Truth #126 - We walk by faith, not by sight - 2 Corinthians 4-5

2 Corinthians 5:7
for we walk by faith, not by sight.

When God saved us He saved us by the atonement of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, by His grace, through faith in Christ's finished work.  Our salvation can't have one ounce of our effort, for grace would not be grace if there was an effort of work on our side.   God wants us to approach Him in faith and live in faith ... that is what pleases God.   Note how faith plays into the lives of believers:  We can only please God by faith (Hebrews 11:6); we stand by faith (1 Corinthians 16:13); we walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7); we live by faith (Galatians 2:20); we fight by faith (Ephesians 6:16).    Faith is the doorway into God's grace.    When we attempt to live by sight we get what the Corinthian believers were doing.   The believers at Corinth were not focusing on faith in what God had told them or what Paul had taught them, were rather focused on what they could see.   The immediate subject of chapter five is the resurrection of the body.    To understand what happens to believers after death and, in particular, the "tent" we now live in (our body), we must approach this area, like all areas of the Christian walk, by faith.    There is no part of the Christian walk that doesn't first and foremost go through this door: Faith.    When Peter was walking on water toward Jesus, after Jesus beckoned him to come out of the boat toward Him, he was doing just fine.  He was "walking" on water by faith.   But, note what happens next:

Matthew 14:30
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

The text states, "When he saw the wind."    Peter stopped believing in Christ words and started acting by what he saw.  That is a formula for failure.     When the Israelites were exiting from Egypt they saw the flame of fire sent by God to lead them during the night and the cloud of covering to lead them day.  Note what happens when they cease to look at the cloud and the flame and rather set their "sights" on the approaching army of Pharaoh:

Exodus 14:19-20
Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Because they were so foolish to live by sight at that moment, God moved the cloud directly into their line of sight so that they could see Him and His providential care.   God is constantly giving us opportunity to trust Him, especially when our sight sees something else.  To the world Christ's death was simply a failed coup of the Roman empire.    To those who live by faith it was the victory over death and the source of eternal life.   We live by faith, not by sight.