{"id":240,"date":"2017-03-27T20:38:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T03:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/?p=240"},"modified":"2017-03-28T00:08:01","modified_gmt":"2017-03-28T07:08:01","slug":"theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html","title":{"rendered":"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"IMG_4663\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been cozying up to Romans in my daily Bible reading, and I\u2019m happy to report that I am snug as a bug there. I think a child of God, no matter how mature, could stay in Romans for an entire lifespan and never assimilate it all. It\u2019s complicated, rich, puzzling, and convicting \u2013 and then some. I am currently hovering around chapter 9, as if something is unclear, when everything is in fact clearer than a sunny day on the western slope of Colorado. God has mercy on whomever he will, and he hardens whomever he wills. <\/em>And if that makes us angry, we can just carry on to the next few verses and ask ourselves the questions presented:<\/p>\n

Why do I find fault?<\/p>\n

Who can resist His will?<\/p>\n

Who am I to answer back to God?<\/p>\n

Will what is molded say to its molder, \u201cWhy have you made me like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?<\/p>\n

I may not like that God chooses to have mercy on some and not others, but my distaste doesn\u2019t qualify me to question my Maker. Of course, God can handle my anger. I can shake the fist. Scream questions toward the Heavens or refuse to talk to Him. But it\u2019s not going to change anything. God is God. Brenda is clay pot. Really, who am<\/em> I to question God\u2019s ways? And why do I do it so often in spite of knowing the prerogative of the pot is not to question, but to believe?<\/p>\n

Take my life and let it be,
\n<\/em>Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.<\/em><\/p>\n

That should be my cry. Not<\/p>\n

Give me my life and let me be,<\/em>
\nIn control, Lord, more than Thee.<\/em><\/p>\n

One cry is full of faith. The other, void of faith. To say Here\u2019s my life, Lord<\/em> takes complete trust \u2013 not only in who God has said He is, but in what God has said He will do. Faith is a touchy subject, because it is an area of sanctification. Our level of faith is constantly changing, sometimes waxing, sometimes waning. But the big idea is to identify the areas that we lack faith, and work to grow in those areas. If we struggle to believe God loves us, we should be scrambling to find verses pertinent to that specific faith crisis and embedding His truths in our minds. I\u2019m not just pulling that idea out of a hat. Paul says in Romans that \u201cfaith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God\u201d (Rom. 10:17). Couple that with the writer of Hebrews, whoever that may be, who says, \u201cwithout faith, it is impossible to please God\u201d (11:6), and we should be driven to hover around Romans or any other book of the Bible for as long as it takes our faith to blossom.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4657\"
\nLast night, I had terrible, frightening nightmares, which I\u2019m pretty sure were due to a dosage increase in medication. The horror not only robbed me of sleep, but of peace, and so I laid in bed in the wee hours lacking any semblance of trust that God can keep me from evil. \u201cYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me?\u201d\u00a0(Question mark mine.)<\/p>\n

Where exactly art thou in my dreams, Lord?<\/em> But the Psalmist didn\u2019t say there wouldn\u2019t be any evil. He said I would not fear<\/em> the evil, because He is with me. And so, as I often do when I lack faith, I simply prayed, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief<\/em>. I encountered evil in a dream, but I am unscathed. You were with me, and brought me through it, as promised. I trust you to do the same in the next round of slumber.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I prayed, the shadow of the nightmare shrunk in cowardice, and with a few more confessions of belief, disappeared altogether. I recognized the lie, exposed the lie, confessed the lie, and replaced the lie with the truth, believing as best I knew how, by taking God at His Word.<\/p>\n

