of in Romans 6:23, “Sin pays off with death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Oh! And what a gift it is!
A gift we can have no part in, for if we could we would make an absolute mess of it. No! It is a gift that comes through not earning, not performing, not working to maintain, earn or sustain, after all what kind of gift would that be. It comes through us placing our faith in the finished work of Christ and not our own abilities. Since it comes through the sacrifice of Christ and is a gift is why we can now know for sure that we have eternal life. This is the message of 1 John 5:13 which says, “that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life” (The Message).
In John 10:28, Christ said “and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand.” The “them” here means anyone of us. In other words we can never take ourselves or be taken out of Christ’s hands. Now that is security, to know that we can’t even work our way out of God’s hands. Often, as we walk this life of grace, there will be times we will be like the kid in the grocery store trying to squirm out of our mom or dad’s hands. Just like when we were kids, we wanted to run wild and free, untethered to anyone, we wanted to explore, have fun and do as we please. We often will live our lives, serve God, or walk this journey of grace doing just as we please. In fact we will do that more often than we will not. Just as when we tried to squirm out of our mom and dad’s hands and they gripped tighter, so does God. The joy robbing pain of everyday living may often cause us to doubt not only our faith but God’s love. It is during such times of doubt he grabs hold of our hand tighter as he gently whispers “I love you so much.” There really is nothing that can separate us from His radical, passionate love towards us He calls His children (Romans 8:38-39).
Not only is our gift of salvation the greatest gift we will ever receive, it is the only gift we will ever get that never stops giving. We do not just come into a relationship with Christ through grace given freely, it is that same grace God gives new each day that ensures as Paul said in Philippians 1:6, “that He (God) won’t stop before it is complete (making us into Christ’s image) on the day that Christ Jesus returns (ESV).” We do not just get saved through grace, but we continue in our relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit as He finishes this work. Making us new; making us into who we were designed to be (Galatians 3:2-5). Even as we choose to live in obedience out of a grateful heart, it is not in our strength that we do so, but because we are strengthened to do so by that very same grace given freely through Christ (2 Timothy 2:1, ESV). There really is nothing we can do, nor do we have any part in making sure that when Christ returns we are presented to God blameless (God will not hold anything against us, 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
In a world demanding us to perform and meet standards to qualify to be accepted. Where everyday it seems just living life is an ever increasing weight of burden. Where it just seems that we will never make it, where some have even stopped trying and the acceptance and approval we seek seems so far out of reach. Where the to do lists seem to get longer and the list of people we need not fail, we need to please grows larger by the day. There is great comfort in knowing that God always finishes His to do list. His number one priority on that list is those He calls His own (Psalms 33:10-11). Because God has promised to finish what He started and because our salvation is 100% His work. We no longer need to meet someone else’s standards, list of qualifications or fear the disapproval of others. God has already qualified us. Made us accepted to Him, through Christ and made us ready for the inheritance He has waiting for us (Colossians 1:12-14, ESV).
So we can rest assured, have no doubt that it is not about our ability to be obedient but it is about Christ’s ability to do so. We do not retain the gift because we are able to live a life pleasing to God but because Christ did (2 Corinthians 3:4-5, ESV). Because it is about Christ’s obedience and not our failure is also why Paul said, “there is no more condemnation (penalty of shame or disapproval from God) for those who are in Christ Jesus” and that “no-one could condemn us” (Romans 8:1, 34). The attacks of others because they feel we are not meeting up to their standards or the shame we used to feel or still feel no longer needs to cause us to feel we will never make it, we just can’t do it. Truth is, we cannot, but Christ could. God no longer holds any accusations against us and if He does not no-one else, including ourselves, matters.
Continuing in this walk and in our relationship does not happen by looking to how obedient, deserving, holy, or responsible we are but to the One who brought us into a relationship with Him and will one day finish the work of changing us and making us into His image (Hebrews 12:2). It is because He is working on our behalf and because He became sin for us and continues to intercede (go before the Father on our behalf) for us, that we can now be one hundred percent sure, without a doubt that we have life eternal. Christ was perfect but in order so that we might be able to stand before God blameless, on the cross he took on all the things we have ever done wrong and will do wrong. In other words Christ went “It’s on me. I got this,” for our sin. He paid the bill for our debt of sin.
I know I belong to Christ because I have believed in Jesus Christ as my only Savior and Redeemer from eternal destruction. It’s not the evidences of my life that are my basis for knowing that. It’s the Word of God. God said it. That settles it.‡
‡ Earl Radmacher, The Grace Evangelical Society News. Vol. 10. No.3. May-June 1995.
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