Life on a New Level

The 2nd of two excerpts from "The Law of Faith" by Norman Grubb:

We are summoned to step right off the level of the visible, the natural, carnal, and take the giant leap into the invisible.  Witnesses are piled on us to press us into it.  The inward light.  The outward Scriptures.  The historic fact of Christ.  The miracle of changed lives.

               Very well, at last we do it.  We state to ourselves that we have begun life on a new level of reality – in Christ.  We pronounce the new realities to be the new facts of our every-day life.  We are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.  We are crucified with Him and He is living in us.  We have His love, His wisdom, His power.  We are in a mystical union with the Godhead.  We are in a new timeless, spaceless realm; a fourth dimension, where, in the spirit, we reach everywhere, possess all things, and touch all lives or supply all needs by the law of this invisible kingdom, the law of Faith.  And in the magnificence, wonder and glory of this new and full livingness, like Paul, we lose our hold on all the paltriness and trivialities which were once the sum of all life to us, our little bit of earthly dignity, position and reputation, our miserable scraps of earthly possessions, our little world of friends and relatives, even our tenacious hold on our minute particle of physical life.  All these rivulets of the good things of existence are now merged and submerged in the endless sea of ALL in Christ…not lost…merely absorbed, as the light of the night lamp in the morning glory of the sun.  How can we grasp tight and cling to our petty dignities, our few bits of things, our tiny circle of loved ones, when hands and hearts are brim full with the wealth of the universe, the honor of the divine sonship, the whole family in Heaven and earth, and we are busied in praising, blessing and dispensing, in place of coveting, grabbing, and keeping? (p. 62,63)

Faith Is Action!

Recently, in our conversations at church (and during the week) we have been exploring ideas of faith.  What is it?  How does it work?  Why does it matter?  What is its' impact? Etc.  In the next few posts I wish to share a few excerpts from a book I have been reading called "The Law of Faith" by Norman Grubb. 

Faith is inner action.  We must make a transaction of faith, maybe on our knees, maybe by signing name and date against a verse, maybe by public confession or to a friend.  

               But that is only where the battle of present tense faith begins.   What are we to do with that undertow of unbelief which seems to pull us backward, as when a swimmer struggles against an undercurrent?  We must note the following carefully, for it is a point that we have not touched on before.  There are stages in faith;  and we often get into much confusion by attempting to claim as 100% faith what is really only 50% or 25%.  In the language of scripture there is little faith, great faith, and perfect faith.

               Let us examine this more closely.  We have said from the beginning that the God-given faculty of faith is the means by which human beings receive and use all God’s varied gifts.  In other words, faith is not to be confused with mere mental assent to a proposition; that may be called “belief,” for want of a better word, although belief in scripture is usually synonymous with faith.  Nor is faith some vague hope for the future.  Faith is action; the whole man in action, spiritual, mental, physical.  We have abundantly illustrated that by such natural acts as eating and drinking, or the first great act of the awakened spirit in receiving Christ as Savior.  Now, because it is action, it has certainty and not doubt as its motivating power.  That is to say, we perform the act of eating because we are sure of the food, we see it with our eye, we believe it is good for us.  We take the step of humbly accepting Christ, because we are sure of His grace, we believe He died for our sins, we see the statements of Scripture.  Faith therefore always has the thing in its grasp or at its disposal that it acts upon or uses.  That is faith; the having and using the unlimited resources of God in nature and grace.  That is perfect faith. (p. 55, 56)

Is your faith in action?