What is spiritual blindness?

Spiritual blindness. What is it and why does it occur? The 1st aspect of this has to do with our being creatures (finite) and not the Creator (who is infinite). This is not a blindness per se but more a limitation as created beings. The 2nd deals with our rebellion to our creaturehood i.e. our limits.

 

1. We are finite (limited) in our understanding and do not know everything there is to know, and must know, in order to make the right and best choices - though we often think and act as if we do. 

Only God is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and everywhere present. These characteristics enable Him to know the right and best course at all times, in all things, with the unlimited ability to carry it out. We, on the other hand, are not all-knowing and do not know the best course without His wisdom, enabling (power), and direction. 

2. We must recognize we are in rebellion against God, the Source of all knowledge and understanding. We have and continue to turn away, cut ourselves off, and disconnect from Him whenever we seek the right course on our own - i.e., when we seek to "be like God" knowing good and evil; right from wrong - without His direction. 

Adam and Eve choosing to eat from the forbidden tree clearly demonstrated they did not know right from wrong, or have infinite knowledge, otherwise they would not have eaten from it i.e. it was forbidden for a good reason. A reason they clearly did not understand or feel the need to agree with. 

We often choose the wrong course, believing (trusting) we are right. We seek to take the role of God - i.e., to be like God in knowing right from wrong - when we clearly are not God - demonstrated by all the pain and suffering of humanity as the result of making the wrong choice.

Only God has full knowledge of good and evil i.e., He knows all things. In other words, only he knows perfectly the best course of action to take in any and all situations. We do not. 

Because He does we must seek and follow him - His directions - to know what is truly good and evil, and not seek to ¹determine this on our own. This is what Adam tried to do in the Garden of Eden when he ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

For us to receive understanding and direction from God, we must do the opposite of what Adam sought to do when he ate from the forbidden tree. We must humble ourselves i.e., accept our limitations and admit we are not God who knows all things. ¹We do not know right from wrong without God revealing it to us. Whatever understanding we have of right from wrong only occurs because God has told or shown us. 

As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, we are to...Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, - that He alone knows all things - and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

¹We do not see how arrogant and flagrant a violation of reality this truly is - unless God reveals it to us. In fact we sympathize with Adams choice. We are rebels and in rebellion to God who alone knows right from wrong. 

If Adam and Eve had made the right choice and rejected the serpent's proposal, they would have stepped onto the right road of knowing (understanding) good and evil the right way, i.e., in faith-filled obedience to God vs rebellious distrust of Him. The issue wasn't that God didn't want them to know good and evil, but to know it the right way, i.e., under His care and guidance, not on their own.

For a discussion on how God created us with choice before we rebelled against Him, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Though overtime through trial-and-error we learn there is design in the physical universe and to act accordingly e.g. we learn that going without air or water will eventually result in our death or putting our hand in the fire will result in our getting burned. This article is addressing moral and spiritual understanding.

Advancing in pain

The age old question is if God is good why is there so much pain. 

But maybe the answer is not what we usually think. Maybe God allows pain to remain to humble us and help us see our need for Him, with the long term goal of our spiritual advancement. 

While pain is ultimately the fruit of our rebellious distrust of God, He uses it. If God could not bring good out of evil, evil would not exist. Christ's death would be the ultimate example of this profound paradox. 

Acts 2:23 "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."

Therefore we must not allow it to discourage or shame us, or ¹cause us to fall into self pity e.g. "You're a loser! Why keep trying? Just quit!..." etc. 

But we must embrace pain and embrace God and His love for us in our pain and failures for our advancement to occur (God is for us, not against us. Nothing separates us from God's love...Rom 8:31-39). 

"...Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us..." - Romans 5:2-5 ESV 

As long as we look at failure and mistakes as losing and not stepping stones to winning, we will not embrace them with thanks, learn from them, and let them advance our maturity and walk with God. When we recognize or failures and mistakes are a key to our spiritual advancement, we embrace them with gratitude and experience more of God's grace, mercy, and love. 

Having our identity/value rooted in God as the bedrock of our existence - and the very Source of love itself - frees us from seeing failure as loosing. The whole mindset of the Bible is that ²failure is a necessary stepping stone to progress and maturity. 

