Believing What You Want

“Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus strictly charged them, saying, See that no man knows it. But they went forth, and spread abroad His fame in all that land.” Matthew 9:29-31

After Jesus healed these two blind men He told them specifically not to tell others what He did. Evidently these two men believed that Jesus had the ability to heal them, but not the authority to tell them what they could and could not do. The Savior’s request appeared irrational. Surely people needed to know the power of this great Man. So they accepted His help and ignored His specific instructions.

Most of Jesus’ followers do the same thing. They believe He is able to forgive their sins and save their souls, granting them by His free grace access to an eternity with God, while ignoring the clear commandments of the New Testament. We ignore them because they appear irrational, when in reality it is we who are irrational in thinking that we can ignore the will of the Sovereign of the universe.

There are many ways that God forces people to admit who He is and their need of Him. For example, in Romans 2 the Apostle Paul notes that when you judge as wrong what another person does, you admit you believe in an absolute standard that applies to all people. A cursory evaluation of your own life reveals that you violate your own standard and are therefore in need of God’s forgiveness.

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