01.06. Chapter 6: Unquenchable Flame

CHAPTER SIX Unquenchable Flame "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out… not knowing whither he went." (Hebrews 11:8)

Unquestioned obedience is what distinguishes Abraham’s faith from anyone else’s in the Bible. Never once has it been mentioned that he questioned or took a second thought about God’s commandment. This doesn’t mean that he never had difficult times in his life; but that through all this he never once doubted the sacredness of God’s truth. He was unflinching in faith: his flame never dying. The writer of Hebrews underscores three facets of Abraham’s example of faith for our edification. They were his forsaking his old land, his dwelling in tents in the Promised Land, and his offering up of Isaac his only begotten son in obedience to God. Let’s now turn to see what these events of his life reveal about the faith of God.

UNCONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE The nativity of Abraham, Ur of Chaldees, represented the unconscionable dark chillness of his age. Steeped in idolatry, nature-worship, and the occult the city swelled with a populace that prided itself of the wealth and power that accumulated on it due to its advantageous location by the Euphrates. The massive ziggurat (a pyramidical temple), about 70 ft high and 210 by 145 ft at the base, still visible at the site, was dedicated to the moon god Nanna. Each of its bricks were baked and inscribed with the names of the building kings or those who repaired the tower in later times, probably meant to obtain merit from the moon god. The Bible tells us that at the time when God called Abraham, his father worshipped other gods, implying that they were idolaters (Joshua 24:2). This is not to mean that the worship of the true God was no longer in existence; for there is always a remnant in the salvation-history of God. Melchizedek, for instance, a contemporary of Abraham was called the priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14:18), to whom also Abraham gave his tithes. Yet, it was also quite true that traces of true worship had almost faded.

Abraham’s call to inherit God’s promise reveals God’s incessant working out of His salvation plan. Jesus said "My Father works until now, and I work" (John 5:17, MKJV). It reveals the depth of God’s love and His care towards us. It’ll only take eternity to understand the depth of the love of the Almighty and All-Sufficient Creator who gives all of His self to save sinners in conflict with His purposes. But while the world slumbers and sleeps or goes about doing its own earth-bound temporal works, God is incessantly at work, striving with men and women through His spirit, to bring them into His saving grace. The fact is that God is not in need of us: we are in need of Him. But He like a mother loves her baby and attends to her all the time, has attended to us in history. And when we were yet weak and incapable of saving ourselves, Christ died for us to ransom us from our sins (Romans 5:6).

Conviction without Conflict

Abraham instantaneously responded to God’s call by faith. The writer of Hebrews tells us that "he went out, not knowing where he went." There is no doubt that as soon as God’s word came to Abraham, it was met by a heart prepared to receive the word like a good ground ready for the seed. The word met with a heart that anticipated and desired divine intervention since only such a heart could receive the revelation of God by faith (remember the parable of the Sower and the Seed, Matthew 13:3 ff.). This tells us about the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual preparedness of faith before meeting with the word of God. Perhaps, Abraham was already a godly man despite his father’s idolatry and knew God’s voice so well that he recognized it immediately the moment he heard it and so responded to it in faith; or perhaps he had heard God for the first time and as soon as he heard Him, he was convicted that God was true. This second experience would be similar to Paul’s (then Saul) when, as on his way to persecute the Christians at Damascus, he was met by the vision of Jesus. Immediately, he was convicted and became convinced of the Lordship of Jesus Christ (whom he considered to be false just a few minutes ago). Paul’s response at this moment of encounter is captured in the words "and he trembling and astonished said, Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6). His reaction was a mixture of fear and astonishment and also a deep conviction from Jesus’ words "I am Jesus whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goads" (Acts 9:5, MKJV). There was obviously no rational investigation. Conviction was instantaneous. He himself confessed "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and having called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me... immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood" (Galatians 1:15-16, MKJV). He didn’t have to go through some tests of truth or justification of beliefs before accepting God’s revelation. The conviction was immediate and beyond doubt. The similar might have been the experience of Abraham. When he encountered God, faith sprung to meet God’s truth without hesitation, though, as in Paul’s case, ambivalent emotions such as a mixture of fear (numinous) and surprise (awe) might have accompanied the event. Yet, it also will be understandable that what is convincing to some might not be convincing to others. For instance, many might have seen the star that was seen by the wise men, but it was only they who were convinced of it as being the sign of the birth of the King of the Jews. To others it might have had no such significance. In any case, whether it was Abraham, Paul, or the wise men conviction is the product of a preparation of faith.

