressing her boundless love and gratitude. I'll bet it was the latter.  I'll bet it was that she had been made spiritually alive, encountered God's unreasonable grace, as typified by Jesus' words to her there at the house of Simon the Pharisee:

"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

 (vs. 50)

Not "your intellect".  Not "your proofs".  Not "your womanly charms". Not your "good works". Faith.  Boom!
Senseless, isn't it?  Silly, perhaps? Unfathomable, no?  "Unfair" - - - totally.  The woman in Luke 7, probably a prostitute (she was certainly shunned), appeared to be in no way deserving of the grace of Jesus Christ; and, she knew that right well.  She had "spiritual discernment" about her own, broken condition and about the priceless gift of grace she had been given.

Oh that we could all be like her, realizing every day our desperate need for more and more and more of Jesus!

Father, I thank you that I don't have it all figured out - - - and never will, unless You choose to reveal all to Your children when we are with you face-to-face, forever.  I imagine You will have us walking by faith for all eternity, for that is the way You have given us here.  If our faith pleases You here, how much more will that faith relationship be intensified in Heaven?  Father, teach us to every day tap into Your love and grace, not only for our own sakes, but even more importantly for Your kingdom. It is Your love that draws people to salvation (2 Corinthians 5:14).  May we show it, passionately, to this lost, dying world.  In Jesus' name, amen.