The necessity of faith in an infinite God

Belief is powerful, both positively and negatively. To believe and act upon the right things has infinite consequences for good but to believe the wrong things has infinite consequences for harm. 

Faith is necessary. By virtue of being created we are ¹finite and therefore ²dependent beings. ²We must engage and operate by trust/faith in order to function properly. 

We must trust because we are finite and therefore dependent beings. God alone is infinite in love, wisdom, and power.

Who or what do we trust? We either place our trust in ³ourselves or in someone infinitely greater-wiser-more powerful than us.

When we trust in God and recognize he - not us - is greatest of all, we can accomplish amazing things. But if our faith is placed in the wrong thing(s), it can result in us doing incredibly harmful and destructive things. How harmful and destructive is determined by ⁴what we believe best brings life and how deeply we believe it. 

Faith coupled with the extent and amount of the gifts we have been given determines how much good or harm can be done. The more highly gifted a person the more they can be a means of great evil or great good.

Faith is powerful and when coupled with the right object - i.e. the all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving God - it can release in and through us amazing outcomes. To do amazing things requires amazing faith but not faith in anything but in the right thing i.e. the all-powerful, loving, wise and amazing God. The benefit, value and effectiveness of our faith is determined by the object of it.

Truly amazing outcomes are the combination of great faith in an infinitely great object-Being.  The more we recognize the greatness of the object - God - the greater our faith-trust in that object.

Great faith in the wrong thing doesn't work. Neither does no faith in the right thing.

For a further discussion on related topics, check out the following: 

The essence of God's life and therefore ours.

Why do the Father and Son love each other?

Why are relationships important?

Is God dependent?

Beatific vision - what is it?

What is life and love?

 

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¹By finite I mean we are not all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present. I am not saying we are not able to do far more than we presently do. Our capacity for great good and achievement is far greater than any of us realize, but only if we operate according our design i.e. when we are fully “plugged in” to our Creator who is the source of infinite life and love (which starts in this present life through Christ and is not fully participated in until we are with him face to face in eternity). We are, after all, like God or god-like if you will. And we are this way so we might participate in all that God is, to the greatest extent possible, without actually being Him - we are not God (infinite in love, wisdom, power, and existence) and never will be. We are finite and wholly dependent on God to be all we are designed to be.

²In the physical realm, it is easy to illustrate our dependence. We must have air, food, water, and shelter to survive. In our present circumstances, we have come to take for granted that air, food, and water are helpful and not harmful i.e. We trust this is true because we have found it to be so. But if we went to an unfamiliar environment - such as an alien planet - we would be cautious because we wouldn't know whether the air, food, and water there is life-sustaining or not. If we are not careful in finding out it could cost us our lives.

³Trust in ourselves includes trust in persons or things we think we control, i.e. we are ultimately trusting in our ability to obtain from something or someone else what we need - and we may, for a short time, but not ultimately. God ultimately controls and sustains everything, and our experiencing the benefits of these is a gift from God, whether we acknowledge it or not. To not acknowledge this however has significantly dire consequences. This results in us eventually no longer having these good gifts or the provider of them, once we leave this world.

To trust in ourselves also means we think we are better able and wiser than God to take care of ourselves.

⁴This can be wealth, power, pleasure, or whatever we think (believe) will ultimately give us what we most need.

Having faith in God does not mean we can't believe in ourselves it means we can't believe we are wiser than God. It is not just OK but good to recognize and acknowledge our abilities as long as we also recognize they are not and will never be greater than Gods but in fact come to us because of God. Neither will they give us what we ultimately need and seek no matter how great they are. 

The necessity of choice

Choice is essential. It is a ¹vital part of why we have innate value. Our dignity is tied to our freedom to choose i.e. free choice is an essential part of our significance. Without it, we are programmed robots who do not pursue God freely.

However, choosing disobedience (i.e. rebellious independence) with its negative consequences shows the critical importance of choosing God over attempts at being our own god. We may be free to choose but we are not free from the consequences of our choice. Through painful consequences, we hopefully learn to willingly and delightfully choose God's way - as we were designed to - over our own way i.e. the way of independence from God...the way of Adam. 

