Last week we discussed the inevitability of change and the fears and worries that can arise as a result. Even though we experience change often, it is still difficult for us to lay down control at the feet of Jesus knowing that He is our firm foundation. Likewise, it is easy to wonder if our faith is real, and if we are truly in Christ.
As a young girl, there were several times where I prayed that “prayer” afraid that my past repentance was not enough to ensure my salvation. I am sure many of you did the same or at least know someone who did. I knew one girl who prayed the “prayer” ten times!
As an older Christian who has learned far more about the Lord, His character, and the true Gospel, the fact that I thought I needed to be “saved” every time I sinned is humorous now! There is nothing we do that ensures our salvation. It is Christ and Christ alone who saves us by His grace. Colossians 1: 21-23 says,
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
We were once dead in our sins with no way to ever become righteous or worthy to be in the presence of God. But God made a way through the blood of Christ allowing us to have a relationship with Him if we repent of our sins, confess that Jesus is the Son of God, submit our lives to His lordship, and willingly serve Him for all of our days.
Nevertheless, even though I know now that it is Christ alone who saves, there are still times where I weakly wonder if I will hold fast to the faith that I have been called to by God. Do I truly know the Lord? Do I love Him? Am I serving Him or myself? While these can be good questions to reflect upon, my hope is that it would not be from a place of doubt in the Lord. For we will have times where we are faithless. There will always be moments where we fail to serve the Lord and find ourselves serving ourselves. Yet, it is He who holds us fast. It is not within our ability to be faithful, but He has given us new hearts and new spirits that desire to obey Him. He gives us the ability to be faithful through Him. Jude 24 is a verse of praise that proclaims, “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” To him, Jude says. It is not us, but him who keeps us from stumbling so that our “whole spirit, soul and body [will] be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” for he who calls us “is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5: 23-24). He is faithful even when we are faithless.
Sometimes the fear that the things I believe about the Lord are wrong begins to creep into my mind, or the worry that I am being deceived in some way. Every book in the New Testament and several of the Old Testament prophets warn the people of God against false teachers and prophets. The other day I was reading the words of Jesus to His disciples in the gospel of Mark, and they encouraged me greatly. Jesus describes to His disciples the wickedness of the end times, then encourages them with this message:
“If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time” (Mark 13: 20-23, my italics).
Jesus himself says that these false messiahs and false prophets will try to deceive those who are chosen by Him, if it is even possible, indicating that Jesus is claiming that this is not really a possibility. Those who have been brought back from death to life by the death of Christ will not fall from the faith for they recognize that they had no hope without Him. Now, some might ask, “What about all of the Christians they talk about in the news or in the headlines who have fallen away from the faith?” What I would say to them is that those individuals have not experienced true life in Christ. If they had, there would be nothing that could drag them away from the love of God. Paul declares in Romans 8,
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (vv. 35-39)
There is nothing that can separate those who are in Christ Jesus from God. It is impossible for them to lose their salvation for His spirit is inside of them as a witness that they are changed for all of eternity!
As 2 Timothy 2: 19 states, “But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.’” He knows those who are His! If we believe that God knows all things and is actively involved in every detail of the world, then we can trust that He knows completely and intimately those who are His. And those who are His depart from iniquity because they recognize that sin brings death. Now that we are in Christ, He transforms our hearts to desire things that are true, excellent, lovely, etc. (Philippians 4: 4). This also reminds us that just because we are in Christ, it does not give us a free pass to sin. Paul vehemently declares in Romans 6, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” Just because we know that it is not our actions that save us, there is a change that comes about when we submit our life to Christ. If you think about it, we were once slaves of sin and enemies of God. We were serving the prince of darkness. We cannot claim to serve the Most High God, the King of Light, and Lord of Lords, while still wanting to sin- for this is an act of worship to the prince of darkness, not to God.
1 John 3 sums up these ideas very well for those who are struggling with doubt.
“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us” (vv. 21-24).
The Spirit of God testifies to our hearts that we are believers because we desire to keep His commands and please the Lord. This does not mean we will always do this perfectly, but the important thing to remember when we do fail is that it is only by the mercy of God that we recognize our sin and desire to flee from it. He is the one who will always hold us fast.
Comentários