FINDING REAL SECURITY

            The longer I live and walk with the Lord, the more aware I am of my weakness and vulnerability to temptation and sin. Although I am not above committing the sins of the flesh as listed in Colossians 3:5, I am much more prone to give in to the sins of the heart listed in Colossians 3:8-9. I agree with Paul that, “in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” As a hymn writer says, I am “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.”

            This wanderlust can be costly. It may cost my reward, as Paul indicates. “If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire, “(1 Corinthians 3:15). How sad it would be to have no crowns to cast at the blessed Savior's feet when I stand before Him!

            Sin costs my fellowship with the Lord, and all the blessings that come with that fellowship. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth,” (1 John 1:6). Sin also can require chastening from the Lord (Hebrews 6:4-8). In fact, this chastening can even result in premature death! (1 Corinthians 11:30, 1 John 5:16).

            I thank God that when He saved me from the guilt and penalty of sin, He saved me forever. This is in spite of myself. If keeping my salvation depended on me, I surely would be eternally separated from God in Hell. My salvation is secure because it is His work, not mine.

            God's grace is so far reaching that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit secure my eternal salvation. In John 3:16, God's promise of eternal life is unconditional to everyone who believes on Christ. I believe, and He keeps me from perishing.

            Jesus pictured the believer as secure in both His hands and the Father's hand. He said, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand,” (John 10:28-29). It is not that no man is able to pluck the believer from their hands, no one can do that. That includes Satan, demons, and even the believer himself. The word translated “no man” is all inclusive. It means absolutely nothing has the power to remove the believer from God's hands.

            It is God's power that saved me. I was powerless to do anything that would result in gaining eternal life. Paul told Titus, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us,” (Titus 3:5). I am also powerless to hold on to the salvation He has provided me through Christ. Peter describes believers as those “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” His power saves and His power keeps.

            God is doing that wonderful work in me that will result in me becoming like Christ. That work will continue until I am with Him in Heaven. Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 1:6). It is His work, and He will continue it until Christ comes to receive us unto Himself. From God's perspective, that work will not be thwarted.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:29,30.

God's purpose for me is to be conformed to Christ. In fact, He already views me as glorified.

            Although I still live in this sin infested world that seeks to destroy my relationship with the Lord, God has already moved me from Satan's dominion to His. Paul told the Colossians that God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son,” (Colossians 1:13). Not only has He placed the believer in His kingdom, He already “hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3). The Lord does not accept me because of my own merit, but I am “accepted in the beloved,” (Ephesians 1:6). Since He accepted me on the merit of Christ, He will not reject me. For the Lord to reject me He would need to reject His Son, Jesus Christ.

            God has secured my deliverance to Heaven, and He has given me a down payment on my Heavenly inheritance. Paul wrote to the Ephesians,

in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13,14.

As the seal, the Holy Spirit guarantees that nothing will keep me from reaching God's destination for me. As the earnest, or down payment, the Holy Spirit guarantees that God will “make good” on the full “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God,” (1 Peter 1:3b-4a).

            What greater motivation is there for me to love Him supremely, serve Him faithfully, and live godly than His unconditional provision for my eternal deliverance from the guilt and penalty of my sin? What amazing love and grace!