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence..." - Jas 1: 2-8. J B Phillips translation. 

This is foundational to understanding and embracing pain instead of a avoiding it. 

The importance of humility

Another vital key to the value of failure is humility. To understand we will never reach the maximum potential we were created for without God (which failure helps us to see) causes us to look to Him in greater dependence. Greater dependence on God as the Source of life, love, and all things is the essence of humility. Only through humility can we reach the potential God intends for us and designed us for.

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/

grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here

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Footnotes:

¹nor let pain embittered us. At the root of anger is the belief we know better than God what is best for us and/or the world. Yet we are finite, not all knowing or all powerful. Only God is infinite in all things. 

And not only so but he is also all loving. He not only knows what's best (all-knowing) and does what's best (all-powerful) but wants it for us also (all-loving).

But many object and say "how can God be all-loving and continue to allow all the pain in the world?" What's our proof He is all loving? He became a man just like us and fully embraced our pain so that we might ultimately be free of it forever.

²This is contingent on our seeing failure as a means by which God can advance us. If we do not, it will embitter us.

3 realities most ignore

Three primary realities are absolutes. To ignore them without consequence is unavoidable and leads us away from our maximum flourishing i.e., from reaching our greatest potential ¹for the glory of God. If we remain on this path of denial, it ultimately leads us down a path of destruction. 

1. Everyone - atheists included - operates by faith. 

Because we all are finite and do not have infinite knowledge, no one can know with absolute certainty whether our views or conduct are or aren't on the right track. To know and live correctly, we must confide in the Source of infinite knowledge, life, love, and all things - i.e. the Creator and Designer of everything. 

For related discussions, go to:

The necessity of faith in an infinite God.

The essence of relationships

The necessity of dependence

2. The object of our faith is more critical than faith itself. 

Because we are finite in our knowledge and ability, we can pursue a course of action we believe is life-giving when it is actually harmful - at least long-term if not in the short run. This results in harm, destruction, and eventual death. 

To use an analogy, we may consume food we believe is life-giving when in reality it is harmful and life taking - i.e. toxic. Our belief, no matter how strong, does not change the nature or harmful effects of what we are consuming.

The problem isn't our faith but what we place our faith in. 

3. Everything is designed to operate a certain way i.e., there is design.

Because of this, there are always destructive consequences if something or someone operates contrary to its design. 

This is why following God's law is vital. For example, in science, we refer to the laws of nature. Why? Because when tested and applied, these laws or principles always result in the same outcome. This is evidence of design (and a Designer). For us - and any other created thing - to go contrary to its design results in things breaking down and eventually self-destructing.

There are also laws in the metaphysical (non-material) world, since we are not only physical but also spiritual beings created in the image of God, who is Spirit.

Laws are the tracks or guard rails by which something (or someone) is designed to operate. If we ignore our design and these laws, things do not work properly and to their maximum potential. As a result, we suffer loss, breakdown, and eventually self-destruction. 

Just like a train needs tracks to run on for maximum performance, so it is with all of creation; from humans, who are the most complex, to the smallest elements of the quantum world. Everything has a design and purpose, which is to operate according to God's design and intent.

Only the Designer knows perfectly what that is. We can experiment, test, and discover how things are designed to function only because design exists and is observable. 

But to know our design and purpose, we must confide in the Designer, heed what He says and observe what he's done, as well as observe how things function. 

How? 

God actually took on human form and lived among us, living out God's design and giving us direction through His words and example. These things have also been put in writing and left for us to study and understand.

¹For a discussion on how we are created for joy in God and His glory, click here.

For a discussion on how God's greatest glory and our greatest good are tied together and not at odds, click here.

Free will or free choice?

While our choices are ¹free and 100% ours (i.e. we freely choose to do whatever we want) our ³wills are not. Our wills are tied to our desires. 

To say it another way, our "chooser" is not broken but our "wanter" is.

²And our wants (desires) dictate what we ¹choose to pursue. 

If we desire (want) the wrong things we we choose to pursue the wrong things. 

And our desires are tied to what we value. The more we value something, the more we desire it and the harder we pursue it. 

And we value only what we ⁴see as valuable. 