Now, one might be antagonistic to the truth, as in Paul’s case before conversion, yet be prepared for it because of a seeking-faith that is honest at core. A seeking-faith is also restless since it discerns that something is either missing or wrong with the framework of beliefs it is holding to (its present world-view). The frustration may be experienced as some internal voidness or frustration with self or things around or inability to rationally connect with the world. This can be referred to as the pre-faith crisis or the crisis that is an aspect of faith in preparation (i.e. before seeking-faith finds perfect solace in truth). This state of faith may be figuratively referred to as a state of hunger and thirst for the truth; as a hungry and thirsty faith. We have seen earlier that this kind of faith intuitively recognizes the truth the moment it perceives it as a child recognizes the milk he is hungry for. The only danger is that this seeking may meet with a false object (which may be even fatal). The Scriptural answer to this problem is that while in the case of humans there may be some fault, God never makes a mistake in this regard. The Scripture says: If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"(Luke 11:11-13 ). And again, "The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you" (2 Chronicles 15:2). This is true since God is with us and all around us though we do not see Him and it is God who put this quest for Him in our hearts as the Word says: "He has made all nations of men of one blood to dwell on all the face of the earth, ordaining fore-appointed seasons and boundaries of their dwelling, to seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after Him and find Him, though indeed He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also certain of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring" (Acts 17:26-28, MKJV). Therefore, we are assured that God will not allow a falsehood to deceive His children but being close to us will Himself answer the heart that seeks Him with faith. But the principle is clear. One only gets according to the desire of his faith. This is so because it is the desire of faith that determines the acceptance or rejection of truth. Therefore, the sinners who keep trying to suppress the truth of God by means of false religions and false actions are given up by God to evil (Romans 1:28 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). However, if there is anyone who truly seeks God, then he is known of Him as the Word says that the Lord knows them that are His (2 Timothy 2:19) and that those that belong to Him (which is known by their honest craving for Him) recognize His voice (John 10:27). Further, Jesus’ parable of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin reveals the heart of God in seeking and saving them that are lost (Luke 15:3-10 ; Luke 19:10). Scripturally speaking then, one cannot doubt that God answers a faith that truly seeks Him and, obviously, when a heart of faith encounters God in revelation the conviction is beyond any doubt. A clear example of this seeking-faith that finds a convicting answer in divine revelation and promptly responds to it is found in the confessions of St. Augustine. Obviously, in his case the search was for a prolonged period of time. In Book Six of his Confessions, he writes: Where wert Thou, ’O My Hope from youth,’ and whither hadst Thou retired afar off? Hadst Thou not made me and distinguished me from the beasts of the earth, making me wiser than the fowls of the air? I was wandering about through the darkness and over slippery ways, seeking Thee outside myself, not finding the God of my heart. I had come to the depths of the sea. I lost confidence and was in despair of finding the truth.

Here, Augustine quotes the fact of man being created distinctly from animals in that he is imbued with rational faculties that enable him to obtain wisdom. Yet, he finds himself groping for God in various moods, cultures, and philosophies of the world; sometimes almost as a rebel of God yet, internally thirsty for his Maker until there came a time of crisis in his life when he doubted whether truth could be found. The problem was not that God was difficult to be found. But the days of his internal incoherence and frustration prolonged as his flesh kept preventing him from submitting himself completely in faith to God. This went on until one day he was broken by his own doubts that stood between him and God’s will. While in such brokenness, he heard the voice of a child from a nearby house repeating over and over: ’Take it, read it! Take it, read it!’ Immediately, he saw that the child’s voice was truly God’s commandment for him to open a book and read the first passage that he would find. So he hurried to the place where he had left the copy of Paul’s epistle to the Romans. Snatching it up, he opened and found the words in Romans 13:13-14 where the Word commands to walk as in the day not in revelry and drunkenness nor strife and jealousy, but to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and take no thought for the lusts of the flesh. As soon as he read it, said Augustine, "all the darknesses of doubt were dispersed, as if by a light of peace flooding into my heart." Clearly, here conviction didn’t occur in a blank soul; it occurred in a soul that was already desperate for God. And obviously, the depth and intensity of the desperation determined the depth and intensity of the faith. One can’t fail to see here that when true conviction breaks the spirit of man, it touches him with a touch that ends all conflict inside. Therefore, God’s conviction evokes instant response. Abraham’s pre-faith experiences might or might not be as Paul’s or Augustine’s; however, when God’s word came to him, he was ready for it and accepted it without doubt or hesitation to the point that he didn’t even worry to ask God where he was meant to go. He was asked to go and that was all that faith needed to set it on the go. He went without doubt, without conflicts. Therefore, he is known as the father of all that have faith. No Regrets, No Returns! The divine commandment to Abraham came in the words "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you" (Genesis 12:1, NIV). The command came with the promise to make of him a great and blessed nation (Genesis 12:2-3 ). Abraham’s leaving did not signify a setting out on a trip to some foreign land in order to return back after sometime. It was a total departure from the land that was his own, from his father land. We know from the story of his life that he never returned to Ur of Chaldees again. When he left it once, he left it forever. Obviously, faith had brought in a total disconnection with all of his past that he left behind and Abraham never lost his faith. This shows us the irreversible endurance of Abraham’s faith. His faith didn’t die because he didn’t let it slip away (Hebrews 2:1) or let it grow weak through despair (Romans 4:19) or wreck it through carnality and debilitating of conscience (1 Timothy 1:19). This doesn’t mean that faith has no battles to win. The Scripture warns us not to be slothful but to be diligent in faith (Hebrews 6:12 ; Judges 18:9). Faith is not only to be guarded (Revelation 14:12) but also to be contended or fought for (Jude 1:3); for it is only by fighting that one keeps one’s faith (2 Timothy 4:7). The crisis of faith is a condition brought in by at least three faith-assassins: doubt, desire, and division.

