At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

And since we have been talking about ‘faith’, let’s pause here.  Living in the first half of the twenty-first century, we must keep on saying what faith is, in the biblical sense.  Christian faith is never faith in faith. Christian faith is never without content.  Christian faith is never a jump in the dark.  Christian faith is always believing what God has said.  And Christian faith rests upon Christ’s finished work on the cross.  

The reality of living by faith as though we were already dead, of living by faith in open communion with God, and then stepping back into the external world as though we are already raised from the dead, this is not once for all, it is a matter of moment-by-moment faith, and living moment by moment.  This morning’s faith will never do for this noon.  The faith of this noon will never do for dinnertime.  The faith of dinnertime will never do for the time of going to bed.  The faith of midnight will never do for the next morning.  Thank God for the reality for which we were created, a moment-by-moment communication with God himself.  We should indeed be thankful because the moment-by-moment quality brings the whole thing to the size which we are, as God has made us.   

This being the case, it is obvious that there is no mechanical solution to true spirituality or the true Christian life.  Anything that has the mark of the mechanical upon it is a mistake.  It is not possible to say, ‘Read so many of the chapters of the Bible every day, and you will have this much sanctification.’  It is not possible to say, ‘Pray so long every day, and you will have a certain amount of sanctification.’  It is not possible to add the two together and to say, ‘You will have this big a piece of sanctification.’  Such is a purely mechanical solution, and it denies the whole Christian position.  For the fact is that the Christian life, true spirituality, can never have a mechanical solution.  The real solution is being cast up into the moment-by-moment communion, personal communion, with God himself, and letting Christ’s truth flow through us through the agency of the Holy Spirit.   

Let us be clear to say that God has given us his word to ‘read’ and God has given us a spirit and mind and heart to communicate to him in prayer, thanksgiving, and praise.  These are the means to help us experience more of the moment-by-moment relationship that is the purpose and intention of us being in the Creator/creature relationship.  It is why we were made and what we were made for.  It is the fundamental purpose and meaning of our existence.  So what is the meaning of life?  To know God at a deep personal level and to enjoy and love him forever.  This is ONLY possible through accepting Jesus Christ, God’s son, as our personal Savior.  Jesus is the door, the path, the ‘way’ to be restored to an eternal moment-by-moment connection and eternal relationship with God.   

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc