He says he’s a Christian, but …

How can we know if someone is a true follower of Christ?

• Should we even try to discern another person’s faith?
• Isn’t this between the person and God and no one else’s business? 

I can think of a few important reasons why we sometimes have to do our best to discern the authenticity of someone else’s faith.

1. Most importantly because we love the person and want what is eternally best for them. 
2. Sometimes we must know because we don’t want to violate II Corinthians 6:14-15 – by being unequally yoked together with an unbeliever.
3. We especially need to know when deciding whether or not to marry another person (see: I Corinthians 7:39). 
4. There is a great danger of self-deception on this matter (Matthew 7:21-23).

When evaluating the genuineness of another’s faith, search your own heart first. Jesus said, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). With these concerns in place, let me suggest a few important considerations and please don’t miss my final point!

1. Verbal profession of faith does not always mean true possession of faith

We live in a fake it till you make it culture. So, for example, in the decision of marriage, you need more than verbal profession from the one your considering. You need substantive evidence of one’s love for God and commitment to follow Him. Remember the words of warning from Jesus:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23).

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?” (James 2:14). “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” (James 2:19-20).

Thought: People can come into the Christian community and culturally adapt by learning acceptable practices and words, and yet deceive both themselves and the community as to the genuineness of their salvation.

The most sobering illustration of this is Judas. Jesus revealed to the twelve that one of them would betray Him (John 13:21). Did the disciples all say, “We know who that is!”? No. According to John 13:22, the disciples were unsure about who Jesus intended. Judas had so cunningly hidden his true identity that none of the others immediately thought of him. A parallel gospel informs us that, “each one began to say to Him, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’” (Mt. 26:22).

2. Fruit inspection

“just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions” (Matt. 7:20). “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT).

3. Objective measures for confirming genuine believers

1. The primary direction and characteristics of a person’s life- I John 3:9 (NIV)
2. Works of the flesh vs. the fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:19-24.
3. The wisdom from below vs. the wisdom from above – James 3:12-18.
4. The works of darkness vs. the fruit of the Light – Ephesians 5:5-11.
5. The description of the unrighteous – I Corinthians 6:9-11.
6. Love for the world vs. love of the Father-  I John 2:15-17.
7. Love for other believers – I John 3:14; 5:1.
8. Keeping God’s commandments – I John 2:4, Ti. 1:16.

4. Five desires found in true believers - A practical summary for easy communication

1. To please God (II Corinthians 5:9)
2. To know God’s Word (I Peter 2:1-2)
3. To be with God’s people (Hebrews 10:25;I Jn 5:1)
4. To share the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20)
5. To overcome sin (I John 3:9)

Thought: While it is clearly possible for a true believer to have serious moments of disobedience and unfruitfulness, the focus of the lists above is on the primary emphasis of one’s life (Rom. 7:19; I Jn. 2:1; II Pet. 1:5-10).

If the overall direction and characteristics of a person’s life is described by the negative side in the 8 lists above, the person does not have any firm reason to believe that he or she is saved.

If my life testifies against my profession—the apostle Paul’s words apply: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves.” (II Cor. 13:5).

5. What do these verses imply about one who truly comes to faith in Christ?

• Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
• Luke 18:13,14 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ”I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.’”
• I Peter 5:5 “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

A final consideration - Not hungry or thirsty enough

“I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35 cf. John 4:14).

From these words, we learn that belief is not merely an agreement with facts about God. It is also a matter of appetite, of longing, of hungering and thirsting and finding satisfaction and fulfillment in the one who is the bread of life itself.

Belief is not merely thinking correctly about God and Jesus.  It’s a turning to Jesus as the source of nourishment for life (tasting and seeing).  Rarely is unbelief solely or mainly a matter of changing one’s mind about facts.  It’s a turning of one’s heart away from the Creator and Redeemer. Unbelief, therefore, involves a turning of the heart away from God to search for satisfaction from something or someone else.

Remember these words

“Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). Blessed are the poor, needy, hungry and thirsty.  Augustine prayed, “Hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee…”  We add that hearts are hungry until they find satisfaction in God; Our hearts are thirsty until quenched by God.

Steve Cornell

Please take time to listen to this message: What Should you Expect?

 

Profession vs. Possession of Salvation

“Those whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved” (Westminster Confession of Faith).