1. Doubt. Doubt is helpful in the pre-faith condition by narrowing one’s direction towards truth. That is to say, as doubt breaks all the false beliefs of the past one by one, a person is set in the direction of knowing the truth. In this sense, doubt is the precursor of faith. However, the moment faith is torched by truth "all the darknesses of doubt are dispersed", to use Augustine’s expression. Doubt no longer has any place but its place is taken by the certainty, peace, and repose of faith. But even in the pre-faith condition, doubt cannot be segregated from seeking faith. Absolute doubt, in the sense that the possibility of truth is hung in perpetual doubt, can never come to truth for though it may see it face to face yet its doubt would prevent it from recognizing it as so. A mind committed to doubt can never submit in faith to truth. Therefore, absolute doubt is the greatest enemy of true faith.

There are chiefly seven Greek expressions that have been translated as "doubt" in the New Testament (KJV): aporeo (John 13:22) meaning "to be perplexed"; diaporeo (Acts 2:12 ; Acts 10:17) meaning "to be thoroughly perplexed"; meteorizo (Luke 12:29 ) meaning "to suspend as in mid-air"; airo psuche (John 10:24 ) meaning "to keep the soul in suspension as in air"; dialogismos (Romans 14:1 ; 1 Timothy 2:8 ) meaning "to reason" or "to argue"; diakrino (Matthew 21:21 ; Romans 14:23 ) meaning "to judge differently" or "to discriminate"; and distazo (Matthew 14:31 ; Matthew 28:17) meaning "to waver". We can learn of the different ways in which doubt finds intrusion in one’s life by looking at the usage of these words.

First, doubt appears in the form of perplexity or a loss of answer. This is indicated by the word aporeo. For instance, when Festus introduces Paul the prisoner to Agrippa the King, he says that the Jews were accusing Paul of some questions related to the Jewish religion; but since he was not well acquainted with this religion he was at a loss of answer or doubt (aporeo) how to judge him (Acts 25:20). Obviously, the KJV would have done better to translate the word as "was perplexed" or "confounded" instead of "doubted". But, still it is also true that perplexity is a condition of doubt since it contains the element of uncertainty. Festus lacked the confidence to judge Paul because he was confounded by the complexity of the problems that this trial presented to him. Therefore, he doubted about this matter of judging Paul. He was at a loss of answer. An intense form of this perplexity is indicated by the word diaporeo which means to be thoroughly (dia) perplexed. Perplexity indicates the condition of doubt as dilemma. It is the condition of neither knowing nor not knowing. It is the condition of being totally unable to understand something that seems to be significant and demanding an answer. Undeniably, faith does sometimes come across situations that confound and perplex it for a want of answer. There are things that can happen to us that we can’t explain by any rational means, for instance. Or, there can be a question put forth before faith which it immediately lacks an answer for, though it knows that there must be some answer to it. However, in many cases when complexity presents itself to us the temptation is to turn away to simpler things. This is a natural instinct. One tries to avoid unwanted complications, especially when they appear insoluble or even too demanding. One tends to walk around the problem and if incapable of, tries to turn on it. This is what happened with those disciples who turned away from Jesus because they felt He was becoming too complicated for them to get along with (John 6:60; John 6:66). But when Jesus turned to the twelve and asked them if they would also go away, Peter gave an answer which is a classic response to this dilemma of faith. He answered: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life" (John 6:68, MKJV). Peter understood the fact that there cannot be a turning away from something without a turning away to something else. There is no middle ground. Peter knew that this was an either/or situation. One could choose Christ and eternal life or choose to relinquish both. He made the wiser decision to stay with Christ despite the inability to understand several things. A more practically existential situation confronted Job, as seen earlier. It was practically existential because the absurdity or perplexity of the suffering that he went through was thoroughly personal and its answer too evading (Job 7:1-21). Yet, he knew that there could be no turning back from God. God was where his world came to an end. God was his no-returning point. Therefore, despite all the confoundedness of his suffering, Job held on to God in faith. And when his wife reprimanded him for holding on to his faith and told him to curse God and die instead of bearing the brunt of this absurd life, he answered her saying "You speak as one of the foolish ones speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10, MKJV). In other words, he in turn demanded from her an explanation for considering experience of evil as sufficient proof for turning away from God, even if such evil came from God. The finality of his faith in God could admit no doubt in God.