If ⁴we are blind to seeing God's true value, worth, beauty, wisdom, glory, majesty, and power as our infinite loving Creator - the Source of life, love, and all things - we will never pursue Him as the infinitely valuable and significant being that He is. We will desire and pursue created things and beings instead. 

Why? ⁵We are like God and created to enjoy Him who is most valuable, beautiful, intelligent, glorious, majestic, and loving. Absent a relationship with Him - the Source of life, love, and all things - we go after the next best thing... His creation to fill the void of His absence. Particularly other image bearers (you and I) who by design are most like God and have the greatest capacity to love and reflect him most when in union with Him through Christ.

What about our feeling significant, important, or valuable? Does it matter? If so, why?

Because God is significant, important, and valuable, we are must be like Him in order to be able to appreciate and enjoy these qualities in Him. 

We are told in Jas 4: 

[5] "...Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”"?  

What kind of spirit has God put within us? A spirit that longs (is passionate) for infinite love i.e. God Himself. Love that can only be satisfied fully by the Source of love - our Creator; not by creation.  

He will not share in (is jealous over) our pursuit or loyalty to any other "lover" because He knows there is no other true lover who can fill this need and desire for love that He designed to be filled only by Him. This is "the spirit He has made to dwell in us."

Not because He needs our love but because we need His. This wasn't happenstance. He designed us this way. He is the Creator, we are created...but unlike the rest of creation we are created in His image. Therefore He loves us and desires we experience Him to the maximum of our capacity as bearers of His image. 

Everything we seek for life outside of God is temporary and comes up short of filling our sense of value-worth (glory). GOD alone is the Source of infinite love. To experience His love to the maximum of our capacity, we must give Him all our loyalty and faithfulness. Otherwise we will never experience His love as we were designed to, but instead we will pursue love outside of Him.  

Where does this need/desire for significance (glory) come from? Click here. 

For a discussion on the necessity of choice click here.

For a further discussion on how our "wanter" is broken and not our "chooser" click here. 

For a discussion on ability vs responsibility click here

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¹And our chooses are ours alone. No one else's, including God. Therefore we are fully accountable for what we value and chose to pursue. 

²Note the progression of the "ands" above. Each deals with a significant shift, but also a vital connection to the previous and following "and" statement. To get to the 2nd "and" you must acknowledge the 1st. And to get to the 3rd we must see the 2nd. 

*our wants (desires) dictate what we ¹choose to pursue. 

*our desires are tied to what we value

*we value only what we ⁴see as valuable. 

³Is God free to do whatever he wants? 100%!  But since God is holy He only wants (desires-wills) and freely choses righteousness i.e. His character or nature dictates His will/desires.

 For a fuller discussion click here.

⁴To see truly, the Spirit of God must reside in us. And that only occurs after we've been "born again" i.e. after we are spiritually regenerated. 

"Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (1st) he cannot see the kingdom of God.” " John 3:30

Before we are born again we are blind to spiritual things - i.e. things pertaining to God's kingdom. The Bible says we are dead to God. Last I checked dead people don't see very well 😉! 

⁵Why does our feeling and desire for significance, importance, and value matter? 

We are like God who is significant, important, or valuable. We must be like Him so we can appreciate and enjoy these qualities in Him. 

God's  significance, importance, and value (glory) are the foundation for ours. Our recognizing this about God is essential to experiencing our own value. The more we see his glory the more we experience our glory in Him. 

Trials, tests, temptations

What is the difference between trials (or tests) and temptation? 

All our internal turmoil, anger, anxieties, fears, etc., come from the threat of losing something we believe we must have to experience a sense of significance, importance, meaning, value, and love, etc. 

The more we see and experience God as the source of our worth - i.e., our glory - the less internal turmoil we have. Instead, we have peace that is beyond understanding - i.e., peace that makes no sense in light of our circumstances or struggles. 

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” - Jesus - John 16:33 

Every test/trial becomes a temptation. Any change in your circumstances - whether good or bad - is a test/trial. If you fall into poverty or receive great riches, adversity or prosperity, success or failure, it tests your faith. i.e., whether you will be drawn away from God by the successes or struggles, or to God in greater trust and dependence.

Anything we pursue - be it praise, money, fame, recreation, physical intimacy, entertainment, etc. - which becomes the basis for our worth, significance, importance, value, approval, acceptance, etc., more than God - is our god, i.e., an idol. 

