Do Christians Persevere?

It’s Theology Tuesday, and my NANC Counseling Question today is:  

Do Christians Persevere? How does this impact counseling?

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Before I dive into this, however, I should briefly discuss the definition of “Christian.”

Recently, a friend was offended when my daughter asked why she didn’t want to be a Christian. She asked, “What makes you think I’m not a Christian?” In the suburban middle class culture we live in, many people call themselves Christians.

Is a Christian a nice person who is kind to others? Or someone who grew up in Sunday School? Or someone who visits church on Easter? Maybe a Christian is someone who owns a Bible or knows about Jesus or prayed at summer camp when they were twelve.

A Christian is essentially a “little Christ,” one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that by believing on Him they have life in His Name. (John 20:31).

I just asked my nine year old why she thought she was a Christian. She recited the verse, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9).

Persevere to the end, my friend! To the end of life, and to the end of this long post.

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In short: Yes, Christians persevere. Once a man has been re-born, he does not go back to being as he was before.

Perseverance means: “All those who are truly born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again.” (Grudem 788).

Jesus told us what would happen to those who believed in Him. “For this is the will of my Father that every one who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” 

Earlier in the same passage Jesus said, “I should lose nothing of all that He has given me.” (John 6:38-40). The argument could stop there, since Jesus Himself said that that if the Father gave Him something, He will not lose it. However, there are many other similar passages that press home this point.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall 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.” (John 10:27-29).

We are in the hands of Jesus, and covering His hands are the hands of the Father, and no one can take us out! Even we ourselves are a part of that “no one,” meaning we can’t choose to jump out once the Father has given us to His Son.

The third member of the trinity also has a part in the perseverance of the believers. “In Him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance...” (Eph 1:13-14). If we have the Holy Spirit within us as believers, we have been promised eternal life. (John 3:36).

We know that no one seeks after God, and that we only love Him because He first loved us. We also read that He will complete the work He began in us, faithfully completing it. (Phil 1:6). He started the work in our hearts to draw us to Himself, and He will be faithful to see to our perseverance. So yes, we persevere, but not based on ourselves, it's still a gift of God!

Though this is a comforting thought, there are strong warnings that go hand in hand with it. 

For one, nonbelievers can show many signs of being a true believer and not persevere to the end, thus indicating that they were never born again to begin with. Take Judas, for example. Jesus knew that he had never been a true follower when he said, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). However, Judas must have blended right in because when Jesus mentioned His betrayer at the Last Supper, the disciples were unsure as to who it would be.

Many people will say to Him “Lord, Lord,” at the judgment, having done all sorts of good works, but He will cast them out and say He never knew them. It isn’t that He knew them but then they left Him. He never knew them. (Matt. 7:21-23). These are sobering words!

We have been encouraged to “continue in the faith,” “continue in My word,” “endure to the end,” and “hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm to the end.” (John 8:31-32, Col 1:22-23, Hebrews 3:14). The purpose of these warnings, however, is to warn those who are thinking of falling away or have fallen away that regardless of their “testimony,” they might not be believers at all.

The implications for counseling are huge! 

It is vital to determine, to the best of our human understanding, the counselee’s position before God, for if he does not know Christ, that is the first step to be taken. 

There are a few evidences of true conversion that can be looked for, understanding that God is the only one who knows the heart. We are told to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard.” (Col 1:23).  

Does she still believe the gospel? Does she confess today, and not just twenty years ago when she walked the aisle, that belief in Jesus is all she needs for salvation? Or is she relying on her own works?

Is the Holy Spirit at work in his life? The Holy Spirit is said to bear witness in our hearts that we are God’s children, and He leads us in paths of obedience to God’s will. (Rom 8:14-16). The evidence of the fruit of the spirit should be growing, and his life should be producing other fruit that builds up the body and doesn’t tear it down. (Gal 5:22-23, Matt 7:16-20).

Does she accept and obey the sound teaching of their church and pastors? Constantly rejecting major doctrines of the faith is a warning sign. John said, “Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us.” (John 4:6).

