2 Corinthians 5:7 - How To Really Live!
2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight:
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV) We live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NCV) We live by what we believe, not by what
we can see.
Two interesting models for translating this brief verse are:
"faith is our guide, not sight" (REB) and "we live by what we believe,
not by what we can see" (NCV). (UBS Translator Handbook Series)
A distinguishing quality of a person of faith is that he has a
stronger attachment to God than to his environment; in other words, he
finds his reason for living in God rather than in his surroundings.
[Megiddo Message Magazine]
Faith and feeling are as distinct as the east is from the west....
(Letter 7, 1892).
The beginning point of faith is believing in God's character --
he is who he says he is. The end point is believing in God's
promises -- he will do what he says he will do..... This confidence in the
realities that are unseen allows believers to persevere in this faith,
regardless of persecution, opposition, or temptation. (Life Application
Commentary)
The Word becomes real to us when we act on it. Genuine belief
results in corresponding action. (Jam.2:22; Pro.16:3; Joh.20:29;
2Co.5:7) [SS Quarterly 1/27/04]
Good works strengthens faith? Sinful works weaken faith!
(Jam.2:22; Pro.16:3; Joh.20:29; 2Co.5:7) [SS Quarterly 1/27/04]
Doubts need to be confronted with words of faith and action.
Take God at His word. Do what the Bible says, and faith will come.
(Jam.2:22; Pro.16:3; Joh.20:29; 2Co.5:7) [SS Quarterly 1/27/04]
Paul lived by faith, not by sight. But this faith was not blind
trust; it was a certain confidence in the Word of God. When you know
where you are going, no storm can frighten you or enemy defeat you.
The outward man might be perishing (4:16), but what difference did
that make? Paul knew that glory lay on the other side. [Wiersbe
Expository Outlines]
Knowing that the future is secure in the Lord is an
encouragement when you suffer (Rom.8:18-25; 2Co.5:1-8). [Chapter by Chapter
Bible Commentary by Warren Wiersbe re Isa.26]
To walk by faith, is to live in the confident expectation of
things that are to come; in the belief of the existence of unseen
realities; and suffering them to influence us as if they were seen.
(Barnes' Notes)
Faith is for this world, and sight is for the other world. It is
our duty, and it will be our interest, to walk by faith, till we
live by sight. [Matthew Henry Commentary]
How comfortable and courageous we ought to be in all the
troubles of life, and in the hour of death:... True Christians, if they
duly considered the prospect faith gives them of another world, and
the good reasons of their hope of blessedness after death, would be
comforted under the troubles of life, and supported in the hour of death:
they should take courage, when they are encountering the last enemy,
and be willing rather to die than live, when it is the will of God
that they should put off this tabernacle. (Matthew Henry's
Commentary)
The "Elijah complex" can rob you of power and joy, so beware!
Elijah went from victory to defeat because he started walking by sight
and not by faith (v. 3). He believed the queen's words but not God's
word, and he forgot how God had cared for him for three and a half
years. Fear replaced faith, and he ran for his life.We need to obey
these words: "Do not be afraid; only believe" (Mark 5:36). [Chapter by
Chapter Bible Commentary by Warren Wiersbe re 1Ki.19]
Caleb was one of the spies whom Moses sent to explore the
Promised Land. Upon returning, only he and Joshua reported that the
Israelites should obey God and enter the land. The other spies insisted
that such a mission would be too dangerous, and the people sided with
them. That entire generation died in the wilderness (see Numbers
13-14, March 9-10). Only Caleb and Joshua were allowed to live and
eventually enter the land.
What was the secret to Caleb's faith? He persevered. Caleb
refused to go with the majority opinion when it contradicted what he
knew to be God's will. Because of his faithfulness to the will and
purposes of God, Caleb never lost his spiritual edge. He had to endure
forty years of desert wandering before he could enter the Promised
Land, yet he never doubted God's ability to carry through on his
promise.
You've begun a spiritual walk with the Lord that will last the
rest of your life. You will face "desert" times that might cause you
to doubt God's promises. Like Caleb, stand for God's truth, no
matter what the rest of the crowd says. Like Caleb, trust God to carry
through on his promises. [The One Year Bible for New Believers re Jos.
14:6-14]
God had told the people to enter and possess the land, but they
preferred to spy it out just to see if God was really telling the truth!
Well, He was - it was a rich land, a beautiful land, and a fruitful
land. But there were giants! "We are not able to overcome!" This
was the majority report.
The minority report came from Caleb and Joshua, and Moses agreed
with them: "We are well able to overcome it!" This is the Old
Testament version of Romans 8:31: "If God be for us, who can be against
us?" The majority saw the obstacles, and they were bigger than their
God. The minority saw God, and the obstacles disappeared!
Unbelief always cries and complains. It plays the same tune:
"We are not able!" The nation had the promises of God to lean on
and the presence of God to depend on, but they preferred to walk by
sight. It cost them forty years in the wilderness, the world's longest
funeral march!
Christians do not fight for victory; we fight from victory.
Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). John said, "This is
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 Jo.5:4).
Either we are overcomers - or overcome. Warren Wiersbe; [Time
with God SB]
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