Both our free choice and our choosing the right direction are vital, i.e. we can choose whatever we wish, but the consequences of those choices are according to our design. To act contrary to how God designed us is to suffer loss i.e. to lose God, and all that comes with knowing Him. 

Our freely choosing the right direction is God’s aim. He wants us to choose freely, but also correctly. He doesn't want us to choose to live contrary to our design, but neither does he desire us to be automatons. He lets us choose freely, even if it leads to our own destruction. He desires we choose both rightly and freely. 

It is truly our choice whether to pursue God but our dignity and the ²strength and greatness of ¹our value – our innate worth - make this a ²difficult and ongoing process. 

After we accept his offer of restoration from our rebellion, we must be weaned from being our own god and persuaded to freely pursue the only true God. To keep our dignity intact, God does not force or program us to choose him. It is only in freely choosing God we can truly and fully experience all of God and all He intended and designed us to be. 

This process is not difficult for God but for us. Choosing to be our own god is so ²deeply and subtly bound up in our heart of rebellious distrust (unbelief), we are slow to relinquish our independence and submit to God in total dependence/trust - as we are designed to - even after we've been restored to Him by grace. We are slow to believe someone is wiser than us and trust He cares more about us and is better able to provide what's best for us than we can - especially when things - circumstances - look like the opposite is true.

Our challenge is we are free but also dependent - far more dependent than we are willing to recognize or admit.  And this is the heart of our sin… refusal to admit our dependence on God for all things - even our very existence and breath itself. 

We believe (if we are brutally honest with ourselves) to be truly free we must be independent of God and if we are to be dependent we can no longer be free. God however knows our greatest joy - and his greatest glory in and through us - comes when we freely and delightfully (willingly) choose dependence on God and not ourselves. Not to minimize us, but just the opposite... so we will fully be and experience all he created us to be and freely recognize God for who He truly is - the source of life, love, and all things. The irony is, when we do, we experience our greatest purpose and meaning - i.e. we are maximized - if you will - when we are most humble/ dependent; when we act according to who we are, dependent image-bearers of Almighty God. To say it as the bible does, to live we must die. 

So on the one hand we must completely have free choice to be and ¹live as the true image-bearers of God we were designed to be, yet our will must be totally submitted to our Creator ²in order to fully display that image and experience who we are to the maximum of our design, God's greatest honor, and our greatest joy. Our submission to God must be done both freely and fully to experience God to the greatest extent possible and properly honor Him according to His true worth. We are created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever at the same time. Though these may be distinct, because of how God made us, neither happens without the other.

The following links are a further discussion on related matters...

We are created for glory

Does God value us?

For a further discussion on choice, click here.

Why freedom of choice is important click here

How sovereign is God? Click here. 

Giving and receiving glory

Do we have a "free" will or are we heavily influenced? Click here

The value of paradox and truths in tension click here.

The question of fairness click here.

The necessity of mercy click here.

Is the election and wrath of God unreasonable? click here.

The practical importance of God's electing grace click here

How we are free to choose yet bound, click here. 

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¹The more aligned we are with God's will and design, the more we experience our truest significance and greatest joy. The more we freely choose God the more we honor him. For this reason – i.e. for His own honor/glory - God will not violate our choice. This is so we might gain the most out of our participation in the community of Father, Son, and Spirit i.e. experience God to the maximum potential without being God ourself.

²The level of pain and suffering we inflict upon each other is the greatest evidence that we cannot function properly without being united to our Creator.

³Our ability to choose is at the heart of who we are and an essential part of our innate value. If we choose wrongly, the necessity and importance of having choice does not go away, it becomes misdirected. The challenge is our being redirected to choose correctly again. The primary reason for this challenge is choice is so essential to our makeup, the pull of our misdirection (rebellion) is equally as strong in the wrong direction as it is in the right direction (submission). The strength of our rebellion is equally as powerful as the joy of our willful submission. To have the ability to enjoy God as great, our ability to refuse God must be equally as great.  

To fully appreciate what we have, the possibility of not having it must also exist. The *absence of good makes the presence of good all the sweeter.

*or the possibility of its absence 

The exposing of globalism and its dangers

This is not necessarily an endorsement of Trump. However, one thing a Trump presidency did is force the ²globalists out in the open resulting in their exposing themselves. 