Does he have an on-going relationship with Jesus, abiding in Him? This can show itself in worship, prayer, and praise. Jesus also said that His sheep follow Him and walk as He walked. Is her life showing a pattern, though not perfect, of obedience to God’s commands and of a growing love for others? “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” (I John 3:14).

So what does this mean?

A counselee who can gain assurance from these things can boldly approach God for help and healing, knowing that when God looks at Him, He sees the perfect righteousness of Christ. A counselee who is broken by the list can be brought to the cross for forgiveness, and God will meet Him there with open arms.

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This is part 3 of a series on the doctrine of Salvation. 
See Part One Here: Justification
See Part Two Here: Sanctification

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pages 788-807

All I Have Is Christ!

Welcome to Theology Tuesday, where we discuss essays that I'm writing for a NANC Counseling exam.  Today I'll begin a three part series in Soteriology. If you're like me, you might be scratching your head at that word. I'll do the dictionary work for you: It's the study of the doctrine of our Salvation.

Is Theology as dry and dusty as an old moth-ball-ridden library? Well, it can be, I guess, but studying this over the three-weeks time left me dancing... and there's no room for dust when you're kicking up your heals to this!

(A friend said these theology posts are too long... but hang in there! It's worth it!)

So... to begin!  

Part one:  “Justification by faith alone.”  Discuss the meaning of this phrase.

First, I’ll define a few important terms. Justification means “to declare righteous.”  What does that mean?  To be righteous means “morally upright, without guilt or sin.”  We know that none of us are righteous. We all have sinned and have the guilt associated with that. Romans 3:23 says that everyone has sinned, and Romans 6:23 says that the wages, or punishment, for our sins is death. So how are we, as guilty sinners, ever to become righteous?

The answer is that we can’t become righteous by ourselves. The Bible describes us as being dead in our sins. (Ephesians 2:5). A dead man cannot bring himself back to life again, just as a smashed spider cannot wake himself up and begin to crawl again. We need something outside of ourselves to change us and breathe life into us again.    

No amount of good works or noble actions can erase the bad mistakes. They are constantly accumulating in our life. The good does not out-weigh the bad. In fact, the good things we do only condemn us more, because in doing them, we acknowledge that there is a right and wrong way to live, and so often we choose the wrong way. (Romans 2:14-15).

This is the beauty of the cross. Jesus, as God, came as a man and did indeed live that perfect, righteous life. (Romans 5:19). He was morally guilt-less and upright. Legally speaking, he had not earned the punishment associated with sin, which is death and separation from the Holy God. However, he allowed himself to die so that God could place the wrath that we deserve for our sins onto Him.

Now, God’s Word says that if we believe in Jesus and His death and resurrection from the dead, God will do two things: First, He will remove our sins from us; sins in the past, present, and future. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” (Ps 103:12). This means that we “have no penalty to pay for sin, including past, present, and future sins... we are not subject to any charge of guilt or condemnation.” (Grudem 724-725)  “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn?” (Rom 8:33-34).  (Note: This is the part where I started dancing in my chair!)

It doesn’t end there, however. If it did, we would be morally neutral. Our sins are removed, but that is not all. God then goes one step further and places the righteousness of God through Jesus onto us. Just as Adam’s guilt was placed, or “imputed,” onto us, and our sins were imputed to Christ on the cross, so now His righteousness is imputed to us. “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19).

It is evident from the Bible that this is a gift of God and not something we can earn on our own. (Romans 3:24). As mentioned already, we were dead in our sins, and it was God that made us alive. “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). It wasn’t after we cleaned ourselves up that He died for us. It was while we were still sinners.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1). There is no room for a faith and (fill in the blank) approach to God’s grace. Fill that blank with baptism, going to church, giving to the poor, or being a good person.  Romans 3:20 is clear that no one will be justified by following the law. This is repeated clearly again in Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast.”

When we have faith in God, we are choosing to not depend on ourselves for our salvation. As Grudem explains, we essentially say, “I give up! I will not depend on myself or my own good works any longer. I know that I can never make myself righteous before God. Therefore, Jesus, I trust you and depend on you completely to give me a righteous standing before God.” (Grudem p 730).  This is the beauty of the Gospel.  It is the beauty of the grace of God, and it should cause us to love Him all the more.

