We Live By Faith
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:1-7
What’s the hardest part about being a Christian? I’d say that over the course of a Christian’s life it’s that what we believe often doesn’t line up with what we see.
We believe that God will protect his own. But we still see Christians suffer. You might even suffer.
We believe that God provides. But we still see Christians go without. You might even go without.
We believe that God is in control. But what we see makes it look like no one’s in control.
Do you think Paul found it hard to live by faith and not by sight? He says that he was groaning because he longed to be in his heavenly home. You don’t have to imagine what made Paul groan. As he lived his Christian life and told others about Jesus, he was often persecuted. He often made long, arduous journeys over land and sea. He saw what we see. Yet he says, “We are always confident.”
How can this be? Because his faith, his trust, and his confidence were in God. “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” The Holy Spirit, living in you by faith, is the down payment on your heavenly home.
So, when it is hard to live by faith and not by sight, we need more strength from the Spirit. Paul prays in Ephesians 3, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Now, where does this outpouring of the Spirit come from? Paul told Timothy, “From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The Holy Spirit is poured out on you whenever you come into contact with the gospel. You rub against the gospel of Jesus when you hear or read God’s Word. You taste and see the gospel when you receive the Lord’s Supper. You are held in the gospel’s loving arms when you remember your baptism. This promise is for you: God has had mercy on you, sinner. His Son has brought you life, and life to the full.
When what you see brings you down and makes you despair, remember this: We live by faith not by sight. Go where faith is given. Go to the Word. Receive the Supper. Remember your baptism. Be ready in season and out of season. Let the Spirit strengthen your faith so that you more readily live by faith.