True faith begins in humility and brokenness, there is no other path, we must admit that God is Sovereign and Holy, that we have an end, that we are sinful in His eyes, and have no hope outside of Christ. Pride is the greatest deterrent to humility, humility begs for forgiveness, pride never begs, humility understands it is frail, weak, and in need, pride knows no master, can be instructed in little, and believes itself to be the servant of none.
Man is filled with self-centered pride from his youth, humility is seen as a weakness, pride sees humility as an easy target. No one who allows pride to rule their lives, or vanity, lust, greed, or any other sin that is placed on the throne of their life, can know true faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) Pride needs to be seen, it desires constant recognition, it must be fed continuously, it says “my will,” never another’s. Humility recognizes within itself a weakness, yet it does not see it as a disadvantage, but an opportunity to grow more in the grace and mercy of the Lord, it rests firmly on His strength, never its own.
Moses was the meekest man who ever lived, (Numb. 12:3) and many there were that mistook his meekness for weakness, but two things stood out in this man, his humility before God, and the power of God that worked through him because of his submissive, humble spirit. No man can see God and live, (Exo. 33:20) but if we could, at that very moment, even if He was to show even the smallest amount of the power He has, all pride would flee from us. This is why the statement is true, true faith begins in humility, for true faith recognizes that God alone is worthy of all praise and honor.
The brokenness of a man is not that which the world interprets it as, it has little to do with the mind or the flesh, but with the soul, the majority of the people that the Lord calls He first breaks, He places them in positions that only He can rescue them from, He breaks a man of self and pride. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14) And those whom He has determined to choose have come to the realization of not only who He is, but their need for Him, few that meet the Lord ever desire to be apart from Him. After the cross, after we come to call Him Lord, we can see the brokenness in others, what they call life, and thus our journey begins, to reach the lost, to assist them in seeing their sins, their need for Jesus. It is why we feel so intently a brokenness within ourselves when after we are saved, we sin against His Holiness, and that brokenness again will lead the born-again believer to repent, for when He withdraws His presence from us, we know a brokenness of fellowship with Him that the world has no comparison to.
Here is where those who are only deceiving themselves concerning their salvation must be assisted, for a moment in time of an emotional response that is not followed by obedience to the Word and will of God is not saving faith. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:20) They may have flowery, spiritual words, they may attend church and even hold positions of authority in it, but without the visible works of the Spirit of God, they are no more saved than the lost who deny Him. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” (James 2:18) It is not possible, the man who has the Holy Spirit of God residing in him can no more deny the Spirit than he can deny his own flesh sustenance. We can quench the Spirit, (1 Thess. 5:19) but this is a grievous error, and guarantees punishment from the Lord, perhaps even unto the death of the flesh. It is why it can be difficult at times for some to be able to discern the lost from the saved, the lost can behave as saved men, and saved men can rebel against the commandments of the Most High. The previous though is the most visible, for there are many who profess Christ as Lord who do not lead a godly life, they excel at the pretenses, but are easily discerned with just a few, well thought out questions.
The man of true faith in Christ will many times over let his life stray from the path, for we are weak, but his brothers and sisters in Christ will see this change, for it will be quite noticeable, and they will do all they can to bring him back into the fold, as it were, but they are also wise, if he will not return, he will be treated as a gentile, (Matt. 18:17) and may, if he continues to follow the pleasures of sin for longer than a season, find the truth revealed to him from Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6) But those children of His that rebel, those servants who will not serve, will be punished, and they should expect it to be done unto them.
In humility and brokenness we come to the Lord, we leaves His presence, as it were, to return to a world filled with pride and arrogance, we are to be obedient to His calling until He calls us home. He never promised it would be easy, in fact, He promised just the opposite, but He did promise to never leave us or forsake us.