“Perseverance may be defined as that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer, by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart, is continued and brought to completion” (p. 546, Systematic Theology, Louis Berkhof). (see: Mt. 10:22; Jn. 8:31; Heb. 6:9; 10:39; I Jn. 2:19)

The two primary marks of a true believer are obedience to Christ’s word (Jn. 8:31) and chastening by the Lord (Heb. 12:5-12 – cf. also Mt. 7:20; I Jn. 3:9).

Profession vs. possession

The problem many people have with teaching on eternal security (the perseverance of those whom God has saved) results from confusing profession of salvation with possession of salvation. Jesus clearly taught that not everyone who said to Him “Lord, Lord” shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Many people claim to be Christians who have not genuinely responded to the gospel. The issue is not about possibly losing salvation, but whether or not it was ever truly possessed. 

7 Points of clarification – In considering the teaching of perseverance, the following points of clarification are important:

1. All faith is not saving faith – (James 2:14)
2. There will be superficial and temporary responses to the Word of God (Mt. 13:1-9, 18:23).
3. Profession of salvation does not always equal possession of salvation (Mt. 7:15, 21-23)
4. The Bible does not justify identifying every person who makes a verbal profession of faith as a genuine believer. Please note that Jesus said, “Many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ . . .But I will say to them, depart from me….”
5. True faith produces fruit or good works (Mt. 7:15-20; 13:23; Ja. 2:17; Eph. 2:10).
6. The Scripture recognizes a distinction between temporary backsliding and real abandonment of the faith. Peter’s denial of the Lord is the best example of backsliding in the NT. (Lk. 22:31-32 NASB or NIV). Thomas, as well as the other disciples, serves as an example of this after the crucifixion.
7. Although we cannot know a person’s heart, we are not left without any ability to evaluate the condition of another.

Millard J. Erickson wrote, “. . . our understanding of the doctrine of perseverance allows no room for indolence or laxity. It is questionable whether anyone who reasons, `Now that I am a Christian, I can live as I please’, has really been converted and regenerated. Genuine faith issues, instead, in the fruit of the Spirit” (p. 996, Christian Theology).

“The Lord will not save those whom He cannot command. He will not divide His offices. You cannot believe on a half-Christ. We take Him for what He is Christ the anointed Saviour and Lord who is King of kings and Lord of all lords! He would not be who He is if He saved us and called us and chose us without the understanding that He can also guide and control our lives” (A.W. Tozer, pp. 18-19, I Call It Heresy!).

* Ultimately the words of II Timothy 2:19 should be our position: “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Steve Cornell

 

Testing Genuine Fatih

 

It’s disturbing to realize how close someone can come to salvation without genuinely receiving it. Someone could come into a Christian community and culturally adjust by learning acceptable practices and ways of talking  only to deceive both himself and the community about the genuineness of his salvation.

The most startling illustration of this is Judas Iscariot. Jesus revealed to the twelve that one of them would betray Him (John 13:21).  Did the disciples all say, “We know who that is!”? No. According to John 13:22, the disciples were unsure about who Jesus intended. Judas had so cunningly hidden his true identity that none of the others immediately thought of him. A parallel gospel informs us that, “each one began to say to Him, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’” (Mt. 26:22).

If the overall direction and characteristics of a person’s life is described by the negative side in the lists below, the person does not have a firm reason to believe that he or she is saved. While it is clearly possible for a true believer to have serious moments of disobedience and unfruitfulness, the focus of the lists below is on the primary emphasis of one’s life (Rom. 7:19; I Jn. 2:1; II Pet. 1:5-10).

8 Objective measures for confirming genuine faith

1. The primary direction and characteristics of a person’s life- I Jn. 3:9

2. Works of the flesh vs. the fruit of the Spirit – Gal. 5:19-24.

3. The wisdom from below vs. the wisdom from above – Ja. 3:12-18.

4. The works of darkness vs. the fruit of the Light – Eph. 5:5-11.

5. The unrighteous – I Cor. 6:9-11.

6. Love for the world vs. love of the Father-  I Jn. 2:15-17.

7. Love for other believers – I Jn.3:14; 5:1.

8. Keeping God’s commandments – I Jn. 2:4, Ti. 1:16.

5 desires found in true believers

1. To please God (II Cor. 5:9)

2. To know God’s Word (I Pe. 2:1-2)

3. To be with God’s people (Heb. 10:25;I Jn 5:1)

4. To share the gospel (Matt. 28:19-20)

5. To overcome sin (I Jn. 3:9)

Steve Cornell

 

The Amish view of community and salvation

 

What can we learn from them? 