Another way in which doubt presents itself to us is suspense. The word comes from the Latin suspensus meaning "suspended" (akin to the Greek meteorizo and airo psuche, see above). The word indicates a condition of uncertainty fraught with intense curiosity, fear, or anxiety. Jesus told His disciples to stay away from such a condition (Luke 12:29). Feelings of anxiety due to uncertainty may come to suspend our souls in doubt, but they should not be allowed to take hold of our lives; in other words, worry or anxiety should not become the condition of our lives. For such anxiety can easily lead to despair and a total shipwreck of faith. Similarly, unwanted curiosity can also be fatal to faith as seen in Eve’s case. For when the devil told her that the forbidden fruit was forbidden not because God sought her welfare but because He didn’t want her to be like Him, she immediately was convinced by his words (Genesis 3:4-6). Her curiosity regarding the forbidden fruit led her obey the devil’s lie. If God has forbidden us something, there is no danger greater than trying to conduct a scientific analysis of the forbidden thing. It is no surprise then why the Ephesian believers burnt all books of curious and magical arts when they accepted the Lord (Acts 19:19, KJV, Amplified). This is so because such curiosity can lead to a departure from faith. It is in this regard that the Mosaic Law commanded the Israelites to destroy all images and things related to false belief to prevent their influence from corrupting the Israelites (Deuteronomy 7:3-5). The images represent the symbols of false beliefs that stand against the faith of God. They are doors to disbelief. Therefore, sympathetic curiosity towards what is logically known to be wrong must be avoided. By "logically wrong" is meant those ideas that contradict the rational sense. For instance, in the story of Eve she turned towards the illogical belief that she could become like God (who is spiritual and infinite in wisdom) by eating a physical fruit and to the false idea that God was either jealous or afraid of her becoming like Him; as if she could become like Him and that God was afraid of His own creation. Similarly, the sympathy towards idols is absurd since an idol is not only a lifeless object but also symbolic of the vanity and falsehood of man. Therefore, one must guard oneself against any fear or excitement that is both irrational and godless. The third kind of doubt is more intriguing. It appears in the form of reasoning or argumentation and is indicated by the word dialogismos meaning that form of argumentation that is controversial, unending, or false. It is in this sense that it is sometimes rendered as "imaginations" for its speculative nature is averse to any conclusion. In other words, dialogismos is doubt that expects no final answer. The imagination keeps going on finding no final ground to stand on; thus, hanging suspended (meterorizo) in curiosity and doubt all the time. I think our age understands this form of doubting better than any age before since, in our age, it is this kind of a scholar that is highly appreciated while the one who claims to have the answer is labeled as fundamentalist and narrow-minded. While in the past the wise man was he who had more answers and fewer questions, now he is one who has more questions and fewer answers. The modern wise man is like the Greek sophist who excelled in clever arguments but had no belief in absolute truth: his arguments generated more doubts than solutions. Our English word "sophistry" comes from this "sophist" and means "clever, misleading, and deceptive argument". Obviously, this form of doubt or methodological skepticism is deliberate, proceeding from the bias that detests absolute solution to any problem. That is the reason why the Scripture warns several times to keep away from such love for show of cleverness and unhealthy disputing that signifies pride and rebellion instead of humility (Php 2:14 ; Romans 14:1 ; 1 Timothy 2:8 ; cf. 1 Timothy 6:3-5). The next kind of doubt is diakrino meaning "to judge by analysis" or "to make a difference". In relation to doubt it means "to make a different judgment", "to think otherwise", or "allow for some other possibility as well". It is in this sense that it is used in Matthew 21:21 when Jesus tells His disciples "Truly I say to you, If you have faith and do not doubt (me diakrithete), you shall not only do this miracle of the fig tree, but also; if you shall say to this mountain, Be moved and be thrown into the sea; it shall be done." (Matthew 21:21, MKJV). Similarly, James says: "let him ask in faith, doubting nothing (meden diakrinomenos). For he who doubts (diakrinomenos) is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed" (James 1:3, MKJV). Obviously, this kind of doubting is antithetical to faith since it introduces a rival element (a foreign particle) into one’s framework of belief. This kind of double-thinking is what leads to distazo or to the inability of holding on to faith, thus becoming unstable (as in Peter’s case when he walked on water and then started sinking due to fear); for the natural thoughts of the mind are set in conflict against the supernatural truths of God leading to a weakening of faith. The imbalance and instability caused by diakrino can be compared to an airplane (on flight) that loses its balance due to some technical failure to keep up with the laws of aerodynamics. That technical failure may be compared to diakrino when the plane wobbles between the law of aerodynamics and the law of gravity, for instance. The loss of balance is due to the plane’s inability to totally comply with the law of aerodynamics. The problem is solved if the airplane keeps to the purpose of its design, which is to be in air till it lands safely on the ground; the tragedy is when it fails to do that by giving in to anti-elements. Now, the anti-element may not be false in itself; for instance, the law of gravity is true as well as the fact that Peter could not naturally walk on water. However, in matters of faith the natural must submit to the supernatural and not vice versa. Even as the airplane is designed to fly in air, a man of faith is designed to sail on the winds of God’s promises. Abraham was a man of faith. He was not a man of a double-opinion or double-thinking. Therefore, there were no regrets about his obedience to God; neither was there any possibility of a return for him. The Scripture testifies about him that "he staggered not (ou diekrithe) at the promise of God through unbelief (apistia); but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20). Apistia is the antonym of pistis which is faith. Thus, Abraham didn’t allow an anti-faith element to make him double-think about and doubt the promises of God.

