THE LAW OF FAITH

"Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law" (Romans 3:21-28, NASB)."

Devotion 21 of 30

FAITH IS GREATER THAN REASON

Reason is a marvelous faculty possessed by mankind. It sets humanity apart from the rest of creation. Made in the image of God, man can think, ponder, plan, and choose. He has a capacity to understand or comprehend.

However, reason, apart from grace, cannot find God, or discern Him as He wants to be discerned. Zophar was correct in his observation, even though he applied it wrongly to Job: "Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?" (Job 11:7). Solomon confirmed the observation. "Man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end" (Eccl 3:11). And again "Man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, 'I know," he cannot discover" (Eccl 8:17).

Time would fail us to elaborate on the inferiority of human reason. Apart from Christ, and at its apex, it is "foolishness with God" (1 Cor 3:19). With all of his purported wisdom and learning, it is still true--"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9). But this is not the case with faith!

When there is no earthly reason for believing, faith can still lay hold of the promises of God. The law of faith is transcendent to the limited law of reason. That is why it is said of our father Abraham, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God" (Rom 4:18-20, NIV).

Mere human reason would have pointed to the age of Abraham and concluded the promise was not true. It would have pondered the womb of Sarah and determined that what was promised could not come to pass. If Abraham were living in our day, could you imagine what an obstetrician would have said concerning the possibility of him and Sarah having a child. And what of the statisticians, which contemporary religious leaders are so prone to consult? What statistical possibilities do you suppose they would have shared with father Abraham? Praise God, Abraham believed without consulting with anyone but God. That is what faith does.

Abraham did not resort to reason, but to faith! The law of faith does not require evidence, but a promise! It can rise higher than reason, see more than the naked eye, and reach further than logic! It rests in God, not in the attestation of the senses, or the confirmation of human logic. Faith is willing to risk everything on the Word of the Lord! It sees the superiority of God to apparently impossible circumstances. It may not look possible for a nation to walk through the Red Sea, but if God tells them to do it, they can (Ex 14:15-16)! It may not look reasonable for rivers of water to come out of a wilderness rock, but if God says it will, the people can prepare to drink (Ex 17:6)! It may violate the rules of astronomy and reason to think the sun can stand still, but if God tells Joshua to command it to happen, he will proceed (Josh 10:12-13).

Faith is superior to reason! In its presence logic shrinks and swivels! This is because faith rests in God and His unquestionable power! Those who shine the light upon the human capacity to reason do us no service! It was human reason that brought our race down! It was reasoning that led Israel to fear taking the promised land. It was also human reasoning that led men to crucify the lord of glory!

This does not mean faith is UNreasonable--God forbid! It does mean that faith lifts us to a higher plain of reason--one that is related more to Deity than humanity. Further, faith does not depend upon reason, but the testimony of God. The "law of faith" is superior to reason--human reason--, however, in every way. Faith has a reasoning capacity of its own. "If God said it," faith reasons, "it must be true. I will depend upon it, and shape my life around it!"

PRAYER POINT: Father, thank You in Jesus' name for showing us the poverty of human reason, and the glory of Your own promises. Thank you for faith that makes Your promises reasonable to the heart, even though they are not so to the natural mind.

-- Tomorrow: FAITH IS SUPERIOR TO EMOTION --