Morality Well Within Their Own Grasp

In response to yesterday’s devotional, another reader Scotty sent me this quote:

    “You’ll never have real discernment as long as you’re ruled by reasoning. Reasoning is a product of your head; discernment is a product of your Spirit. Your head doesn’t comprehend spiritual things. ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit’ (1 Cor. 2:14)” ~ from The Word for You Today devotional

What a timely quote in lieu of the conversation I had with some folks about understanding God’ will. One writer was taking a philosophical approach to understanding God’s will and heart saying we could never know it. I told him that Scripture completely refutes his statement. He later qualified his statement by saying he was speaking of outside of the Bible. But even then nature speaks of God’s heart; He created this wonderful planet for our living and enjoyment.

What keeps some people from understanding God’s Word? It is simply spiritual blindness; there is a veil on their minds:

    “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:12-18)

Human reasoning acts like a veil to our spiritual mind not allowing us to discern spiritual things. Human reasoning is a valuable tool but it does not provide the discernment so many Christians seek. Even unsaved people seek a morality and many try to explain why they do not need God to be good people. Again spiritual blindness does not allow them to see their own wickedness. Oswald Chambers writes:

    “The majority of people have their morality well within their own grasp; they have no sense of need of the Gospel. It is God Who creates the need of which no human being is conscious until God manifests Himself. Jesus said – ‘Ask, and it shall be given you,’ but God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He withholds, but that that is the way He has constituted things on the basis of Redemption. By means of our asking, God gets processes into work whereby He creates the thing that is not in existence until we do ask. The inner reality of Redemption is that it creates all the time. As the Redemption creates the life of God in us, so it creates the things belonging to that life. Nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of Redemption – it creates and it satisfies.”

Before we get saved our minds are blinded by the god of this world…Satan. Jesus Christ is the Light and it is He who lifts the veil:

    “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-6)

Many of us do not like to think that our minds are influenced by Satan, but even after we are saved we can be spiritually blind.

    “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:5-9)

Whether you are a Christian or an unbeliever, spiritual blindness can affect us all; the difference is that the believer has the ability to spiritually discern the things of God.

How’s your eyesight? Does morality seem oh so close but just out of your reach? Reach for your Bible and open the Gospel of John where it begins:

    “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

Precious believer and unbeliever do not grope in the darkness any longer. Bring the light of men into your darkness.

Go ahead, read the Gospel of John. If you are truly a seeker of the truth you will do so. The only thing you have to lose is your darkness.

Have a blessed weekend and please remember to go to church on Sunday.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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