2. Desire. The second enemy of faith is false desire. Desire is the drive of the human will. Therefore, it is always seen as desire to do something or to get something in the sense that the mind is set on that particular thing, ultimately leading to action in that direction. In this sense, to will something is to desire that thing. In fact, the Greek word thelo is translated as both "to will" and "to desire" in the New Testament. However, in human experience, desire is often ambivalent as the Scripture says: "For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do" (Galatians 5:17, Amplified). And again, "I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing" (Romans 7:19, Amplified). Obviously, there are two kinds of desires at work here and the either one gives in to the other in the struggle for letting out. One is lawless; the other, lawful. One is brutish; the other, rational. One is carnal; the other, spiritual. One is godly; the other, ungodly. One is sinful; the other, holy. While spiritual desire is rationally sound, emotionally stable, and conscientiously clear; lawless desire bypasses reason, corrupts the feelings, stalls the conscience, and captivates the memory. That is the reason why the Scripture says, "Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11, Amplified). The fatal blow of desire is its luring the mind to justify wickedness. This is when faith is jettisoned and deception sneaks in. Sometimes even a whole nation can fall prey to the rule of passion by rebelling against truth. In his Republic Plato quotes Damon as saying "when modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with them." We may not totally agree with Plato’s view against musical innovations; but when one sees the unrestrained wand of passion displaying gestures of rebellion in any art-form, one cannot but suspect that values are being redefined. The Word warns, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). The simplicity of Abraham despite the blessings of God on his life is evident from his contentment to live in tents all the days of his life (Hebrews 11:9). It is also evident from his contentment with what only God gave to him and not desiring even a shoe lace by any other means. He made a covenant with God to never be blessed except he was blessed by God; therefore, when the king of Sodom came to him offering the spoils of war, he replied: "I have lifted up my hand and sworn to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a shoelace or anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich" (Genesis 14:22-23, Amplified). Abraham knew God’s promise of blessing to him and wanted nothing more than that. That is faith. The Scripture warns us that they who are minded to be rich fall into temptation and many foolish, irrational, and hurtful desires that lead to perdition (1 Timothy 6:9). One example of it is Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the prophet, who ran after Naaman the Syrian and, in the name of his master, took from him stuff that his master had refused; but when Elisha questioned him where he had gone, he replied "nowhere". This man had seen even the dead raised through Elisha’s prayer and still found the courage to lie to him. His conscience and memory were smeared by lust and greed to the extent that he believed that everything was okay despite his sinful act (2 Kings 5:20-26 ). Similarly, David when captured by the lust for Bathsheba forgot all bonds of wickedness. He not only committed adultery with her (breaking God’s covenant) but also got her good husband ruthlessly murdered. This man, who once was so zealous for God in faith that he single-handedly defeated the giant Goliath, had now fallen prey to a woman’s beauty (2 Samuel 11:1-27). One doesn’t know what irrational justification his mind was framing in order to not lose the opportunity and companionship of lust. But it broke the heart of God. The same was also true of Judas Iscariot who sold the Lord for 30 pieces of silver after being with Him for three and half years. It is foolishness to think that one’s environment or conditions of living determine the strength of one’s faith. Adam and Eve were in a perfectly sinless environment before they fell into sin. Lucifer was an angel of God. Judas, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the chief priests saw Jesus in person and yet went against Him. Many of us often imagine that if we were as close as the disciples were to Jesus much of our spiritual struggle would be solved. Many desire at least one vision of Christ in this life. But one must understand that all such spiritual and sacred experiences put together can easily be suspended by the onslaught of lust; for lust hijacks all emotion, intelligence, memory, and conscience. Therefore, one must guard himself of all ugly desire that, though seemingly fulfilling, is disastrous in the end.

