Persevering Grace
If the grace of God were
suddenly taken away from you, what would you be? If God removed all of His
restraints of love and grace, what would you do?
Jude, in the last two verses of his postcard epistle, stated our need to
preserve clearly. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to
make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the
only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion
and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" (Jude 24-25).
It is impossible to live the Christian life without keeping ourselves in the
love of God. "Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life" (v. 21). He is able if we are
willing!
True believers are “preserved” and cannot be lost. However, there is the
danger of our stumbling or going astray in out daily walk. We can lose our
fellowship, but not our sonship. If we persist in our disobedience, the Holy
Spirit will chasten us and bring us back into fellowship with God. God in His
sovereign grace has chosen and has saved some of the greatest sinners who have
walked on the face of the earth. He has reached down and cleansed some of the
foulest sins ever committed, and He is still doing it and will continue until
Jesus returns.
The LORD God will be glorified throughout all eternity by that great body of
people who are trophies of God’s grace. "Just as He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him”
(Ephesians 1:4). We have been adopted and placed in God’s family “to
the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the
Beloved” (v.6). Our whole life is to be lived “to the praise of His glory.”
Spurgeon observed, “A thousand Christians can scarcely do such honor to their
Master as one hypocrite can do dishonor to Him. If you have ever tasted that
the Lord is gracious, pray that your foot slip not. It would be infinitely
better to bury you in the earth than see you buried in sin.”
When Jesus returns in glory with those saints who have gone to heaven before
us, they will be arrayed in the righteousness of Christ to the praise of God’s
glory. Christ will “present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no
spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless”
(Ephesians 5:27).
The constant appeal in the New Testament epistles is for the believer to
persevere in prayer, "So that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and
innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world," (Philippians 2:15).
To remain faithful we must live and walk as in the sight of God. Every born
again believer must give great care to perseverance. “Give all diligence to
make your calling and election sure.”
Those individuals whom Jesus Christ has taken into vital union with Himself
shall be with Him where He is for all eternity.
A simple faith brings us into that vital union with Christ. Jesus Christ
keeps that new born faith alive, and that faith enables us to persevere and
enter heaven. “What is the value of union to Christ if that union does not
insure salvation?” Spurgeon asked. God makes all His chosen people persevere
to the end.
Jude teaches us that there are none so bad as those who once seemed to be
good. They are like salt that has lost its character. It is good for nothing.
The person who has been truly saved will persevere. He brings forth fruits
of grace through the inner work of the Holy Spirit. Perseverance is the badge
of the true child of God.
The blood of Jesus shall never lose its power to cleanse all who call upon
His name.
Free grace saves the humble sinner who will believe on Jesus Christ. But it
not only saves, it keeps us saved. The way to be saved is to simply trust
Christ. There is nothing the sinner can do, great or small, because Jesus
Christ has done it all for everyone who believes on Him.
All that a just and righteous God owes any of us is punishment in hell, but
God in His sovereign, saving grace has chosen to reach down to us in our sin and
spiritual poverty and save us. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall
be saved.”
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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