In America, we are free to believe whatever we want, including globalism, but to pretend to be a ³patriot when instead one is a traitor to America's founding principles, is deceptive and wrong. I am not saying you have to agree with those founding principles; I am saying don't ¹pretend you do when you don't, which globalists and their minions often do.

Then we can have an open discussion of the virtues and fallacies of globalism or any other system. This is what has made American unique; the free exchange of ideas and the opportunity to engage and agree to disagree. Globalism wishes to shut down that exchange i.e. to censor the free exchange of ideas. This is at the heart of "cancel culture." It is not conducive to a flourishing society no matter who promotes it.

Not everything desired by those sympathetic to the globalist agenda is necessarily bad - such as taking better care of the planet - but deception is wrong no matter how justified one thinks their end goal is. If an honest person is sympathetic to globalism, it would be worth reassessing that sympathy, knowing that deception is common to their methodology.

If someone wishes to be a ²globalist it would serve them better to go somewhere where globalism is gladly embraced and live with the fruit of that world view, not try to turn America into a globalist system so some can rise to power and feast off the blessings of liberty and a system built off of free-market exchange. 

America is not perfect but people come here because it's better than where they came from. Freedom to think, do, and speak as we wish - as long as it does no actual harm (vs perceived harm) to our fellow Americans - is a central tenant in the founding of America. The "American dream" of being free to advance your station or impact in the world is not unique to or created by Americans. It is a universal aspiration. America simply has been historically the best place to live that universal dream that all humans desire. This is why America attracts people from all over world. 

Whether good people within the globalist view of the world understand it or not, globalism takes away our liberties to think and speak freely, which ultimately leads to tyranny (e.g. censorship) for everyone else not in power. 

The uniqueness of our system in the USA is it protects the voice of the little guy and keeps him from being drowned out by the majority. If we ever lose this, the little guy - basically you and me - is destroyed and tyrants rule.

America has much to get right but if we wish to remain free to figure that out, globalism must be rejected.

For a further discussion on socialism vs capitalism, click here. 

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¹The left tries to "backdoor" those with a more conservative worldview by sounding like a moderate or even conservative at times. Obama was a master at this. 

²What is the driving force behind globalism? When you get past the more superficial elements of its agenda it is control of the economic system of the world for the benefit of those few who seek to control it. This is why you have people on both sides of the political aisle advancing it. In truth, globalism is exactly like communism in this regard. Some would argue they are one and the same.               

Trump is an existential threat to the globalists (and their destructive agenda). The primary promoters do not care about being right or what you think of them. They're fighting for their existence and only focused on succeeding. Fair play or truth are not guiding principles for them. Winning at all costs to retain power or gain greater control over everyone and everything is. 

Globalism is the essence and embodiment of what it means to be a control freak. Staying in power is more important than being good, right, or honorable. They are more concerned about being feared and obeyed than respected or admired. They are relentless in their pursuit and will eliminate you if necessary (figuratively or otherwise) to achieve their ends of power and control.

I should add many who embrace or are incorporated into the globalist camp are not necessarily aware of the destructiveness of this underlying agenda. Many are sincerely passionate about some of the values promoted by globalism (and the globalists are quick to latch on to these sentiments and incorporate them into advancing their agenda). However, those few who have a nefarious agenda (control of the economic system of the world for their personal benefit vs the benefits of those within that camp) have cleverly grabbed on to and harnessed these sincere passions and incorporated them to appeal to a good sentiment and give the emotional drive and appeal of an otherwise clearly evil and very destructive system. 

A perfect example is environmentalism. There is a strong sentiment today for stewarding our planet more responsibly. I am totally in agreement with that sentiment and value. Being a surfer for 45 years has likely played a role. Fossil fuels can be reduced if not eliminated altogether given all the developments in alternate energy sources over the years. The issue isn't whether this is viable, it's that there is an unwillingness to invest in developing alternatives to fossil fuels. Ironically, though it shouldn't surprise us, the globalists own and control the fossil fuel industry. 

However, what was formally called "global warming" plays right into the hands of the globalists and their desire for world control.  In truth, it's a bait-and-switch tactic. They need a global problem to rally people around a global solution - which globalists claim to offer - even if they have to fabricate one. Climate change may be real - it's obvious the climate has changed up or down over the years - but a steady upward trajectory in global warming is an unproven conjecture yet to be clearly established. Many scientists argue against it as well as for it. And "climate change" advocates predictions of some apocalyptic demise of the planet have fallen short consistently. 

