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In a recent conversation with a young man, he commented that he did not believe in slavery. I asked why; he had no answer. I then asked what would be authoritative to guide him on how to view slavery. He hesitated, so I offered a thought: rational empirical pragmatism, which means reasoning based on information through sense perception that is concurrent with a person’s view of what is right. Of course, this begs the question of what is right. This still left him speechless, so I offered another thought: the only reliable source to define what is right is the Creator. And the Creator has defined right most clearly in Scripture. This led to a discussion on how to determine what is right based on Scripture.
From a Christian worldview, Scripture provides the most reliable definition of right and, indeed, all truth—what we believe to be real, including the proper values and principles to ground our thinking and actions.
Every person builds their worldview on faith. Faith has both a subjective and objective aspect. The subjective aspect is the internal personal conviction of the heart; the objective aspect is the content of what one believes.
For a Christian, thinking aligned with scriptural truth is the objective aspect or content of faith. And the subjective aspect of faith enables a person to be open to the objective content. Only when a person is regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit will that person be open to the truth of Scripture.
An example of these two aspects of faith can be found in the apostle Paul’s conversion. Prior to his conversion, Paul was known as Saul. Consider the following account recorded by Luke:
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But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. (Acts 9:1–19 ESV)
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Acts 9 begins with Saul seeking to arrest followers of Jesus. Though Saul opposed Jesus, he was highly trained and scripturally literate, but he did not know that Jesus was Lord and Christ, which is the essential revelation to unlock the truth revealed in Scripture. He viewed Jesus and his followers as a cult. Therefore, Saul did not believe that Jesus was Lord and Christ and was not seeking Christ. Jesus intercepted Saul as he neared the end of his journey from Jerusalem to Damascus and Saul’s heart was changed. The implication was that he was regenerated. This was the subjective aspect of faith—the precondition to receive the objective content of faith. To begin the process of growing in the objective content of faith, Jesus sovereignly sent Ananias—a human agent—to lay hands on Saul for physical healing and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Saul’s experience illustrates the salvation process—God’s sovereign work to intercept us when we are not seeking Jesus. The Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts (the subjective aspect of faith) and then Jesus sends a human agent to help us begin to understand the truth of how to live a Christian lifestyle (the objective aspect of faith). In this way, Christians can mature in learning how to live by faith under the lordship of Christ.
If you are a Christian, you were divinely intercepted just as Saul was and chosen by God’s sovereign will to know Jesus as Lord and Christ, the only God-man, the incarnation of truth (John 14:6).
The doctrine of divine choice (election) is seen through Saul’s experience, which is similar to the experience of the original apostles of whom Jesus said:
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You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16 ESV)
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Coming to know the Lord is a sovereign work of grace. Grace is not predicated on human action, such as human choice, as Paul noted:
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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV)
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If grace is predicated on human choice, then salvation would be the work of man rather than the gift of God. Jesus noted in his discussion with the Jewish religious leader Nicodemus that a person cannot see the kingdom of God or enter the kingdom of God unless the person is born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3, 5). Furthermore, the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is a mystery, as Jesus said:
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The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8 ESV)
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Humans cannot do anything to buy, earn, or merit God’s grace; it is a free gift extended at God’s sovereign pleasure.
The apostle Paul is clear about the impotency of humans to remedy their fallen condition before God (Romans 3:23). This truth (aka total depravity) is one of the major lessons of the Old Testament (Galatians 3:19).
The New Testament revelation about salvation from the penalty of sin and death is based on God’s grace alone. Faith manifests in a person who has received God’s grace. Faith is the indicator of regeneration (the subjective component of faith) that leads to a desire to know and live under the authority of Scripture (the objective component).
Therefore, from a Christian worldview, Scripture is authoritative for defining all truth and reality. Rational empirical pragmatism is valuable only when submitted to the authority of Scripture. Once the young man that I mentioned at the beginning understood this, he was able to look to Scripture and see the Christian worldview of slavery—the truth about slavery—because he recognized that only God has the power of choice to define what is right.
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Teaching: The Two Aspects of Faith
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Fall 2024: Strategic Life Alignment Seminar
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Biblical Guidance for Finding Your Life Purpose
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July 2024: Strategic Life Alignment Alumni Event
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More Biblical Guidance for Finding Your Life Purpose
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