To Live is Christ — trusting Him to save and keep me

Fellowship means “two fellows in the same ship” — the simple definition. A more complete one is “mutual participation in a person and a way of life.” Fellowship centers on Jesus and fellowship in the gospel is sharing the work of telling others about Him. 

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:3–5)

Regarding this verse, my devotional reading asks the convicting question: Have you been faithful to the gospel since the first day you heard it?

At first I thought that must be asking if I have been faithful to share the gospel all the time. If it does, then I cannot say that I have been faithful to the gospel.

However, being faithful to the gospel could mean the same as being faithful to my spouse. It is not about the sharing of this good news, but about believing in it and not straying off into some other doctrine. Then I have been faithful.

Believing the gospel is fundamental to the Christian faith. Jesus died to save me from my sin. I am forgiven because God put my sin on Christ and He paid my penalty. Since I first believed these things, I’ve never stopped trusting Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for me.

There have been times I’ve tried to be righteous in my own strength, or tried to do Christian service apart from relying on the Holy Spirit. That could be considered lack of faithfulness to the gospel, but for me, it was just naive and done without awareness. The beauty of being a Christian is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t leave His people in the dark for very long. He constantly shows me where I am doubting and when I am disobedient.

Questions like this one from the devotional tend to imply that the Christian life is all about me and what I do. That misses an important reality — this isn’t about me. Jesus saved me and keeps on saving me. My Christian life would fall apart totally if it depended on me or my faithfulness. Instead, it depends on the Lord. I would not stand for one second apart from Him. He is the one who keeps me from straying and from looking for other things to trust besides Christ and the gospel.

When I trust in Christ, I am at peace. He fills me with joy and confidence. When I start looking in the mirror at my “faithfulness” I begin to fret and am tempted to either dismiss my failures or try harder. The Bible tells me to keep looking at Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Instead of trying harder concerning my failures, Jesus wants me to just confess them. When I admit them, He then forgives me. Then He gives the courage and strength to move on. Being faithful to the gospel can only happen because Jesus is faithful to be my Savior.