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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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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