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Now, are you ready to dance? This LONG blog is ending with a song that you should turn up and sing loudly based on this awesome truth.  Now, it may not really be a DANCING song, I'll post one of those later, but it's one that fills your heart with thankfulness.

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

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Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pages 722-732.

Righteous. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Easter Sunday

I wrote and read the Easter Narration for our church this year. I'm pasting it below. It went around the music, so it's a little disjointed, but for the most part it flows. Enjoy, and Happy Easter! :)

Most stories begin with “Once Upon a Time.” This story, however, begins with “Once, before time…” when God penned a novel incomparable to anything we could have imagined.

There was a King who created a world for His own glory, but His arrogant creatures constantly rejected His ruler ship, wanting instead to be kings themselves. Because of their rebellion, the King declared their sentence – permanent separation from Him and all things good. The rebels needed a hero to rescue them from their deserved punishment, but no one was qualified to go before the King.

In an amazing act of love that even his flying messengers couldn’t fathom, the King Himself provided the needed Hero: His Princely Son transformed into one of them, moving from a world of eternity to a life trapped by time and space, in order to live a perfect life in complete harmony with the King and in the end, to be the one qualified to take the sentence that was reserved for the guilty creatures.

The King chose a group of people and declared that the Hero would come from among them. Years upon years went by as the people waited. The time came for them to travel to their Homeland, the city of Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover – an ancient miracle that was used to deliver them from their enslavement in Egypt. They gathered together each year to worship and sing praises to their King Jehovah – through whom their final deliverer would one day come.

During the celebration, word spread quickly that a man named Jesus had entered by the Eastern Gate. Some rushed through the gate to meet him, joining with the crowds that followed Him there from Bethany. Many believed Jesus would be their earthly Ruler, saving them from the oppressive Romans. Although the enemies stood by watching and loathing every moment, the crowd loudly showered praises on Him as he rode in triumph. They cried, “Hosanna! Save us, we pray!”

There were those in the crowd who witnessed many of Jesus’s miracles and wonders. Blind people could see. The crippled were walking around town. Even Lazarus, who was pronounced dead, was alive again. And although His fame spread, there were others who were filled with questions.

Who is this Man? He hangs out with the scum of our society, he has no home or credentials, he doesn’t even look very regal… Where are his Horses? Chariots? Robes? Riches?

He wasn’t remotely what they had expected.

Jesus didn’t appear to be the King, nor did He speak like a future conqueror. When he had spoken to the multitudes on a hillside near the Sea of Galilee, His words were not of this world. He taught of another Kingdom, an eternal one, not confined by time and space. A Kingdom He came from, and to which he would one day return.

During the Passover, Jesus gathered his closest followers and shared a special meal. He explained that the bread was a symbol of his body, and the wine was his blood that would be poured out for all the people. He was giving them hope before the heart-wrenching days that were ahead, assuring them that they would one day dine together again with Him in the Kingdom of God.

The enemies of the God-King took their stand against Jesus. The rebellious people would not submit to the authority of their Creator. In a whirlwind of events, the crowd was swayed against Him. Betrayed, Arrested, Beaten, Abused, Cursed, Crushed, Condemned.

The Perfect Hero, who had stepped out of the throne room of the Almighty to help His hostile enemies, was stabbed with nails and murdered on a cross to die like a criminal pauper.

They thought they had won. They thought they had burned the end of the novel and foiled the plan as their God-King intended, to rewrite their own saga. But where His enemies saw personal triumph mixed with disgust, God saw love – a love that we can’t even begin to put our minds around.

God is not bound by the laws of our land or the rules that dictate our mortal lives. As life poured back into his veins, Jesus ascended to victory.

Jesus – our Prince and Hero - will return, as He promised, to claim His rightful Kingly throne, and until then, He holds out His offer to His creatures – ‘Accept my love, repent of your evil rebellion, and follow Me.’