The Law of Appearances or "Seven Times As."
By. Milton Alonso Granados
·
The Law of Appearances or
"Seven Times As."
Ø
2 Corinthians
6:1-10.
In chapter six of his second letter to the
Corinthians, the apostle Paul strongly appeals for them to make the most of the
benefits of Salvation and God's grace. Suffering should not be an excuse for
not living a life of success and fulfillment.
In his reasoning, the apostle puts his religious
life as an example, and for this, he lists sufferings such as tribulations,
needs, anguish, scourges, prisons, tumults, work, wakefulness, and fasting (Vs.
4,5).
The adverse circumstances that the apostle
was going through were indisputable realities; however, for his disciplined
mind: punishment, sadness, and poverty (among many other sufferings) were only "an as;" or a
circumstantial and passing appearance and not a permanent or positional truth.
Everything that happened in the life of the
apostle Paul would have been enough for anyone to decay in his faith, yet this man of God chose to put his trust and
joy in the eternal and not in the temporal.
From verses 8 to 10 of 2 Corinthians 6, Paul
repeats the word "as, Seven times."
For each of these "Seven relative or
passing truths," the apostle has a firm and well-positioned confession of
faith.
Each of these
statements is a living testimony of a mind that remains in the stillness and
dominion that comes from God's great Rest.
1. As deceivers, and yet true
2. As unknown, and yet well known
3. As dying, and behold, we live
4. As chastened, and not killed
5. As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing
6. As poor, yet making many rich
7. As having nothing, and yet possessing all things (2 Corinthians 6:8–10). King James Bible Version
All the "as" that the apostle uses
here expresses an apparent state of persecution, sadness, anguish, and
poverty. Still, the absolute and positional truth of faith that the apostle lived
in his spiritual life was quite different.
In Paul's life, there was no room for laments, defeat, or failure, because his
gaze was not fixed on the temporary; but in the eternity of the One who has
declared us forever blessed and in victory (Ephesians 1:3; 1 John 5:4; Romans
8:28-39).
What this man of God says in his writing and
by his example is: What you can see "only seems to be." The
truth of God in me, which I believe, is that I find myself joyful, in victory,
and having so much to bless others.
In these "Seven as or Seven apostolic
declarations," we find the light that shows us the difference between a
relative and temporal truth and an eternal and spiritual truth.
A truth subject to time, because it is temporary,
changes, so at some point, it will "cease to be."
But an eternal truth, having
come from God and being positional and consummated, remains forever. The
relative feeds fear: the permanent one gives confidence and security because it
is immovable!
The "law of as, or the law of
appearance," expresses a
great truth that could transform how we perceive things. And perhaps more importantly, it teaches us
what our attitude should be to the adverse circumstances of life.
The apostle Paul was one who, when he deserved to look
back at tribulations, was only to remember that suffering and pain are passing
and impermanent. That is why the believer must focus on the ever-more excellent
and eternal weight of glory and thus neutralize the time of anguish and pain.
According to the law of compensation or sowing and
reaping, each of these difficult moments is one more pearl that is added to our
reward or said in apostolic words: "For this slight momentary tribulation
produces in us an ever more excellent and eternal weight of glory" (2
Corinthians 4:8,9,17).
Paul, like Jesus, was a faithful believer in the law of balance and
divine justice; for him, everyone who is to suffer for the sake of the Kingdom
of God is to be justly rewarded (Matthew 10:42; Mark 10:29,30), which is why he wisely chose to base his joy on the eternal
and not on the temporal.
This man of God shows that one of the most important keys to success in
his ministry was the peacefulness and rest received by those who trust in God's
power and protecting word (1 Thessalonians 5:16; Hebrews 4:1,2).
We have benefit, or advantage from the Divine Word, only when we
receive it by believing it in faith, enforcing in our lives the Psalm (37:4),
which advises us: "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give
you the desires of your heart."
The apostle Paul declares to the Corinthians a great measure of faith,
or spiritual rule: (For we live by faith, not by sight); So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen
is eternal (2 Corinthians 5:7; 4:18).
For the believer to live a permanent triumph in the face of adversity, he
must first respond positively to the Word of Faith and the Consummation of the Acquired
Inheritance. Seeing what is not seen makes us experience here and now all the
resources provided by God from eternity.
Paul and Silas clearly show what a mind not subject to the natural
senses can experience (Acts 16:23-26).
What for us would be an undeniable reality of pain; for them, it was only
an appearance because their gaze was fixedly anchored on the dimension of the
eternal and positional realm (Hebrews 6:17-19; Ephesians 1:15-23; Colossians
3:1-3).
Indeed, the peace and trust that comes from Divine Rest
affected their natural senses to such an extent that their experience related to the security of The Day
That Never Ended and not to the transient and relative of the temporal!
The Rest of God
Entering the Perfect Day, The Day That Never Ended!
To read more, the book is available online and in local stores.
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario