“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 38 – 39. A child who did not know from day to day whether or not he is a member of the family, if he was good one day he was in, if he was bad, then he was out. One day his father loved him, the next day he didn’t. I tell you that child would be an emotional and a sychological wreck. Fact is, regardless of your behaviour, you are always going to be a member of your family and there is nothing you or they can do about it. Why is that? Because you were born into the family and that can never be changed. So it is with God’s family. If you are in Jesus, you are a part of the family and you can experience all the peace and security that he wants all of his children to enjoy. To be a productive Christian you need to know that your future is absolutely secure if you are to do a great work for Jesus, then you need to be able to focus on the task at hand, instead of always worrying about your future. This type of fear and doubt cripples us and prevents us from reaching our fullest potential as believers. They do not, but neither do they understand that it is Christ living in the believer that makes the Christianity possible. We live in a world of uncertainty and suffer frustrations, tragedies and despair. Yet Paul is certain that nothing in this creation e.g death, life, angels, the demons, the present, the future, powers, height, depth or anything else can think of will be able to separate us from the love of God. God has provided for our victory. We can rest assured that His love will never let us down. All we need to do is trust God and be convinced that He can keep His promises no matter how unlikely that may sometimes appear in our circumstances.
Our present life is characterized by suffering but we are sustained by the hope of our ultimate good and our glorification. More than that, we can take comfort in the promise that what is happening to us is controlled and directed by God for our good. We will not always understand or enjoy the things we experience, but we can be rest assured that we will not experience anything that God does not allow and use for our present and future good. When Joseph was tempted to sleep with Potiphar’s wife, God provided a way out his security was discovered when he told his brothers “You meant it for harm, but God meant it for good” God got him out of Potiphar’s house, Joseph was better off in Prison, than continuing to be tempted. Had he given in to temptation, he would have willingly entered into sin. His security in Christ was to flee, to run from sin. Our sufferings, our groaning, our hope and our joy all are designed for our ultimate good. God is in control and nothing is beyond His power. God has planned for believers to pass through three stages, – they are called, they are justified and they are glorified – Romans 8: 30. God’s call comes through our response in faith and obedience to the gospel message. Those who believe are justified by faith and those who are justified will be glorified with Christ.
The problem of security of the believer comes because people walk in the flesh and not in the spirit or that they have had some sort of emotional religious experience and were never truly regenerated. These truths regarding the believer’s eternal security are designed to serve as a tremendous encouragement and blessing to the believer in the midst of the intense spiritual battle which he or she remains involved with in this life. It also provides the foundation and motivation for our walk of obedience to Christ. It should never be used as a justification for sin though we fully acknowledge that the believer will never be perfect in this nor totally free from sin. The assurance of salvation and the security which it guarantees is found in the word of God, in the internal witness of the Holy Spirit and the enabling of the Holy Spirit in putting to death the deeds of the flesh – Romans 8: 12-17 and 1 John 5: 11-13 this to reaffirm our security in Christ and that we can live a life that assures us of a place in heaven. There is nothing we did to earn eternal life – it was all of grace. And there is nothing
we can do to lose eternal life it is all of grace.
Have a wonderful and glorious week as you are sure of eternal security.
Your brother, friend, pastor & Archdeacon
‘Seyi Pirisola.