3. Division. By division is meant the lack of real spiritual fellowship and communion with God. This causes alienation and distancing from the knowledge of God. As a result, faith suffers loss. Division manifests itself in three forms: discord, dissension, and disunion. a. Discord. Discord means a lack of agreement or harmony between two persons. While discord between men may be expressed or unexpressed, discord between man and God needs no expression since God knows what’s in the human heart. Discord between God and man is a matter of perspective and will-towards-something rather than ratio-empirical disagreement (as in matters of scientific or philosophical research). This is so because the relationship is not of the nature of this spatio-temporal pluralistic world where things stand divided from each other in space and time. God is unlike the world and its objects; He is not far from us, as the Scripture says, and we live and move and have our being in Him (Acts 17:27-28), which means His presence is more real than the world around us. Therefore, discord or concord between God and man is unlike discord and concord between worldly things, in the sense that it is not primarily a matter of ratio-empirical dispute. It is a matter of perspective, a matter of faith. Discord with God is not justifiable since it is not based on rational judgments but on the choice of will propelled by desire. Therefore, the Word says that God has given up those who, falling to evil desire and reprobate thinking, disgusted themselves by abominable practices (Romans 1:21-28 ). The Bible says that the carnal mind is unsubmissive to the Law of God (Romans 8:7 ). This lack of submission is not in the sense that it has some logical reasons for not submitting to God but in the sense that the intentions and actions of the carnal mind are opposite to the Law of God. The perspective-shift (from carnal to spiritual or vice versa) can be in a split of a second or gradual. It may be a reaction to a temptation or a moral decline through negligence. Whatever way, the perspective-shift is indicative of a shift from faith to practical disbelief. b. Dissension. Dissension is the violent and aggressive form of discord in which the disagreement is vociferously expressed. While in the former case, discordant questions may not be expressed for fear of causing obstacle to the faith of others (see Psalms 73:15), in this case all shame and fear is set aside. The Bible uses different words to describe dissension; some of them are: murmuring, complaining, scoffing, mocking, blaspheming, strife of words, evil talking, perverse disputing, railing, speaking in hypocrisy, ungodly talking, etc (Php 2:14 ; Psalms 1:1 ; 1 Timothy 4:2 ; 1 Timothy 6:4-5; 2 Timothy 3:2 ; Jude 1:15-16). Jesus warned His disciples that on the Day of Judgment men will have to give an account of every idle word that they speak (Matthew 12:36 ). Dissension comes from a heart of unbelief. It was because of such vehement and vexing ungodly talks that the Israelites were destroyed in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:10 ). All their opposition was based on their lusts and whims and not on any logic. God had shown such wonders to them that He had never shown before. He foiled the skill of the Egyptian magicians, broke the strength of pharaoh and his forces, tore the Red Sea into two, and walked before them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. I do not know of any nation on earth as a whole who had seen so much of God and yet disbelieved Him so much. They broke God’s commands whenever they liked and spoke whatever came to their mouth against God’s servants. Jude tells us that God destroyed them because of their unbelief (Jude 5). c. Disunion. Disunion refers to a break-away from faith in God, thus from God. This is the severing of relationship with God. This disunion is the final end of a life of ungodly speech and action. It is the moral failure to hold on to faith and a good conscience and is characterized by a blasphemous lifestyle (1 Timothy 1:18-20). This is what the Scripture also calls as a departure from faith by giving in to seducing spirits and the doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4:1). The doctrine of the devil is nothing but ultimate rebellion against God and His truth. The life without faith in God is a life of falsehood. It is a life of self-opposition (2 Timothy 2:25). Therefore, says the psalmist, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous (Psalms 1:5). The sinners who walk after ungodly counsel and associate to scoff at the revelation of God will not be justified (cp. Psalms 1:1). But the just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17). The Scripture warns believers against this alienation from God’s truth. It is the sin that brings a division between God and man (Isaiah 59:2). The sin of willful commitment to unbelief and disunion with God is unpardonable. It leads to death (1 John 5:16). The book of Hebrews tells us that there is no chance of renewal for those who, after knowing the irrefutable truth of God, fall away from the faith (Hebrews 6:4-6); for it is evident in their case that their falling away from faith is self-willed and not because of weakness in understanding the truth. The truth was crystal clear to them. Similarly, Peter says that the final condition of those who turn away from the knowledge of Christ after having escaped the pollutions of the world is worse than the first; for, he says, it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then willingly turn away from it (2 Peter 2:20-21). Such a life becomes blasphemous, godless, and a willful opposing of the ways of God.

