For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you. 1 Thessalonians 1:4
Do you need some good news today? Some encouraging word to get you started in the morning, or maybe something positive to counteract the overwhelming negative attitude that pervades the culture outside of Christ? How about this statement from 1 Thessalonians. What better news can there be than that the all-powerful God of the universe loves you? In fact, not only does He love His children, He has chosen them as His children. We are not His children because we chose Him, but because He chose us. That is good news indeed. If it depended upon my choosing Him, I might fall away during a low time in my life. I might question my status as a child of God during a time of discouragement. If it depends upon my complete and unquestioning faith in God, then I'm afraid I'd be in and out of a right relationship with Him depending upon my attitude and ability to think correctly. But God has made it clear that He has chosen us, and He sustains us even in the worst of times. His love breaks through any circumstance.
In Romans chapter eight, Paul lists a whole host of things that we are tempted to think can rock our world and take away all of our hope. But he says that none of these things, in fact no thing at all, no part of creation, can keep us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He begins His list by saying that neither life nor death can separate us from God. Do you know someone who has committed suicide? Have you been taught that suicide is an unpardonable sin? This teaching is nowhere to be found in scripture. To be sure, suicide is a sin, it is a terrible sin. But our sins have been forgiven in Christ. His sacrifice and atonement are the antidote for sin once for all time. Christ's one-time sacrifice atoned for sins into the past and out into the future, both to Old Testament believers and into the future to us. It was a once for all time sacrifice, not one that must be repeated every time that we sin. When a believer dies, there is not some necessity of a final confession before he passes on. That is a theology taught by our Roman Catholic brothers and one with which we disagree. Confession is important in overcoming sin, but it is not the thing which forgives us of our sin. Christ's atoning work overcomes sin, and that work is complete. And God chose us for Himself, and neither life nor death can separate us from His perfect love. Once we are His, we are always His.
And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Phil 1:6
Has God begun a good work in you? The promise is that He will bring it to completion. Did He begin a good work in a loved one who took his or her own life? Be assured, be certain because nothing is more sure or certain than the Word of God, that God will bring His good work to completion in that loved one, even though their life may have ended in a tragic way. There is little that can be said at a tragic time like this that can take away the pain. We grieve rightly because it is a sorrowful thing to lose someone. But we must never bring question into a situation in which there is no question. God loves His children, He has chosen us and He will finish the work He began in us. Thank God for the assurance we have in Him, that our salvation is sure not because of our perfect behavior and right thinking in the matter, but because God has chosen us, He loves us, and He will not let us go once we are His.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. John 10:27-30
No comments:
Post a Comment