This week I encountered two people from our past that have walked away from their faith in God.
My heart is sick to hear these things. What makes a person
walk away from a faith they once so passionately professed? I know the
intellectual answers – our own sin and unbelief. But how does God allow people
who once so loved him to now vehemently oppose him? I believe this illustrates
Romans 1:1-22:
18For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.19 For what can be known about God is plain to them,
because God has shown it to them. 20 For his
invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things
that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For
although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him,
but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were
darkened. 22 Claiming
to be wise, they became fools.
I think the answer lies in verse 18 – they suppress the truth of God that they
once believed.
This situation
reminds me of the dual conundrum of God’s preservation and our perseverance. As
Paul writes to the church at Colossae in Colossians 1:9-14:
9 And so, from
the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you
may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding, 10 so as to
walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing
fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being
strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all
endurance and patience with joy;12 giving
thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of
the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of
darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.
God has delivered
those who believe from spiritual darkness. He has redeemed us. That is the
message of the gospel, the message of Christmas, the message of Easter. Without
Jesus’ condescension as a human baby with the purpose to die for our sins and
unbelief, without his resurrection from the dead, we would have no hope of forgiveness
of sins, eternal salvation, or redemption to the Father. This is God’s
preservation of us. He has secured redemption for those who believe. They will remain in him.
Paul goes on to
describe who this Jesus is in verses 15-20:
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of all creation. 16 For by him
all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were
created through him and for him. 17 And he
is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he
is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in
him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through
him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making
peace by the blood of his cross.
And then I find
stunning words in Colossians 1:23 in the next section:
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing
evil deeds, 22 he has
now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present
you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,23 if indeed you continue in
the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the
gospel that you heard, which
has been proclaimed in all creation[g] under heaven, and
of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Believers will remain in Christ IF
they continue in the faith and don’t shift from the hope of the gospel. God’s
preservation, though his alone, is intimately tied to, but not conditioned
upon, our perseverance. I don’t understand this mystery of the two, how they
can come together, each independent of the other but so uniquely linked as to
work together.
When my faith has wavered
(sometimes seriously), I always come back to God’s faithfulness, his covenant
love, and commitment to his people (me). I respond with the apostle Peter in
John 6:68 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life,” and Jesus’ own words in John 6:14: “I am the
way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.” No one else offers eternal life. No one else offers complete
forgiveness of sins. Even, and especially, when I experience little faith and many
sins. When I read the Old Testament, God reminds me of his commitment to his
people (including me) and his passion that all would know that he is the Lord God.
How could I walk away from such commitment, such covenant love, such sacrifice?
I don’t trust myself. Yet, I place my trust in the one who holds me in his
hands. I don’t trust my own faith. Yet I trust the object of my faith – the one
who never changes.
May
God preserve his own and cause his own to persevere.
