The Spiritual Man

(^5 5)
The Life of Faith
The Bible Discloses for us the normal path of a
Christian’s walk in such passages as “the righteous
shall live by faith”; “the life I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God”; and “we walk by faith,
not by sight” (Rom. 1.17 ASV; Gal. 2.20; 2 Cor. 5.7).
By faith are we to live. But while this principle may be quickly
grasped in the mind it is not so readily experienced in life.
The life of faith is not only totally different from, but also
diametrically opposite to, a life of feeling. He who lives by sensation
can follow God’s will or seek the things above purely at the time of
excitement; should his blissful feeling cease, every activity
terminates. Not so with one who walks by faith. Faith is anchored in
the One Whom he believes rather than in the one who exercises the
believing, that is, himself. Faith looks not at what happens to him but
at Him Whom he believes. Though he may completely change, yet
the One in Whom he trusts never does—and so he can proceed
without letting up. Faith establishes its relationship with God. It
regards not its feeling because it is concerned with God. Faith
follows the One believed while feeling turns on how one feels. What
faith thus beholds is God whereas what feeling beholds is one’s self.
God does not change: He is the same God in either the cloudy day or
the sunny day. Hence he who lives by faith is as unchanging as is
God; he expresses the same kind of life through darkness or through
light. But one who dwells by feeling must pursue an up-and-down
existence because his feeling is ever changing.
What God expects of His children is that they will not make
enjoyment the purpose of their lives. God wants them to walk by
believing Him. As they run the spiritual race they are to carry on
whether they feel comfortable or whether they feel painful. They
never alter their attitude towards God according to their sensations.