This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
We, the faithless, need to undergo treatment and rehabilitation before we can reenter spiritual life…
Click here to receive new essays from The Word, (Re)Discovered every week
In “Act To Experience To Know“, we demonstrated that knowledge of The Word is the result of action taken in the sense of The Word.
Learnedness vs Knowledge
When we read The Word we have learnedness, not knowledge.
Faith without works is dead i.e. if the faith does not lead to action, it is a false faith. Faith and learnedness must be expressed in thoughts, words, and actions to develop into knowledge.
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
— KJV, Luke 6:46
It is not out of learnedness that a sane adult would refuse to jump off the roof of a 10-storey building, but out of knowledge of the power of gravity.
Physical realities like gravity are expressions of the Laws of Creation, which are expressions of God’s Will, which is revealed in The Word (ref. “Truth“).
The Word is realer than physical-material phenomena like gravity:
It is the spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
— John 6:63
Heaven and earth shall pass away:
— Luke 21:33
but my words shall not pass away.
Therefore when we acquire real knowledge, we would view any thinking or acting that is not spiritually-motivated to be insanity, like jumping off a tall building.
To arrive at this point requires many incisive experiences, which result from continuous action in The Word.
But taking continuous action is not easy...
Click here to receive new essays from The Word, (Re)Discovered every week
The Flesh Impedes Knowledge
The God-given spirit of man recognizes the Truth of the Word.
But the brain, being of the earth, primarily seeks the things that are earthly.
Prior to Christ’s coming we had misinterpreted the Truth that had been given in various revelations and through the prophets (ref. “His Love & His Will“). We had become materialistic, interpreting everything only in an earthly way and for earthly purposes.
The spirit and the brain are to work together like a horse and a rider. The spirit provides the direction and the intellect finds ways to implement.
If a spirit has knowledge (i.e. has experienced Truth) it will be able to “spiritualize” the brain, because the influence of the spirit would make the Truth “obvious” to the brain, like gravity.
But Christ saw that this was not the case. Our spirits lacked sufficient experiential knowledge, while our brains had grown out of control, operating like a riderless horse.
The spirit indeed is willing,
— Matt 26:41
but the flesh is weak.
The weakness is our disconnection from the spiritual, in which real life and power exist (“quickeneth“). Our flesh does not implement what our spirit wills.
Faith: The Bridge To Knowledge
While children are still immature, parents rely on the trust that the children have in them to make the children act in the way the parents desire. This reliance on trust is a temporary bridge. It is discarded when the child has gained maturity (knowledge).
Faith is a higher form of trust.
Faith is childlike trust in The Word. True faith stimulates loving activity, encouraged by trust in the power of Truth.
Blessed are they that have not seen,
–John 20:29
and yet have believed.
Like a parent with His children, Christ gave us faith as a temporary bridge, to give us the courage to carry out actions in a spirit of Love and Truth even if our brains are yet to “understand”.
These good faith-filled actions will bring about experiences (ref. “Act To Experience To Know“).
The experiences gained from these actions will result in spiritual knowledge. This knowledge makes further actions “obvious”:
But I have prayed for thee,
— Luke 22:32
that thy faith fail not:
and when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren.
Faith without works is dead, because (i) knowledge cannot develop in the absence of “works” (action), and (ii) all genuine faith leads to action.
Faith is the ignition, action is the vehicle, and knowledge develops on the journey.
The Word demands action, not only faith. Faith (trust) is the first step, and not the end goal.
Today’s Resolution
- We shall commit to take strong selfless actions in faith, trusting in The Word to build our knowledge through the resultant experiences.
Click here to receive new essays from The Word, (Re)Discovered every week
Leave a Reply