Inside Out Living

I was reading in Mark 6 and I was struck by something very curious. I had noticed this before, but for some reason today it took me somewhat by surprise. Jesus when he was in Nazareth was unable to do "any might miracles" because "of their unbelief." (Mark 6:5) At first glance this may seem to fly in the face of the doctrine of the omnipotence of God. However I don't think that it is actually the case. And in case your wondering I am not going to argue from the standpoint that because Jesus is the GodMan that his attribute of omnipotence is somehow limited or changed. That would be an entirely different discussion which I am not going to get into today. Someday, but today is not the day.

What this curious passage does communicate to us is that there is a connection between our faith and the power of God. In order to understand how Jesus can fully possess the divine attribute of omnipotence and yet be limited by the faith of the people that he is ministering to, we have to return to a biblical understanding of what omnipotence means. Biblically, omnipotence means that God has the power to do all that He wills to do. This is an important distinction from a simple understanding of omnipotence as just all-powerful. Now, how can we apply this to the situation of Jesus in Nazareth. Well, if you read the New Testament carefully you will discover that God does not work in isolation of the faith of people. Basically what I saying here is that God will, in many circumstances, freely choose to limit what He is doing based on people's faith.

This means that sometimes whether God's work gets accomplished or not isn't dependent upon God's desires or ability, but rather it is dependent upon the faith of his people. Why would God do this? Because God, in his wisdom and grace, has freely chosen to partner with us His people, in working out His plan of salvation and restoration in this world.