~ The Absolute Commitment
of God to the Believer! ~
The doctrine of “eternal
security” (sometimes described as “once saved—always saved”) is widely accepted
with Christianity. There are however
some who deny this important teaching of Scripture—by pulling verses out of
their context to make them say something other than intended. In this series we look at what the Word of
God has to say about the subject. “Him
who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).
The following is a quote from Max Lucado’s
book Glory Days:
Jimmy Wayne never knew his father. His mom spent more time in prison than
out. When he was twelve years old, she
was released from jail and took up with a troublemaker. They loaded Jimmy into the backseat of the
Olds Delta 88, and for a year the car was his home. “It had bench seats and smelled like body
odor,” remembers Jimmy. They drove from
city to city, avoiding the police.
After miles of drifting they dumped
Jimmy in the parking lot of a Pensacola, Florida, bus station and drove
off. He was thirteen years old. He had no home. No future.
No provision. One day while
wandering through a neighborhood, he spotted an older man who was at work in a
garage wood shop.
He approached the elderly gentleman
and asked if the man had any work. The
carpenter sized up the boy, assessed him to be home-less, and decided to give
him a chance. The man introduced himself
as Russell. He called for his wife, Bea,
to come to the garage. They showed Jimmy
the lawn mower and how to operate it.
For several weeks Jimmy cut the
couple’s grass and survived on the twenty dollars they paid him each week. After some time Bea asked Jimmy where he
lived. At first he lied, afraid she
wouldn’t let a homeless boy work. But
finally she convinced him to tell her the truth. When he did, the couple took him in.
They gave him his own bedroom,
bathroom, and place at the dinner table.
The home was like heaven to Jimmy.
He took a hot bath and ate hot meals.
He even sat with the family in the living room and watched television in
the evening. Still, in spite of their
kindness, Jimmy refused to unpack his bag.
He’d been turned away so many times that he’d learned to be wary. For four days his plastic bag sat on the
floor, full of clothes, ready to be snatched up when Bea and Russell changed
their minds.
He was in the house but not in the
house. He was under the roof but not
under the promise. He was with the
family but didn’t behave like a family member.
Russell eventually convinced Jimmy
to unpack and move in. It took several
days, a dozen or so meals, and more than one heart-to-heart conversation. But Russell persuaded Jimmy to trust them to
care for him.1
Our Father is still working to convince us.
Maybe you question your place in
God’s family. You fear His impending
rejection. You wrestle with doubt-laced
questions: Am I really in God’s family?
What if God changes His mind?
Reverses His acceptance? Lord
knows, He has reason to do so. We press
forward only to fall back. We renew our
resolve only to stumble again.
We wonder, Will
God turn me out?
Boyfriends do. Employers do.
Coaches kick players off the team.
Teachers expel students from school.
Parents give birth to children and abandon them at bus stations. How do we know God won’t do the same? What if he changes His mind about us? After all, He is holy and pure, and we are
anything but. Is it safe to unpack our
bags?
God answered this question at the
Cross. When Jesus died, the heavenly
vote was forever cast in your favor and mine.
He declared for all to hear, “This child is my child. My covenant will
never change.”
Promised Land people believe
this. They trust God’s hold on them more
than their hold on God. They place their
trust in the finished work of Christ.
They deeply believe that they are “delivered… from the power of darkness
and conveyed… into the kingdom of the Son” (Colossians 1:13). They know that Jesus was serious when He
said, “[My children] shall
never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28
NIV).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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