According to the Amish an individual must not make final claims about his standing with God that would foreclose on assessment and accountability from the community of believers.

One who claims personal certainty of his standing with God is removing himself from answering to the community — particularly to the authority of the elders. This is viewed among the Amish as a prideful betrayal of the kind of humility fitting to mankind. It could also result in excommunication. 

A seminary professor who has studied Amish beliefs and practices responded to my column about the Amish view of salvation with the following concerns:

“I realize that in an age of individualism, and an evangelicalism that stresses a private experience of salvation, Amish faith of communal solidarity in discipleship makes no sense, and the judgments you make about “works salvation” seem totally right to you.” The professor encouraged me to take “time to understand how an Anabaptist theology such as the Amish profess expresses a radically different way of claiming the grace of God as a community of the Spirit.”

“One of the virtues Amish prize,” the professor wrote, “is humility–humility as a practice not as a nice attitude–and one aspect of that humility is to make no arrogant claims about their confidence of special status with God. An Amish bishop was visited by a new minister in the neighborhood who was quite fundamental and inquired repeatedly whether the bishop was saved. Finally he asked, ‘Are you truly born again? Do you know for certain that you are saved?’ The bishop answered, ‘You are asking the wrong person. I will give you the names of people who know me well, of persons with whom I have differed, of my sharpest critics and you can go ask them whether I am saved.’ That is Amish humility.”

What do we say about these concerns?

There should be little doubt that we live in an age of individualism and that evangelicalism is well known for emphasizing a personal experience of salvation. I also recognize that the evangelical Church is far too weak when it comes to the New Testament vision of a “faith of communal solidarity in discipleship” and “claiming the grace of God as a community of the Spirit.” On these matters, many professing Christians have drifted from the Biblical vision for the common life of the redeemed.

Consider a few examples

Philippians 1:6 is a verse often used to claim assurance of eternal salvation.  The apostle wrote: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you (plural) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” This verse is about what God had done and would continue to do in and through the community of believers in Philippi. The “good work” refers to their “partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” with the apostle Paul (1:5). The pronouns are plural referring to a community experience. 

Philippians 2:12-13 offers another example. Here is a call to the Church to “continue to work out your (plural) salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you (plural) to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” 

Certainly this is a call to cultivate stronger discipleship to Jesus. But it is not likely that the original recipients heard this with the ears of Western individualism. They would have heard it as a work that happens in the context of community. This doesn’t foreclose on personal applications, but it does encourage us to see the New Testament emphasis on community experience as a shared life. 

This emphasis can be found in many places. One thinks of the body life imagery.

“… in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”(Romans 12:5) “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ…. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 26-27)

Another very strong focus on community is found in the writings of the apostle John. He taught that there are serious implications about true discipleship if one continues in fellowship with the community of believers or rejects the fellowship.

“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (I John 2:19).

Community life for believers was also meant to involve mutual accountability, encouragement and leadership.

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you” (Hebrews 3:12-14; 13:17).

Closing thoughts:

While community emphasis is badly needed in evangelicalism (particularly in the West), we cannot entrust to a human community a final verdict about individual salvation. This is not to say that the community must never make judgments about the spiritual conditions of others. The command “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (II Corinthians 6:14) and the contrasts that follow, imply a need to make these kinds of judgments. When warning about false prophets, Jesus said, “by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:20).

Sometimes we must be “fruit inspectors.” We find many evidences of genuine salvation as well as indicators of non-kingdom lifestyles provided in Scripture (e.g. Galatians 5:19-22; I Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 5:3-8; I John). We sometimes feel the need to echo the apostle Paul in saying, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.” (II Corinthians 13:5).

There clearly is not enough emphasis on this in the evangelical Church! But ultimately we must confess that, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness” (II Timothy 2:19). Further, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (II Timothy 2:13). 

According to Scripture, the human will is bound to sin. Our condition is so bad that, “… every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21). “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9; cf. Romans 3:10-23). The human will is so corrupt that we need the Holy Spirit to remove our blindness to see what Christ has done for us and to believe in Him (see: II Corinthians 4:3-6). Jesus said, “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them” (John 6:65). We are enabled by the Holy Spirit to see our need for Christ (II Corinthians 1:21-22; 3:14-18).

“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Steve Cornell

see also:

• How can a Church experience community?
• Subversive Gospel-centered Communities
• How should I dress for Church? 

 

The “earned and deserved” approach to God

I think most Christians would admit that although they know that salvation (a reconciled relationship with God) cannot be earned or deserved, they often walk with God based on an “earned or deserved” response.

