Does Faith in God Make us Invincible and Devoid of Responsibility to Lock our Doors? (Matt 2:22)

"But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee." (Matt.2:22)

Faith-life in this world is doesn't mean that we should not lock our doors. It is not about supernatural invincibility and perfection all the time. Sometimes, God can also guide us through rational fear. A few verses earlier, God tells Joseph to flee to Egypt. Joseph could have argued, "Why flee? Isn't God powerful to protect us? Is Herod greater than God?" But, Joseph didn't; he just obeyed. And, then we may argue that God could have averted the death of so many infants. Why didn't He send legions of angels for the protection of the little ones? But, He didn't. There were times when Jesus Himself hid. It was not possible for the High Priests and his soldiers to find Jesus without having got a traitor like Judas on their side. The heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 not only received their dead raised to life again; some were also "tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection." (Heb.11:35). Doctrines that teach full invincibility and divine protection without any personal responsibility or action are strange to the Bible. Christians do go to hospital, use locks on their doors, and drive on the correct side of road; they are normally expected to.

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Marbaniang, Domenic

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