Tests will push you to become a better or worse person based on how you handle them, i.e., with humility or pride; in gratitude and greater dependence on God, or as an opportunity to become more independent from God.

Either way, you will not stay the same. Trials are opportunities for growth or distraction, making you better or worse, grateful or bitter.

Jas 1:2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed (i.e. humbly dependent on God), not deficient in any way. - The Message translation

The only legitimate reason for any pursuit is to honor and glorify God, not advance our personal agenda. It is also in pursuit of God's glory that we find our true and greatest worth and joy. 

Why some are disillusioned with God

Whether God answers our request to be healed or delivered from difficult circumstances depends on why we are asking. If we wish to be healed (delivered) so we can better serve him, he will say yes. If we wish to be healed so we can ¹"spend it on ourselves," he will not. 

Our challenge is knowing the difference. If we think we are asking for the right reason and are not, we assume He does not care or love us when we don't get the answer we want. Then we become disillusioned with God. But this is our shortcoming, not God's. 

We incorrectly think God is a celestial Santa Claus or our heavenly servant or butler instead of the all-wise, loving, infinitely beautiful, and powerful Creator and Sustainer of all creation and ²life, to be adored and honored, not someone we can control and use for our ends. 

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." Jas 4:3 

Are love and life connected? How? Click here for a further discussion.

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Footnotes: 

¹ James 4:1-10  

[1] What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? [2] You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. 

You do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

[4] You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? 

world = the systematic worldwide pursuit by all humanity to find ²life in or through created things - such as wealth, fame, power, praise from others, sensual pleasures, etc. - instead of from and in the Creator (Rom 1:21-23) 

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

Passionate pursuit of created things for ²life instead of the Creator is like a husband pursuing a woman other than his wife to fulfill his physical passions. In doing so, he is unfaithful to his wife and has made himself her antagonist. 

[5] Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 

What kind of spirit has God put within us?  A spirit that longs (is passionate) for infinite love. Love that can only be satisfied by the Source of love - our Creator.  He will not share in our pursuit or loyalty to any other "lover" because He knows there are no other true lovers. Everything we seek for life is temporary and comes up short. GOD alone is the Source of infinite love and were designed for infinite, eternal love. To experience His love we must give Him all our loyalty and faithfulness, or we will pursue love outside of Him. 

[6] But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Pride causes us to seek love independent of God which is an invitation for the evil one to get a foothold in our lives. Humility shuts the door on his foot and opens the door to grace. When we open the door to grace, we invite God in.  

[8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and HE will exalt you." 

Want to see God move on your behalf? Humbly recognize He alone is infinite ²life and the only true satisfier of hearts longing for love. He knows best what we need most; we don't. 

²Are love and life connected? How? Click here for a further discussion.

Is there Order and design?

Even though things are broken, there is still order in the world. The universe is not random chaos. Most things remain predictable; clear patterns and design persist. If that weren’t true, the scientific method itself would be impossible—it would be a meaningless, useless myth that we should abandon. Yet we use it consistently, knowing it works.

Moreover, to call something “broken,” we must have a standard of what “whole” looks like. The very idea of brokenness depends on comparing it to an original order or design. Something can only be broken if it was first ordered (or designed) to function a certain way. 

If we see a watch lying on the ground with its glass cracked and hands frozen, we instantly recognize it as “broken” only because we already know what a properly working watch is supposed to look like and do: keep time accurately, with all gears turning together in precise harmony. 

If there were no such thing as an intended, designed order for a watch—if watches were just random lumps of metal that sometimes ticked and sometimes didn’t—no one would ever say “this watch is broken.” They’d just say, “This is a watch.” 

The concept of “broken” only makes sense against the backdrop of an original “right” or “ordered” state. 

The same applies to the world: we can call parts of it broken only because, under the cracks, we still see an underlying pattern and design that things are meant to follow.

For a discussion on violating design, click here

For a discussion on our world being full of design and beauty, click here

For a discussion about how Christ is our Designer, click here

For a discussion on celebrating our design and our Designer, click here

For a discussion on how everything is broken, click here.

For a discussion on how we are created for glory, click here.