Perhaps we would be ready even to die for the truth that the gospel is based entirely on what God did for us in Christ. Yet after receiving this gift of God’s grace, we sometimes live as if we must earn or deserve God’s love.

Do we confess a gospel that is all about what God did through grace, and then go on as if we must make ourselves worthy of grace? May this never be! Yet it too often is the case. 

Are you identifying with this dilemma?

What’s going on here? How can we break free from the “earned and deserved” mentality? Perhaps we just need to remind ourselves more often about the truth of salvation as God’s undeserved gift. Early in our walk with God, we learn Scriptures that teach this great truth.

•   Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
•   Titus 3:5-6 “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”
•   Galatians 2:21 ”if right standing with God could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

This is the truth that distinguish Christianity from man-made religions. When we first learn this great truth of God’s undeserved love freely offered to those who believe in Christ, we find it both amazing and difficult to understand. Most of life is structured on an earned and deserved model. But here is something you cannot earn or deserve yet is offered freely to you (see Romans 3:21-24).

Human love is more often conditional and limited.

This was the point the apostle Paul made in Romans 5:7 ““Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.”  The point is that human love is typically based on the worthiness of the one loved. There are only a few people for whom we would be willing to die and those who make the list are deeply loved by us.

This is what makes God’s love so extraordinarily unexpected! The apostle Paul completed his point with this distinction: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

We were not on good terms with God when Christ accepted the mission to die for us. He absorbed the death penalty our sin deserved. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:13). God the Father “made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (II Corinthians 5:21). 

How much more

Where does that leave those who receive God’s gift of salvation in Jesus? This is where the apostle offers the “how much more” argument:

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:9-10).   

Later he wrote, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).

Consider where things stand for those who receive God’s gift of salvation:

• We cannot be charged. “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). 
• We cannot be condemned. “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34; also 8:1).
• We cannot be separated from God’s love. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39).

What a great foundation to build life with God upon! Why would we vacillate back into the “earned and deserved” approach to God? 

In a follow-up to this post, I’ll suggest some reasons why we so easily drift into the works approach to God. I’ll also explain an intriguing and instructive truth about why the Amish reject the teaching of eternally secure salvation.  

But I’d love to hear from some of you first. 

Steve Cornell

 

 

No Condemnation – No Separation

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, …. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:1, 38-39).

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us” (I John 4:16).

What a gift! 

______________________________

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (I John 4:10)

“God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us” (Romans 8:3-4). 

  

 

If we are faithless, He remains faithful

 

“If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (II Timothy 2:12-13).

What is the difference between disowning (ἀρνησόμεθα) Christ and being  faithless (ἀπιστοῦμεν)?

The first is tragic because to disown Christ is followed by him disowning us. The second is encouraging because, as the old song frames it, “Prone to wander Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” Our missteps often disrupt faithful devotion. But the contrast could be stronger.

The first (“If we disown Him…”) seems decisive and willful in defiance. The second, (“if we are faithless”) seems more of temporary weakness. When plagued by doubts or struggles with belief, he remains faithful (πιστὸς). He does not abandon us, indeed, cannot abandon us because of our union with him — “for he cannot disown himself.”

The act of disowning Christ draws up the warning of Jesus, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38). It seems that being ashamed of Christ (ἐπαισχυνθῇ) and disowning him (ἀρνησόμεθα) are two similar actions.

Jesus contrasted disowning with acknowledging or confessing, 

“Whoever acknowledges (ὁμολογήσει) me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me (ἀρνήσηταί) before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

In II Timothy 2, the promise just prior to the warning about disowning Christ assures us that, “if we endure, we will also reign with him” (II Timothy 2:12). Perhaps the denial of Christ in this verse is to escape suffering or enduring for him. 

Along these lines, the warnings of Jesus appear in contexts announcing the costly nature of discipleship, “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:38) and the possibility of persecution, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

Words about confessing Christ remind us of the promise in Romans 10:9-10, “if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

The promise of security (even for faithless followers) is rooted deeply in God’s character as the faithful One. This is an emphasis that finds repeated expression in Scripture. It is worthy of deep meditation and worship.

Lamentations 3:22-24

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

1 Corinthians 1:9

God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

I Thessalonians 5:23-24

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

I John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

 

Live your theology in the Church

A teaching that is cherished by all who follow a reformed understanding of salvation is the perseverance of the saints. Simply stated, it’s the belief that all who genuinely experience God’s salvation will continue in the faith until the end. It’s the promise of security in God’s love. Do you believe this? If you do, are you participating in it? Are you helping others experience it. 

