Faulty Faith

This morning when reading the paper (El Paso Times, Feb. 10^th, Living Section) I came across two articles which caught my eye.  The heading read, ”Connection with Divine to be found in Everyday Life.”  That’s true enough.  Then I kept reading.

The first article was written by a devout Muslim.  It made sense….how to seek God in every aspect of our daily life….how to praise and worship God.  In fact it could have been written by a Christian…..that is, until the last sentence.  He writes that we are either “lucky or unlucky” in seeing the opportunities presented to us.  The “unlucky” ones will “throw themselves into hellfire”.  Lucky……..Unlucky??

The second article was written by a Hindu.  He too, had a message of recognizing the Divine in all of nature and the Divine that resides within each of us.  Through Yoga and contemplation we are able to reach the Divine and become one with him.

These well written articles appeal to many spiritual seekers.  But one must read carefully to fully understand their impact.

As a Christian, I am not deceived into thinking that we ourselves can either have “good luck or be unlucky”.  We don’t depend on luck. God created us with an opportunity for moral choices, yes….but not because of luck.  We have options.  Unfortunately, most of us make wrong choices in life.  But wait….there’s more.

The Hindu in turn, says that we must open our minds to the Divine Spirit to become one with the Divine Nature. “Yoga means the union of the individual soul with the universal soul.” Then surely all happiness will be ours!

Is man really capable of obtaining and recognizing the Divine by simply focusing our thoughts in meditation?  Neither article mentioned “sin”.

If I am reading the Bible correctly, the writers tell us that Man through his own will, defied God and sin entered the world.  Sin is a result of our disobedience to the perfect will of our Creator. We ourselves cannot realize God’s perfect will for man, because we live in a world corrupted by sin.  Elevating our thoughts….even with prayer and meditation will never take away sin.  It’s here to stay until the Sinless One comes again, with a New Heaven and New Earth.

Our attempt to “climb to heaven” on the ladder of reason, morality, and experience cannot get us one step closer to the Divine Perfection.  Biblical faith emphasizes that we cannot ascend to God on our own, but that the God of the Bible descends down to us. However, we look for a God that fits in with our world view. We remake God in our image.

The apostle Paul when writing to the Romans (3:21-24) “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

When the God/man Jesus entered our world it was for one reason.  To save Mankind (that’s us) through faith in Him…..God imputes his perfection to us!!  That’s the way it is.

In pride, we try to rise to heaven through our own creative processes, but God descends to us in humility, and self sacrifice.  We seek truth within ourselves or in universal laws derived from moral intuition, but God has surprised us…His name is Jesus, the Messiah and Savior of all mankind.

John 14:6…. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”