God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
We are not saved “by” our faith, but “through” our faith (Eph. 2:8). Faith is only as valid as the object in which I chose to invest it. I can have great faith in the stars or a powerful man or in my personal beliefs, but if the given object is unable to achieve my salvation, the faith is useless. Faith is the connecting chain, the human response that links me to the saving work of Christ.
In all of the laments and reproaches made by our seers and prophets, one misses any mention of “sin,” a word which used to be a veritable watchword of prophets. It was a word once in everybody’s mind, but now rarely if ever heard. Does that mean that no sin is involved in all our troubles – sin with an “I” in the middle? Is no one any longer guilty of anything? Guilty perhaps of a sin that could be repented and repaired or atoned for? Is it only that someone may be stupid or sick or criminal – or asleep? Wrong things are being done… But is no one responsible, no one answerable for these acts? Anxiety and depression we all acknowledge; and even vague guilt feelings; but has no one committed any sin?
