|
|
I don't know if I am saved but I know I will be. I know my final destination is God, perfect intimacy and fulfillment
with Him in Heaven. Knowing this gives me peace. I am assured of
salvation because of God's character; my confidence is in His
unchanging eternal love. (Love always hopes and always perseveres. See 1Cor 13:7)
Many
say they are saved because of "their" faith; but notice where their
confidence is placed, in "their" faith. (They place too much confidence
in themselves. Calling something faith does not make it faith. Matt 7:22,23) I have a Saviour who loves me and His love is eternal, "He" will save me (1 Tim 4:10).
My confidence is in Him; my confidence is in His character not in "my"
faith. (This does not mean Hell is not a real place, Jesus warned us to
make every effort to avoid going there (see Luke 13:23-25).
A Doctrine which Tickles the Ears
I have heard it said that nothing we do can affect our relationship with God.
It is true that nothing we can do will stop God loving us perfectly (just as nothing Hitler did can stop God loving him). God's love toward us is not dependent on anything we say, do or think and it is not dependent on any decision we have made or will make in the future. God's love is not determined by us. He is the source of love, to which we are free to respond. God's love has its source in Himself; it is not dependant on what we are like. No one loves like God; His love is perfect and eternal. He will never stop loving that which He created. But it is simply not true that nothing can affect our relationship with God.
Because God loves us we can grieve Him just as we can please Him. What I do, think and say has a very real impact on my relationship with God. He will not be satisfied with me until I am literally made perfect like Christ. He will not be satisfied with me while I do things which hurt others. (And I will not be fully satisfied with myself while I am capable of doing things which hurt others.)
Most Christians have been told that God cannot look upon sin. If you call yourself a Christian you may believe that nothing
you can do or say can affect your relationship with God because He does
not see any of your sins, because of what Jesus has done. (In a very
real sense Jesus died in your place if you place your faith in Him.)
This is interesting. Is not God omniscient (all knowing)? Doesn't God
see and hear everything whether you are a Christian or not? Yes He
does. No one has to tell the Holy Spirit that we have sinned. He sees
it for Himself and it grieves Him when we sin knowingly. So how is it
that God sees our sins but does not see them? The answer lies in the
true meaning of "cannot look upon sin." It means God cannot look upon
sin "approvingly." God has seen every sin and everything that is called
sin since the very first sin. Though He loves us,
He sees all the wicked things we do (all the lies, all the hate,
including how we use others to try and satisfy our own selfish
desires). And despite the wicked things we have done God still remains
near to us because of His great love. (In fact, God was with Jesus the
whole time He was on the cross, even though a time came when Jesus was
made to feel something He had never felt before, something that we sometimes feel. He felt as though God was not there. Jesus felt like God had abandoned
Him. But unlike us Jesus obeyed God and sought Him rather than blaming
Him, by doing this he showed perfect faith and love.)
God
will not be satisfied until we are made like Christ. He will not be
satisfied until we are set free from sin. (It is sin which destroys us
and others.)
To believe that you can enjoy perfect intimacy with God while you are sinning against Him is lie from the Devil. (What is sin? Sin is turning your back on Jesus. We turn our backs on Him when we ignore Him.)
©2006 - 2007 All Rights Reserved.
