Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life-gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.
The Christian life is stamped by 'moral spontaneous originality,' consequently the disciple is open to the same charge that Jesus Christ was, viz., that of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent to God, and the Christian must be consistent to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to hard and fast creeds. Men pour themselves into creeds, and God has to blast them out of their prejudices before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of living a life consistent with the teachings and essence of Jesus, rather than rigidly following doctrines.
Oswald Chambers highlights that the Christian life should be marked by genuine originality and moral spontaneity, which may lead to perceived inconsistencies akin to those attributed to Jesus. However, true consistency lies in aligning oneself with the life of Christ rather than adhering to stringent doctrines, suggesting that personal devotion to Jesus transcends institutional beliefs and requires an openness to divine guidance.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a church sermon to illustrate the nature of authentic faith.
More from Oswald Chambers
All quotes βNever make the blunder of trying to forecast the way God is going to answer your prayer.
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God.
When we preach the love of God there is a danger of forgetting that the Bible reveals not first the love of God but the intense, blazing holiness of God, with His love at the center of that holiness.
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we mistake panic for inspiration.
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion.
Similar quotes
Children have the strangest adventures without being troubled by them. For instance, they may remember to mention, a week after the event happened, that when they were in the wood they had met their dead father and had a game with him.
Forty years after a battle it is easy for a non-combatant to reason about how it ought to have been fought. It is another thing personally and under fire to direct the fighting while involved in the obscuring smoke of it.
The title of hero is bestowed by the survivors upon the fallen, who themselves know nothing of heroism.
The great man, Genghis Khan, only knew how to shoot eagles with an arrow. The past is past. To see real heroes, look around you.
Perhaps the seeds of false-refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and defections of their race, in a premature and unnatural manner, undermine the very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption through the whole mass of society!
Hold fast then to this sound and wholesome rule of life; indulge the body only as far as is needful for health.