While we are inclined to attribute perseverance solely to the loving action of God, Scripture teaches that God calls us to participate in the experience of perseverance. I will explain this in a moment.

Before getting to the practical side, however, consider a couple of ways this truth and promise of perseverance has been stated:

• “They whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.” (Westminster Confession of Faith)
• “Perseverance may be defined as that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer, by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart, is continued and brought to completion” (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p. 546).

Does Scripture support this conclusion?

Jesus said, “Those who continue in My word are my disciples in reality” (John 8:31; cf. John 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39). The apostle John indirectly referred to this when he wrote of certain people who left the Christian community because they were not actually of it. He wrote, “For if they had been of us they no doubt would have continued with us (I John 2:19). Continuance is a mark of true faith and salvation.

Based on these Scriptures (and many others), we should believe that those whom God has saved will remain in His salvation until the end. They shall “neither totally nor finally fall away” and God will see to it by His Spirit who dwells in each believer.

Yet the point I wish to make here is that God uses His people as a means of “keeping” His own. This is a great example of theology in action. It’s one thing to say you believe in this great truth; it’s another to practice it. 

Are you watching? 

According to Hebrews 3:12-14, a divine means for perseverance is Christians in community watching out for one another. We’re not permitted to sit back and say, “God will keep all His children in line.” No! God has called us to watch out for each other. But make sure to distinguish watching one another from watching out for one another. The Pharisees watched Jesus with malicious intent. Followers of Jesus reject this behavior.

Consider the way this part of Christian community is required: 

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first” (Hebrews 3:12-14)

Mutual accountability and encouragement

Here we learn of God’s intention to use the accountability of Christian fellowship to help believers “hold firmly till the end.” God’s will for the Church is that it functions as a community of mutual accountability and mutual encouragement. Organizing the Church to fulfill this is helpful but it is far more than a Church program. Each believer should view it as a personal mission of caring concern and an essential part of belonging to Christian community. It must be taught and exemplified by the leadership because they are overseers of the Church (Hebrews 13:17), but it also must be a part of the way each believer relates to the body.  

• “Fellowship” one has written, “is more than unconditional love that wraps its arms around someone who is hurting. It is also tough love that hold one fast to the truth and the pursuit of righteousness. For most Christians, the support side of the equation comes more easily than accountability and the subsequent discipline involved. Which is one reason the behavior of Christians is often little different from the behavior of non-Christians. Maybe it’s because we simply haven’t taught accountability. Or maybe it’s because, in today’s fiercely individualistic culture, people resent being told what to do, and since we don’t want to “scare them off,” we succumb to cultural pressures. But too often we confuse love with permissiveness. It is not love to fail to dissuade another believer from sin any more than it is love to fail to take a drink away from an alcoholic or matches away from a baby. True fellowship out of love for one another demands accountability” (Chuck Colson, The Body, p. 130).

Again, (and it cannot be stated enough), this kind of mutual caring is not to be the Pharisaic behavior of watching others to see if they conform to our personal preferences. It’s to happen only under the authority of what is specifically taught in God’s Word and consistent with the leadership of the Church. It’s to be rooted deeply in genuine care and love (Romans 12:10). If it’s not practiced in a manner reflecting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), it will become destructive to the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3) and witness to the gospel. 

The lack of this kind of mutual accountability and encouragement is a primary obstacle to the church being an instrument of divine transformation in the world. People can talk about church growth and renewal, but if it is emptied of true loving accountability, the kind of growth and renewal that pleases God simply won’t happen. The numbers might increase, but don’t confuse this with true growth (see: Ephesians 4:11-16).

The next time you celebrate the promise of security for God’s loved ones, think about your involvement in it. Go back and reflect on Hebrews 3:12-14. Encourage discussions about how to practice this text. Relate the teaching in Hebrews 10:23-25 -

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

This view of Church life is consistent with the numerous callings to a “one another life.”