Now, there are three chief ways in which faith can be kept; they are: confession, conduct, and communion. Let’s look briefly at each one of them and see how Abraham not only kept his faith but grew stronger in it by following these and by refusing false doubt, ungodly desire, and any sin-induced division. We do not say here that Abraham never made mistakes but despite of all his weaknesses and shortcomings he was justified before God because of his holding on to the Lord. He loved the Lord and no matter what he had to go through, he didn’t stagger in faith, since he knew that he could never leave the Lord that he knew as the true and gracious God. For him there were no regrets and no turnings back.

1. Confession. Confession is the verbal establishment of inward belief (Romans 10:10). It is the public testimony of private faith. And when confession is heartily and confidently done, then the internal and the external dimensions of human experience are reinforced in the integrity of faith. Abraham’s confession of faith is captured in his single statement to the king of Sodom. He said: "I have lifted up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich" (Genesis 14:42-43). He confessed here that it is God alone who could have the absolute right of claim over all of Abraham’s blessings, that his sustenance came from God, and that everything of him was God’s and what was his was what God had committed to him. This shows his total trust in God and no side-glances at anything else. His mind was steadily focused on God and His promises. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Abraham never sought any clarification from God. But whenever he did that it was in humility of spirit and never in the haughtiness of pride characteristic of the dissenters. For instance, when God told him that He would bless him with a seed that shall become a nation, the Bible says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). But when God tells him in the next verse that he was going to inherit Palestine, he asked for a way to know how that would happen. He knew that he was living in tents here and that there were little chances that this tent-living could be given up soon since the land belonged to the different tribes that inhabited it. But God showed him how he would do it giving assurance of it by means of a covenant. He told him that his seed would go to a foreign land whom they shall serve but then return back in the fourth generation to take this land into their hands by punishing the inhabitants of it. Accordingly, the next two generations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob too lived in tents, went to Egypt and returned after about 400 years to take the Promised Land. Obviously, there were things that Abraham didn’t understand but he confessed what he knew and trusted God for things too difficult for his understanding. And God was faithful to reveal His counsel to Abraham. Similarly, spiritual facts like being saved, being forgiven of all sins, being heirs of Christ’s righteousness and the Kingdom to come must be confessed again and again in faith or else the devil will gain place by introducing guilt-feelings, doubts, and fears in the heart of the believer. One must acknowledge one’s sinfulness and inability to save oneself, submit to God, and then resist the devil.

Confession brings the mind in subjection to the line of verbal reasoning manifest in the assertion of faith-statements. It awakens the consciousness to the truths of God. It enlightens the memory with the optimism of divine assurance. It is the active choice of the believer to set his mind on the things of God. It is this reason why Christ confessed God’s Word and His purposes by quoting the Scripture when the devil came to tempt Him. He told him that "Man shall not live by bread alone" when the tempter challenged His divine sonship. He need not prove anything to either the devil or to anyone. By confessing the Scripture, Jesus declared to the devil God’s counsel of sending Christ as man to this earth; and that this material world is not an end in itself – bread is not the ultimate thing: to turn stones into bread would mean to look at any object of nature with selfish intentions.

