The Gulf (1)

The difference between faith and presumption is both minuscule and enormous.  Regarding salvation of the eternal soul, I fear there are far too many who have not assessed the slight difference and are on the wrong side of a great gulf.  In such a serious matter, there should be no room for belief without basis, or for unfounded faith.

Presumption is rooted in the pride of life and was one of the three points of temptation of both Jesus in the wilderness of Judea and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Eve presumed that she would become wise.  Jesus was tempted to presume that angels would bear him up if he cast himself from the temple’s pinnacle.  Presumption is a wolf in the sheep’s clothing of feigned faith.  It has all the appearances of the genuine, but without the basis of reality… the truth.  Truth is the foundation of all real faith… anything else is a presumptuous counterfeit.

No sincere church member would want to admit that his belief of salvation is incorrect because there runs deep within the soul of humanity a root of spiritual pride.  We (as a race) are lost but cannot bear to admit that we are.  This pride is our undoing by causing our hearts and minds to become fertile ground for the planting of false teaching, which will erroneously comfort our souls.  The comfort of lies is short-lived; we should avoid it at all cost.  

Have you ever stepped out of your home believing you were carrying the house key with you?  With doors locked you went on your way in faith that you would be able to enter the house upon your return.  Was it really faith?  Could it have been presumption?  Both faith and presumption produce a strong belief, however one is based on reality and the other is based on erroneous thinking… an assumption.  The sincere belief that you had your house key does not mean that you actually did, and if you did not your mindset would be presumptuous.  Your belief would not have been founded in faith, but in presumption.   

A true knowledge of the key’s possession could only be gained if the key’s presence was actually verified.  You would have to search for it and find it in order to truly know that you have the key.  At that point your belief would actually be faith and not presumption.  Verification is the key to faith… that requires a search… a thorough search. 

How long could one erroneously believe that he had the key and yet have staunch “faith” that he did.  Minutes?  Hours?  Days? Months? Even years!  One could believe for any length of time, but when it came time to enter the house the truth will be found out.

Jesus told the religious people of his time that they should “search the scriptures”, and that “in them ye think ye have eternal life.”  He was against presumptive beliefs.  A thousand years earlier Solomon stated, “There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.”  What we think, or what seems right, are only pitfalls of unfounded belief.

In the judgment scenario described by Jesus in chapter 7 of Matthew, those who had believed presumptuously for their salvation were shocked to find the judge rendering a verdict totally out of line with their expectations.  Their stunned cry was, “Lord, Lord have we not done many wonderful works?”  They had strong belief… strong enough to do great works… but the basis of their faith was not on verified salvation.  While they performed great works, they presumed a salvation that they did not truly possess!

This is the house built on the sand… it looks good, but cannot stand in the Day of Judgment.  They left thinking they had the key, but did not verify with the scriptural search demanded by Jesus.  The challenge to us is to put aside spiritual pride and humbly seek the Lord and his word for the “rock” foundation upon which we must build our spiritual house.

The purpose of this writing is to help in the verification process.  I want to be on the right side of the great gulf separating the faithful from the presumptuous.  May your faith be in the verified Word of God, and may you enjoy this search to the end that you may be saved in the day you meet with the great God and Savior… JESUS CHRIST!