For at least a few, pre-dawn moments, God was pleased with me!<\/p>\n

Why we work and toil and plan and force ourselves into molds of habits that have the appearnace of godliness, but are void of faith, is beyond me. Romans 9, when it\u2019s talking about Israel\u2019s unbelief, says \u201cWhat shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, \u2018\u201dBehold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.'\u201d<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said recently<\/a>, there\u2019s nothing wrong with planning or toiling. We should be doing those things. But if done as a means to our own righteousness, we\u2019re off kilter. Devastatingly so. We are pursuing a law that will lead to righteousness, but without faith. And without faith, we cannot succeed in reaching the law and pleasing God. The heart of the problem is always a problem of the heart. So let\u2019s make a checklist if we must, but guard our hearts with all diligence. It is deceitful above all things, desperately sick, and deserves close monitoring. It\u2019s much easier to trust in personal good works than it is to trust in God\u2019s finishing work. It\u2019s easier because it comes naturally, and that is a cause for pause. Are we praying (or whatever is on the checklist) out of a heart full of faith, or are we praying out of so-called \u201choly\u201d consistency, not caring about the condition of our heart, overlooking our sin, our lack of faith, and trusting in our own righteousness, which the Bible refers to as \u201cfilthy rags\u201d?<\/p>\n

We are saved, not of works, lest any man should boast. And we are sanctified, not solely of works, lest any man should boast. Faith and works are to be inseparable. Faith without works is dead. And works without faith is self-righteousness that leads to hell.\u00a0Godspeed to all as we guard our hearts against trusting in anything or anyone but Christ to finish His work in and through us.<\/p>\n

Now if you\u2019ll excuse me, that \u201cnext round of slumber\u201d I noted above has arrived, as I can no longer keep my eyes open even though it\u2019s only 2:30 in the afternoon. Perhaps this round of slumber, evil will keep a distance. If not, I will fear not, for He is with me<\/em>. (Period mine.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been cozying up to Romans in my daily Bible reading, and I\u2019m happy to report that I am snug as a bug there. I think a child of God, no matter how mature, could stay in Romans for an entire lifespan and never assimilate it all. It\u2019s complicated, rich, puzzling, and convicting \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,53,6,54,52,56,51],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-belief","tag-bible-study","tag-faith","tag-fear","tag-romans","tag-unbelief","tag-works"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Without faith, we can do nothing - including succeed in reaching the law and pleasing God.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Without faith, we can do nothing - including succeed in reaching the law and pleasing God.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Felix Culpa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-28T03:38:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-28T07:08:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/757\/2017\/03\/IMG_4663.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2446\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2446\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brenda Renee Coats\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brenda Renee Coats\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html\",\"name\":\"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-28T03:38:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-28T07:08:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#\/schema\/person\/4f0e763ae152fbf5b79f1c2a8ee55124\"},\"description\":\"Without faith, we can do nothing - including succeed in reaching the law and pleasing God.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/\",\"name\":\"Felix Culpa\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#\/schema\/person\/4f0e763ae152fbf5b79f1c2a8ee55124\",\"name\":\"Brenda Renee Coats\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfca24ce7057bd8f93fb15ffdc3d5b14?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfca24ce7057bd8f93fb15ffdc3d5b14?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brenda Renee Coats\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/author\/brenda\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith","description":"Without faith, we can do nothing - including succeed in reaching the law and pleasing God.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith","og_description":"Without faith, we can do nothing - including succeed in reaching the law and pleasing God.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html","og_site_name":"Felix Culpa","article_published_time":"2017-03-28T03:38:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-28T07:08:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2446,"height":2446,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/757\/2017\/03\/IMG_4663.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brenda Renee Coats","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brenda Renee Coats","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html","name":"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-28T03:38:18+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-28T07:08:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#\/schema\/person\/4f0e763ae152fbf5b79f1c2a8ee55124"},"description":"Without faith, we can do nothing - including succeed in reaching the law and pleasing God.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2017\/03\/theimpossibilityofpleasinggodwithoutfaith.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Impossibility of Pleasing God Without Faith"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/","name":"Felix Culpa","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#\/schema\/person\/4f0e763ae152fbf5b79f1c2a8ee55124","name":"Brenda Renee Coats","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfca24ce7057bd8f93fb15ffdc3d5b14?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfca24ce7057bd8f93fb15ffdc3d5b14?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Brenda Renee Coats"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/author\/brenda"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}