Consider this picture of local Church life:

• Accept one another (Rom 15:7)
• Carry each other’s burdens (Gal. 6:2)
• Have equal concern for each other (1 Cor. 12:25)
• Watch out for one another (Heb. 3:12-13)
• Encourage one another (1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11; Heb. 3:13; 10:25)
• Live in harmony with one another (1 Pet. 3:8)
• Confess your sins to each other (Jas. 5:16)
• Be devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10)
• Edify one another (Rom. 14:19; 1 Thess. 5:11)
• Consider others better than yourselves (Phil. 2:3)
• Bear with one another (Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:13)
• Forgive each other (Eph. 4:32)
• Honor one another (Rom. 12:10)
• Offer hospitality to one another (1 Pet. 4:9)
• Be kind and compassionate to one another (Eph. 4:32)
• Live in harmony toward one another (Rom. 12:16; 15:5)
• Love one another (John 13:34-35; 15:12, 17; Rom. 13:8)
• Be members of one body (Rom. 12:5; Eph. 4:25)
• Be at peace with each other (Mark 9:50; Eph. 4:3)
• Pray for each other (Jas. 5:16)
• Serve one another (Gal. 5:13; 1 Pet. 4:10)
• Spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24)
• Submit to one another (Eph. 5:21; 1 Pet. 5:5)
• Teach one another (Col. 3:16)

Steve Cornell

 

Where glory meets my suffering!

“Why?” “The question that is never far away. But healing doesn’t come from the explained.”

What a great truth about the place where ”the hurt and the Healer collide!“ This is the place “where Glory meets my suffering.“ I love so many lines in the song I’ve linked below by MercyMe!

You can experience the place where the hurt and the Healer collide today by meeting with “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles” (II Corinthians 1:3-4).

Our future will definitely bring glory in place of suffering! This will happen when the One who sits on the throne says, “I am making everything new!” Then the words will be fulfilled: 

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

Until this great day, we ask God for grace to apply the truth that, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Yes, we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:23).

We suffer. We wait. We groan. We hope. We know. 

Gratefully, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” And, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:26,28). 

I know people who have suffered far more than me. Some have lost a loved one. With deep feeling, they can sing the line: “even though a part of me has died, take my heart and breathe it back to life.”

I thought about some of these people in these lines: 

“Breathe. Sometimes I feel it’s all that I can do, pain so deep that I can hardly move. Just keep my eyes completely fixed on you.. Lord take hold and pull me through, so here I am what’s left of me, where glory meets my suffering.” 

“The moment when humanity is overcome by majesty and grace is ushered in for good. And all our scars are understood; When mercy takes its rightful place; And all these questions fade away; When out of weakness we must bow; And hear You say, ‘It’s over now!’”

 

Do you expect to live after your earthly life ends?

There appears to be among all people throughout history a very strong intuition that physical death does not permanently terminate human existence. Most people are also inclined to believe in the possibility of some kind of postmortem accountability to a deity. We know that we are living souls — whose lives are more than our bodies and that the death of the body is not the end of our story. 

Consider a transparent example from the Scottish agnostic, Richard Holloway, 

“This is my dilemma. I am dust and ashes, frail and wayward, a set of predetermined behavioral responses, … riddled with fear, beset with needs…the quintessence of dust and unto dust I shall return…. But there is something else in me. Dust I may be, but troubled dust, dust that dreams, dust that has strong premonitions of transfiguration, of a glory in store, a destiny prepared, an inheritance that will one day be my own…so my life is spread out in a painful dialectic between ashes and glory, between weakness and transfiguration. I am a riddle to myself, an exasperating enigma…the strange duality of dust and glory.”

Churches all over the world celebrate the fact that the story of Jesus did not end with death. “God raised him up putting an end to the agony of death since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24).

And because Jesus broke the power of death, those who trust him as their Savior rest confidently in his great promise, “my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:39-40).

Based on this promise, I expect to be resurrected one day. But when I say I expect to be resurrected, I am not merely saying I expect to live after the death of my physical body. Resurrection is more than life after death. Resurrection is life after life after death. Yes, you read that correctly. Resurrection is bodily life after life after death. It’s postmortem existence stage two. I expect to return to identifiable bodily existence just as Jesus returned.

Six major points of biblical history support the importance of the body.

1. Creation:  God fashions the body from the dust of the earth
2. Incarnation:  God became man
3. Resurrection  (Christ’s and ours)
4. Ascension:  Jesus retained bodily existence at the Father’s right hand  
5. Salvation:  The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
6. Glorification: Final redemption of the body (Romans  8 )

If we take Jesus Christ at his word, everyone who has lived on earth should expect to be resurrected. Jesus said, “a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28-29).

Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave” (Revelation 1:17-18).

Reflect on this truth:

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).

Steve Cornell

See also: 

• Do people in heaven exist as disembodied spirits?
• Dance lightly on the surface of the earth