I wanted to expand on Jack’s From Christ to Churchianity — Part 6: The Law as an Expression of Morality a bit and it turned a bit too long for a comment.

True Morality is a mimetic and yet true expression of honor and respect for the Person who embodies the Moral Law, Jesus Christ.  Human laws are a logical reduction of morality that serve as a reference point for human reasoning and logical debate (such as in a courtroom), intended explicitly for the benefit and guidance of the morally undiscerning, but are also intended to point the undiscerning to an awareness of a moral recognizance of Christ.  True morality cannot be expressed via Law, apart from this recognizance.

The Moral Law, including human laws as much as possible, should serve as a frame of reference for people who lack the moral / spiritual maturity to connect directly to God and thereby know right from wrong.  However, that connection, that inspiration to faith, was always the intention of the Law, to draw people into His personal presence, to get to know Him as Father and Lord.  If human jurisprudence fails in this task, then it has failed in its purpose, and perhaps failed altogether.

It seems to me that the competence framework may be a solid analogy for faith and reason in these terms. It’s not perfect but in this analogy, faith would be unconscious and reason would be conscious and incompetence would be lack of morality whereas competence would be being able to live morally.

1. Unconscious incompetence (Ignorance)
2. Conscious incompetence (Awareness)
3. Conscious competence (Learning)
4. Unconscious competence (Mastery)

Prior to believe in Jesus, we live in unconscious incompetence. Our Faith in this circumstance is that we live by feelings and justify them in hedonism, vain philosophies, and even nihilism. Without reason we unconsciously incompetent in understanding morality. This is why the Gospel in Romans places

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame. 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

There is a big element of understanding the gospel — that we are sinners in need of a Savior, Jesus Christ — and to repent and believe in Him. This understanding of reason is how we become a Christian.

However, once we gain faith we are conscious to our incompetence with morality. We can then use reason to improve our competence or morality.

2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

We add on goodness, knowledge (of the Truth), self control, perseverance, and these grow into godliness, brotherly love, and love. This is how we become consciously competence in the faith. We understand the reason (conscious) and live it out (competence of morality).

However, to truly move to “faith that can move mountains” per Jesus we need to start to suspend reason and truly walk by faith in God which would be unconscious competence. Or perhaps better termed as “walking by the Spirit” in Galatians 5 with the fruit of the Spirit but in all things. I think many true Christians have had instances where they’ve felt the nudge to do things that defy reason and rely heavily on Faithful competence.

  • You’re dealing with a tough time and God directs you to the right Scripture that resonates with you or the right person speaks into your life when you need it.
  • God nudges you to talk to someone at the store or at Church and encourage them or even do things for them and it was just the thing they needed at that time or an answer to their prayer.
  • I’ve had my own conversations since starting this blog with men where I was seemingly introduced to them at the right time to remove the wool from their eyes about the truthfulness about relationships and marriage between men and women and husbands and wives. I’ve helped them turn around their marital situations or their issues with their girlfriend.

These things are beyond our own reason, but we know by faith that God is orchestrating things in the background. But this step is usually mainly reached once we become more and more mature as believers (though it does happen to new Christians too) because we are grounded thoroughly in understanding that all we do is not grounded in the Law but the Moral Good of our neighbor.