2. Conduct. Conduct is the factual establishment of faith. It is the behavior of faith. It is the phenomena of active faith. It is not mere asserting but the confirming of faith through action. It is the conformity of life with faith. It is the finalizing of the meaningfulness of belief. One can only live out that which one considers to be livable or meaningful and significant. Therefore, conduct is the establishment of faith in fact and in deed. There is not one instance in the Scripture where it is mentioned that Abraham disobeyed God. Whenever God told him anything to do, he immediately did it. We have seen his obedience of faith in regard to leaving Ur and also, at a latter point, sacrificing his only begotten son. His obedience is also seen in the case of sending Hagar away. When Sara told Abraham to send Hagar, his concubine away, we are told that this thing was very grievous in his eyes because of Ishmael, his son by Hagar (Genesis 21:11). However, when God told him to quit feeling grievous about this and do as Sara had said since God was in control of everything and was going to bless Sara’s son, Abraham rose up early in the morning, packed up things for Hagar and Ishmael and sent them away, without grieving, having been assured of the promise of God regarding the maid and her son. Abraham’s emotions were controlled and directed not by any worldly wisdom but by his faith in the truth and power of God. He knew His God very well and, therefore, he followed Him wholeheartedly. Of course, his half-truth about his wife (Genesis 12:13 ; Genesis 20:2) due to fear evinces his use of cleverness in escaping difficult situations instead of trusting totally in God’s ability to protect him. Similarly, his giving heed to Sara in cohabiting with Hagar, according to their custom, in order to have a child was a hasty and humanly rationalized way (Gen. 16). But one must remember that, in the former case, Sara was truly his half-sister and Abraham’s tactic was something to prevent a possible enemy’s foil act. It was not motivated out of a failure of faith at all. Anyone who has read about the tactics that believers of the underground churches employed in order to prevent the enemy’s success in sin should not be hasty to indict them as failing in faith as if God could not protect them. In fact, they did so because of their unflinching faith in God Whom they could at no cost deny. Obviously, no one generally stretches these things to such an extremity to say, for instance that footballers should give up their play tactics or army men should give up their war stratagems in order to walk according to faith. I am here only trying to prevent hasty and unjust accusation against Abraham; not to justify Abraham’s actions. What for me is important about Abraham is that God never accused him of what most people accuse him. Even if he failed, God would not have accused him since God knew Abraham’s faith and it is before his Master that he falls or rises, and even if he falls God is able to raise him (Romans 14:4 ). One will also remember that Christ never condemned Peter for denying Him thrice but understood the love that was in the depth of his heart. Similarly, in taking Hagar as wife, this might have been so because God’s revelation of giving a son through Sara, specifically, is revealed only in Genesis 17:1-27. Further, Abraham’s listening to his wife to give her as she desired should not be interpreted as wavering from faith; for, even in doing so there was no indication of his disbelief in God about anything; there could not be. In addition, God never treated Abraham’s child through Hagar as the product of a mistake, but instead blessed him as well. At any cost, none of these things were indicative of any weakening of Abraham’s faith; the truth being that in every instance of God’s specific commandment, Abraham was obedient without question, hesitation, or second-thought.

3. Communion. Communion is the relational establishment of faith; the personalizing of faith in relationship. One can only be one with someone one is at one with; and one can only be one with someone who is like that one, i.e. basically personal then other points of aesthetic and ethical agreement or harmony: therefore, communion is the personal relationship with God through the harmony of faith. Communion with God is the living out of the I-Thou relationship with Him. It is the establishment of the fact of faith as relationality and not just as subjectivity. Communion can never be one-sided. Communion can never be fantastical. Therefore, communion is the objective establishment of faith in a real divine relationship. When Abraham was 95 years old, God spoke to him saying "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Genesis 17:1). The command to walk before God was the command to be in perpetual agreement and fellowship with Him. The command to be perfect was the command to be wholeheartedly committed to God in this relationship. The Bible tells us that as soon as Abraham heard this voice (he was still called Abram till this point), he fell with his face prostrate on the ground. He didn’t even speak a word. Anyone who reads the life of Abraham can see him not only as a man of few words but also as a man of diligence and great reverence for God. His communion with God was so close that the Scripture calls him "the friend of God" (James 2:23 ; 2 Chronicles 20:7); yet, it was only with reverence in heart that Abraham ever approached God. This can also be seen in the case when he intercedes for Sodom. His intercession is not like one demanding something from God by right though he was God’s friend. For instance, when he enquires the second time he says: "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18:27) and goes on to make his petition. Remember God’s confession about Abraham just before this session; God said "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do… for I have known him" (Genesis 18:17-19, MKJV). God could trust Abraham as a friend could trust his friend. That was the depth of communion between them because God knew the genuineness of Abraham’s faith and his absolute and indefatigable holding on to the truth of God. Abraham knew God and glorified God as God; therefore, he was blessed by God.

Thus, we see that through faith and obedience to God Abraham inherited the promises of God. The anti-faith elements of doubt, sinful desire, and division could not find place in his heart full of trust and faith in God. Abraham’s words, actions, and feelings were all tuned up with the will of God. Therefore, he only kept moving onward and never turning back in his walk before God. While the world groped in the darkness of unbelief and falsehood around him, Abraham recognized God’s call over his life and followed Him not knowing where he was going.