Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
Mark 10:51-52
Dear members and friends,
Faith is the most important matter in all religions, especially for Christianity. The traditional Christian belief has been that faith – though it is the conviction of an individual – is the gift of God. This means that faith is not something a person could obtain by one’s own will and efforts. This kind of belief causes an unavoidable challenge to people because there is no way they could obtain faith by themselves, while faith is the key to their salvation. Another problem with this belief is that God chooses who is granted faith and who is not. As a result, God is responsible for both the faithful and unfaithful, consequently good and evil. This kind of belief could give birth to unhealthy freedom in human hearts; since everything is determined by God, they are not accountable for anything! Ultimately, this belief negates the existence of free will itself.
Emanuel Swedenborg proclaims that faith is an internal acknowledgement of truth, therefore it is not the gift of God. Consequently, as acknowledgement is a result of one’s own intellectual endeavor, faith is formed within one’s heart as a result of one’s cultivation of truths from the Scriptures. Yet, according to Swedenborg, faith becomes living faith only when it is married to charity, which is the manifestation of one’s internally-acknowledged truth in actions. In other words, acknowledgement of truth would not become real in one’s mind unless one perceives a way to implement the learned truth into actions. One must see in one’s mind how truth can be actualized. This “seeing” is symbolized in Gospels where Jesus heals a blind man to see.
My brothers and sisters in God, let us take a moment of time this week in reflecting what it means to have faith in God. May your faith lead you to kind and gentle actions.
Blessings, Rev. Junchol Lee