We have this treasure in Jars of Clay to show that this power is not of us, but of God.
2 Cor 4.
Principles are wisdom. No question that our life is rooted in a set of principles that come from the very nature and character of God himself. Our experience of life absolutely should match the principles that God is. However, being able to define a thing and explain it does not make it alive. So that is the case with our relationship with God. We can enter a day, we can enter a situation, we can do ministry, we can have a relationship, and all of it be rooted in the principles of God. The principles of God are not equal to God. He is greater than the sum of his principles. What God is asking for is a life-based relationship. Where his life is the means and mechanism of our living. The vine and the branch.
How this looks is that we often use human wisdom to select which principle is in operation. We use human wisdom to select which principles are to be applied. The reason it doesn’t work is because, for example, the principles of mercy and judgment often conflict. When do you apply which principle? Only Life can tell you what the Life wants to do in that moment.
And so we see that our experience of being a human should not rest on the wisdom of men, but the power of God. The practical question then becomes, how can I tell when the Life is pressing through my branch somewhere? That is a very important question isn’t it? Because without the personal awareness of God in me and through me I will default to human wisdom, and there will be no life. There will be religion. It is this principle of death which has kept Christianity human-centered and human-powered for 2000 years.
In summary what we have is every man doing what is right in his own eyes. Or, every man operating under which principle makes the most sense to him. This defines denominations, this defines nations, this defines cultures, this defines eras of time. It is this confusion that defines us, when what was supposed to defined us is an abiding in Christ that produces his fruit. If Christianity were doing this then the wisdom and principles and also life of God would be on display and we would already be done with this age. And so we come back to the tree of knowledge and the tree of life once again. Which tree do we eat? We are not meant to eat both. So renouncing the principle tree becomes necessary to eat the tree of life.
