Assurance

Teaching would be a great…if it wasn’t for all the kids.  We’ve all heard that saying numerous times; I’ve even mentioned it in jest a few myself.  It wasn’t until recently, though, when I was thinking about that phrase that I said, “Boy, I’m sure glad God doesn’t feel that way about us.”

Just imagine it, the Creator being fed up with the created to the point He questioned if all this was worth it.  Imagine the questions in our heads; the fear that one might not retain their salvation because they annoyed God too much one day, the questioning “If I did/worked a little more to please Him would he forgive me”.  Can you imagine the sheer chaos the world would see if we a) had to work to get this forgiveness and b) work to keep our forgiveness!

Praise the Lord that we live in a world where God does not treat us the way we treat each other…even when it is in jest!  We are promised from the very beginning of our lives…even before our lives started that Christ sacrificed himself for us as atonement for our sins.  (Romans 5:8)  We praise the living God that gives us life while we were spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1, Col. 2:13).  This new life is a free gift, a gift of love, a gift bought through sacrifice.  We should celebrate with endless joy, in my opinion, what we are given…for it is the greatest gift a person can receive.

A problem can arise, however, when the devil stirs doubt in us; doubt if we are “good enough”, “if we deserve being saved”, if we “really meant it” when “we got” saved.  And this is where the beauty lies; we didn’t do a thing for our salvation…we can’t!  We are given sanctification; there is nothing we do or can do in this process…no appeal to the judge, no forming a committee, no application forms, no fees to be paid, no 6-8 weeks reply in the mail….are we getting the picture.  It is not by grace and a little bit of myself that gets the job done…it is by GRACE ALONE!  For it is grace you are saved through faith.  And this is not of you own doing; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8).  It is grace alone through faith; the faith that has been worked in us by the Holy Spirit, who opened our hearts and understanding to The Word in the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).

It’s a glorious thing!  God loves us so much that He sent His Son to save us; and on top of the grace that is given to us is also the knowledge that throughout our lives God will not grow tired or sick of us and change his mind about our worth.  So let’s take comfort and assurance in the Word of God; rest easy in the knowledge that It and He are constant.