Asking the best question…

Today’s devotional offers a statement that I’ve never thought about before. It says:

Nowhere in the Bible are we given the slightest intimation that God’s children were to be anything but perfectly sure of their relationship to Him as children and of His relationship to them as Father. The flood of doubt and questioning that so often overwhelms Christian hearts in these days was apparently never so much as conceived of in Bible times nor by Bible Christians, and consequently it was nowhere definitely provided against. The foundation on which all commands and exhortations were based was that those to whom the commands and exhortations were addressed knew without question that they were God’s children and that He was their Father.

This statement does not consider any of those “if you believe” suggestions because those who believe know that they believe. Consider this:

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:10–11)

Those who believe know it. Oh, there are times when we get our eyes off Jesus and look at our performance — seeing it as totally puny and wondering if we have any right or reason to call ourselves Christians, but that is contrary to what God keeps telling us. Our faith is not in ourselves. Only sometimes we just want it to be!

The passage above is followed by this statement:

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:12–13)

This is so simple. If Jesus is in my life, He makes Himself known. How can He not? He is so obvious, so different from all other, so incredible, that nothing can erase the sense of Him. Sin mars our vision, but does not remove Jesus. This is backed up in other places.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9–11)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Do you know Jesus? should be the question, not “Are you a Christian?” For those who know Jesus are Christians. It is as simple as that.
It is also helpful to remember that those who respond with an answer that the Bible is not true, Jesus does not exist, and so on, are saying that God is a liar. This puts them in greater danger than merely not yet knowing or having a personal relationship with the Christ.

PRAY: Jesus, the next time I wonder about the salvation of a person and have opportunity to speak to that person about their spiritual state, remind me that this is the question to ask; Do you know Jesus? If they do, they will know it, just as if I asked them if they their spouse or if they know their children. If they do not, it will be as if I asked them if they know someone who lives on the other side of the world with a strange name and of a different nationality. The next question could easily be: May I introduce you?

A Heavy Heart

 

 

In the past eight days, we’ve attended three funerals. Two were sudden, unexpected deaths. Then yesterday, the husband of my friend for more than sixty years called to tell us she had died. Today my heart is heavy.

On one hand, grief for Christians is different. 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 links it to our hope and the reality of Christ’s resurrection:

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

The passage goes on to say this applies to “the dead in Christ” — a truth throughout the NT. How do I know who is in this category? Usually by their declaration of faith.

Romans 10:9–10. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Even so, words alone are insufficient. As James says, “faith without works is dead” so the reality of faith is backed up by a changed life. For three of those who died, this was obvious. For my friend, our relationship became long-distance years ago, and even though we kept in touch, and even though I shared the gospel with her, I was not able to hear a distinct confession of faith or a changed life, only hints.

Years ago, a young nephew died. At his funeral the pastor urged all who were Christians to tell their family so they are aware where we stand with God. This boy had not done that leaving his family unsure of his eternal destiny. This makes for a heavy heart. It also puts us in a place where we must rely on the promises of God to ASSURE our hearts and give us confidence, not necessarily concerning the destiny of that lost loved one, but that God has heard our prayers and His perfect will has been done.

Interestingly, the Lord says far more to assure me of my destiny than it offers hope to me for the destiny of others. While there are verses like Proverbs 11:21 that say this: “Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered” there are no names attached; and it is a proverb after all.

God also says in Isaiah 54:13, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” Yet without evidence, I wonder if He is doing that in their lives, or in the lives of anyone else that I pray for. Walking by faith is hard. I want to have assurance by seeing the results!

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. As for myself, my assurance is in verses like these:

1 John 5:10–13. “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Romans 8:1–2. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

I can know for certain for myself and be reasonably certain for those who declare their faith and live a life that bears it out. However, some people “pray the prayer” and assume they are okay with God, but do not change or show signs of lifelong worship and obedience. For the fence-sitters and the “religious” I have no visible assurance and only know that God knows who are His. For this and for so many other issues that the evidence of His working is not visible, I must trust Him to do what is right and just. It would be great to have a heart “fully assured in all the will of God” yet I am not there all the time.