“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.” ~Philippians 1:6
Father, I am thankful for these words of Paul, words that are meant to encourage and build up in the presence of potentially discouraging circumstances. They remind me that the doctrine of perseverance of the saints, while true and important, is ultimately eclipsed by the doctrine of the preservation of the saints by God, which is also true and vitally important. I need to remember every day that my salvation is not ultimately dependent upon my grip on you, but upon your grip of grace on me.
For as the hymn writer penned, I am “prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” If the mortgage of my eternal home were to depend upon the degree of my sanctification, I am certain that you would forclose, and I would be a homeless man again. But the gospel tells me that the price has been paid in full with the blood of the Savior. As Revelation says, he “purchased men for God,” and now will not leave me as an orphan but will and has sent the Holy Spirit into my heart to cry out “Abba, Father.” In fact, Jesus, you have promised that you are preparing a place, an eternal home, for me, and I, as a son of the King, will dwell there forever. It is a dwelling of grace, built and paid for by mercy alone.
And yet I still doubt. It is so difficult to believe that I have been completely forgiven–past, present and future—and fully reconciled to you as my God and Father. There is a voice in my heart that continues to condemn and shame. I know that is not of your Spirit, but is the rebellious flesh, refusing to let me live in the liberty and grace of the gospel. For some reason, though, I believe that voice. While I can be so sure of your grace toward others, I am not always so sure for myself. Maybe that is because I am more intimately aware of my own sin and unworthiness than theirs. Whatever the reason, I confess a failure to trust that the work you have begun in my life will result in complete salvation in the last day.
So my prayer today is to believe, with a humble, yet confident assurance of your grace, that you will not let me go. That Jesus, as you said, “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.” As a sheep, I don’t follow as well as I desire to follow. But I do desire to follow you, and to reject the lies of the flesh and of the evil one. You began the work of grace in my heart and you will complete it. I will stand in your presence one day as a righteous son, delighting in you my God, knowing perfectly the promise of the gospel that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
