Forever inseparable

A child who believed in Jesus Christ was chided about her faith, that it was just a passing fad and she would “grow out of it. “ She said not, that she would belong to Jesus forever. She used these verses as her proof.

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (John 10:28-29)

The person who pestered her then said, “But what if you decide to jump out of His hand?”

She replied, “Oh, I can’t do that; I am one of His fingers.”

The child understood a principle that some adults struggle with. I knew a woman who thought that a person could lose their salvation. When given verses about eternal security, her response was always, “But what if you are sinning and are killed in a car accident before you get a chance to confess and repent?”

For her, salvation was by grace, but for each sin the process had to be repeated. She didn’t understand the change that happens in the life of someone who receives Christ. Because He comes to live in our hearts, we are made alive and become a “new creation.” Not only that, all sin is covered by His death, sins of the past, present, and future. Concerning the connection between how we are saved and how we then live, Paul wrote this:

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. . . . And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:6-10; 13-14)

When I received Christ, it was by faith. I trusted Him alone for my salvation, not anything I did or could do. Salvation is a gift. His life in me is a gift. I did not earn it, nor do I deserve it.

Paul’s assurance to the Colossians is mine too; just as Christ was received, so also do I live — by faith, trusting Him, basing my security not what I do or do not do. His life in me is my eternal life. It does not go away when I sin. Of course God does not want me to sin, but when it happens, Jesus does not run off and expect me to repeat the process of receiving Him. He said He would never leave me or forsake me. I am secure, and that security has an amazing effect on the way I feel about doing my own thing.

The world thinks that such a wonder as eternal life must have a price tag on it. A person must have to do something, be good to earn it and stay good to hang on to it. The amazing truth is that this is not how salvation works. Instead, without merit I came to the cross, or rather, Jesus came to me. By grace (undeserved favor), He entered my life and changed me. I do not think or live the way I used to, but those changes are not my salvation and eternal life — He is.

The child was correct. Not only is Jesus in my life, but I am also part of His Body, the church. We may seem a motley crew at times, and at times we sin and mess up, but we are united with Him and He, for better or worse, through thick and thin, is committed to us.

This is the reason for my confidence, and this is the foundation for my worship. This union with Him means that I am His forever, and there is no reason for even wanting to jump out of His hand.