Hi there,
So there are two verses where Jesus talks about the faith necessary to enter Heaven. The first is "unless you have faith as a little child, you shall by no means enter Heaven". Now you might be thinking 'how on Earth, can I be child-like in my faith?', and you would be right, in the sense that no child wants to be wiser than his elders. Child-like faith, is that you approach life, in the way that you have been led; if you have been led, you know where to go, whether someone is giving you instructions or not. The power of this, is that you can be well and truly prepared, for what you will encounter, because you have heeded the wisdom of those that have gone before you.
The second is "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter Heaven". Now you might be thinking 'wow, that is tough, first child-like faith, now righteous faith that exceeds that of those who devote their lives to that faith' and you would be correct, in the sense that it takes a lifelong commitment to justify exceeding righteousness. The point is that with Jesus, this is possible. God wants us to be mature, Jesus shows us how. The power of this, is that we come to know how to rule those under us, the youth and vulnerable, who need to come under rule, to be schooled in how they must conduct themselves, in order to live. You don't want to forget your child-like faith, but you accept that more mature faith might secure a better end, than if you just excerise righteousness willy-nilly.
What is really powerful, is that God does not just want one or the other: God wants a dynamic relationship - a dynamic body, if you will - One in which both child-like and mature faith have their place. Now you might not even be aware of how to enter into such a dynamic, without help: but that is what the Church is for! Church is the perfect place for child-like and mature faith to come together. Jesus longs to defend His Church, His Bride, for that exact reason. We must be mindful, to learn from Him as best we can. If we master what it is to respond to Jesus within the context of His Church, we will have both child-like and mature faith. It will take time, but we will have it.
As such, there will be times when child-like faith, trumps mature faith and times when mature faith, would rather just be more mature, and not child-like. The power of it, is that it takes consistent response to either, before we understand one or the other. We can do this, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is able to set us apart, in a way that we can see the differences between the child-like faith and the mature faith, that we have come to know - in principle, in the Church we have been committed to, in anticipation of the Coming of the Lord. If we can see the difference, without rejecting one or the other, we will have great strength! All the scriptures point to this Revelation: that God loves us, with a child-like faith and that God keeps loving us, with a mature faith. We should be encouraged by these things.
I hope you understand, what it is to be inclusive, about these things.
God bless.
So there are two verses where Jesus talks about the faith necessary to enter Heaven. The first is "unless you have faith as a little child, you shall by no means enter Heaven". Now you might be thinking 'how on Earth, can I be child-like in my faith?', and you would be right, in the sense that no child wants to be wiser than his elders. Child-like faith, is that you approach life, in the way that you have been led; if you have been led, you know where to go, whether someone is giving you instructions or not. The power of this, is that you can be well and truly prepared, for what you will encounter, because you have heeded the wisdom of those that have gone before you.
The second is "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter Heaven". Now you might be thinking 'wow, that is tough, first child-like faith, now righteous faith that exceeds that of those who devote their lives to that faith' and you would be correct, in the sense that it takes a lifelong commitment to justify exceeding righteousness. The point is that with Jesus, this is possible. God wants us to be mature, Jesus shows us how. The power of this, is that we come to know how to rule those under us, the youth and vulnerable, who need to come under rule, to be schooled in how they must conduct themselves, in order to live. You don't want to forget your child-like faith, but you accept that more mature faith might secure a better end, than if you just excerise righteousness willy-nilly.
What is really powerful, is that God does not just want one or the other: God wants a dynamic relationship - a dynamic body, if you will - One in which both child-like and mature faith have their place. Now you might not even be aware of how to enter into such a dynamic, without help: but that is what the Church is for! Church is the perfect place for child-like and mature faith to come together. Jesus longs to defend His Church, His Bride, for that exact reason. We must be mindful, to learn from Him as best we can. If we master what it is to respond to Jesus within the context of His Church, we will have both child-like and mature faith. It will take time, but we will have it.
As such, there will be times when child-like faith, trumps mature faith and times when mature faith, would rather just be more mature, and not child-like. The power of it, is that it takes consistent response to either, before we understand one or the other. We can do this, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is able to set us apart, in a way that we can see the differences between the child-like faith and the mature faith, that we have come to know - in principle, in the Church we have been committed to, in anticipation of the Coming of the Lord. If we can see the difference, without rejecting one or the other, we will have great strength! All the scriptures point to this Revelation: that God loves us, with a child-like faith and that God keeps loving us, with a mature faith. We should be encouraged by these things.
I hope you understand, what it is to be inclusive, about these things.
God bless.
