Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24, 25 (KJV)
Do you ever worry about “blowing it” spiritually? That maybe, just maybe, you might fail? In our imperfect state, it’s not surprising that from time to time we might be tempted to look at our faults and worry that we won’t be capable of sustaining faith for the long run. That’s TEMPTATION. But we must remember that temptation speaks to possibility, not to reality.
Paul succinctly addresses that frightening possibility with these powerful words, “… sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14 NIV). Does that mean we’ll never again sin—that the potential to miss the mark has been eliminated because of our relationship with Jesus Christ? That’s not what Paul is saying. He’s telling us that since we’ve come to faith in Christ, we have a choice in our behavior: now we can choose to always follow Jesus in obedience (not sinning) or we can fall back into self-indulgent behavior, which leads to sinning. BUT there’s Jesus waiting to receive our confession as we repent; he forgives our sins and sets our feet on the right path again.
I heard a preacher once say that for Christians, the Ten Commandments now read, “You won’t want any other God. You won’t want to have idols. You won’t want to misuse God’s name. You want to love your neighbor as yourself in word and action.” The Law is now being fulfilled through God’s love and the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
As new creations in Christ Jesus (being re-created and made more like him every day), we now understand that we don’t have to walk around on spiritual egg shells. Instead, we walk in total freedom knowing that he is able and he is the one who keeps us from falling. All we have to do is abide in him and allow him to abide in us.
He doesn’t just keep us from falling, but one day he will present us faultless with great joy. He does it all as we cooperate with him, and he receives all the glory.
Father, thank you for good news that we can live every single day without fear of falling. You have the power to keep us, and you constantly work in us to make us just like you. THANK YOU. AMEN.
agodforeveryday 