The only way to make it-is to Faith It!

Misplaced Faith?

Impostor syndrome (IS) is a behavioral health phenomenon described as self-doubt of intellect, skills, or accomplishments among individuals. Despite objective and verifiable proof of their success, these individuals are experiencing pervasive feelings of self-doubt, anxiety, depression, and/or apprehension of being exposed as frauds. Their hard work and positive yielding fruit, which should allow them to have a sense of security in their accomplishments or progression causes them to doubt the skill set they posses and often leaves them underwhelmed with their results.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to saints of Rome, is highlighting the very essence of their salvation and justification from sin. While the saints of Rome are primarily gentile, they were mixed with Judaizers, Jewish born Christians who still believed that the OT Law was still the way to salvation and being considered righteous by God. The problem with this understanding is that it undermines the sacrifice of God and therefore made the our sins relevant and our salvation void. If following the law saves, then no one can be saved, and if following the Law was God’s ultimate will then God is thereby only the God of the Jews and therefore nothing of merit or gain to the Gentile. If God was not God to all then, the gentile believer was not saved but still a sinner and therefore an imposter of faith. Their faith that Jesus died for their sins was nullified and they had misplaced their faith in a crazy radical man for no reason and would continually reap the consequences of their actions.

Well if I’m my faith is in vain what else is? Will things not get better, will my life continually have no true value or purpose? Is it possible that after this life I am just reduced to nothing? While I am living will anything get better? Where there is no faith there is no improvement, and where there is misplaced faith there is no true success.

We misplace our faith often in life. Our faith is placed in ideals, people, places, items and objects, our hopes are positioned in some of the most unstable thoughts and intertwined in unsettling emotions, so much that we dedicate unhealthy amounts of times to the pursuit of trivial goals and desires.

Paul had to level set the understanding, not just of the Judaizers, but of the Gentile Christian as well, not for the purpose of making any one feel less than nor for the purpose of lowering expectations and demeaning a Godly standard but to align everyone to a singular faith and magnify the authenticity of their God’s justification.