How does Trump fit into all this? Trump's brilliance is not his ability to think deeply but to think strategically and broadly. He is more like a general on the battlefield with a genius in knowing how to address a crisis once he has all the facts - facts that are often withheld by globalists - often within his very administration it appears. He is about results, not style or manner of operation. He is a bottom-line pragmatic businessman, not a politician.  This is why so many support him… they are tired of politicians who promise everything but do nothing - or the opposite i.e. more harm than good. This is why Trump has the support of the highest percentage of minorities (blacks and Hispanics in particular of any president in years, maybe ever). People want results, regardless of race or religion. This is also why globalists dread and hate him... he gets results. Results they despise because he is also a ³patriot (he loves the principles of freedom on which America was originally founded, which is an obstacle to globalists achieving their agenda). 

Globalists love freedom also, just not for you and me. They love the freedom to exploit others which is actually slavery for everyone else.

³ Not the "American, love it or leave it" no matter how stupid it becomes variety, but those who love the founding principles of freedom of speech, religion, assembly and so on.

Our value is the foundation for offenses

Because we are significant and valuable - as bearers of God's image - when we are treated otherwise, something is taken from us. You can call it a sense of dignity, worth, respect, etc. 

Instinctively we all know this is wrong, especially when we are on the receiving end. We also know someone should restore the one who has been mistreated, i.e. someone should pay for the loss. So what are the options?

*We (the offended) can pay for it - i.e. forgive the offender - which means we incur the loss. 

*The offender can pay for it - i.e. restore what they took or damaged ... or

*Someone else can step in - a substitute - and cover the loss for the offender. 

The foundation for right and wrong.

When it comes to God, because he created and sustains us, all we are and have comes from him. Therefore, we owe it to him to live in a way that acknowledges this i.e. honors him for who He is and what he gives...yet we don't.

And because we don't we not only dishonor him but we cut ourselves off from the life and love we were designed to receive i.e. His life. Not because God rejects us, we reject him.

Without his life in us, we can never be all He designed us to be. Because we do not recognize him as our Creator, Provider, and Sustainer or seek to live for his honor - but our own - we are no longer ¹spiritually alive i.e. alive to God. We have disconnected from our Source and cut ourselves off. We are like a flashlight with the batteries removed or a sailboat where the wind has died. We still have the capacity to be all God created us to be - we have simply unplugged from the source of life that empowers us to do so.

So what are we to do? How can we live as we were created to? We can't. Without his love and life filling us - giving us a sense of meaning, purpose, and value - we can't live the way we were designed to. Only his love - the wind in our sails - can move us to live for him.

To be restored, someone else had to live that life for us - option 3 above - then offer to credit to us what they did. We also needed someone to pay our debt - restore what we damaged - for not treating others as they rightfully deserve - both God and our fellow image-bearers - i.e. treat them according to their true worth and dignity. Option 3 is the only way we can be restored back to God. We simply will not and cannot restore ourselves. The harm we do and the debt we incur is greater than our ability to fix or repay it.

And option 3 could only be carried out by somebody who lived for God's honor and glory ²perfectly because we can not without the love and life - power/wind - of God stirring in us the desire to live for Him. 

To say it another way, we can not live for God without the life and love of God moving us to do so. And the love of God is not available to us until we are restored to God. We are stuck. We need someone outside us to take care of our problem. 

Thank God, he made the way. He sent ²Christ to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. The only thing that remains for us to do is to believe He did everything necessary to restore us. It is up to us to accept his offer. Will you accept it?

For a further discussion on how the most valuable values us click here. 

For further discussions on our value click 

• Created for glory 
• Worthless, rotten sinners? 
• Does God value us? 

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¹We no longer experience our true value and dignity as intended because we are cut off from the true source of it i.e. Our Creator.

²And how did Christ live/obey perfectly? By trusting the Father's love, wisdom, and power perfectly. The very same love, wisdom, and power we too, as a child of God in Christ, have available to us through the Holy Spirit given by grace - i.e. because of what Christ did to restore us back to the Father.