All of Grace/Why Saints Persevere

From Gospel Translations

Revision as of 17:57, 28 July 2008

“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ.”—1 Corinthians 1:9

The hope which filled the heart of Paul concerning the Corinthian brethren we have already seen to be full of comfort to those who trembled as to their future. But why was it that he believed that the brethren would be confirmed unto the end?

I want you to notice that he gives his reasons. Here they are: “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ” (1Co 1:9). The apostle does not say, “You are faithful.” Alas! the faithfulness of man is a very unreliable affair; it is mere vanity. He does not say, “You have faithful ministers to lead and guide you, and therefore I trust you will be safe.” Oh, no! if we are kept by men we shall be but ill kept.

God is faithful

He puts it, “God is faithful.” If we are found faithful, it will be because God is faithful. On the faithfulness of our covenant God the whole burden of our salvation must rest. On this glorious attribute of God the matter hinges. We are variable as the wind, frail as a spider’s web, weak as water. No dependence can be placed upon our natural qualities, or our spiritual attainments; but God abideth faithful. He is faithful in his love; he knows no variableness, neither shadow of turning. He is faithful to his purpose: he doth not begin a work and then leave it undone. He is faithful to his relationships: as a Father he will not renounce his children, as a friend he will not deny his people, as a Creator he will not forsake the work of his own hands. He is faithful to his promises, and will never allow one of them to fail to a single believer. He is faithful to his covenant, which he has made with us in Christ Jesus, and ratified with the blood of his sacrifice. He is faithful to his Son, and will not allow his precious blood to be spilt in vain. He is faithful to his people to whom he has promised eternal life, and from whom he will not turn away.

This faithfulness of God is the foundation and cornerstone of our hope of final perseverance. The saints shall persevere in holiness, because God perseveres in grace. He perseveres to bless, and therefore believers persevere in being blessed. He continues to keep his people, and therefore they continue to keep his commandments. This is good solid ground to rest upon, and it is delightfully consistent with the motto of this little book, “ALL OF GRACE.” Thus it is free favor and infinite mercy which ring in the dawn of salvation, and the same sweet bells sound melodiously through the whole day of grace.

You see that the only reasons for hoping that we shall be confirmed to the end, and be found blameless at the last, are found in our God; but in him these reasons are exceedingly abundant.

What God has done

They lie first, in what God has done. he has gone so far in blessing us that it is not possible for him to run back. Paul reminds us that he has called us “into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ” (1Co 1:9). Has he called us? Then the call cannot be reversed; for, “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom 11:29). From the effectual call of his grace the Lord never turns. “Whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified” (Rom 8:30): this is the invariable rule of the divine procedure. There is a common call, of which it is said, “ Many are called, but few are chosen” (Mat 22:14), but this of which we are now thinking is another kind of call, which betokens special love, and necessitates the possession of that to which we are called. In such a case it is with the called one even as with Abraham’s seed, of whom the Lord said, “I have called thee from the ends of the earth, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away” (Isa 41:9).

In what the Lord has done, we see strong reasons for our preservation and future glory, because the Lord has called us into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ. It means into partnership with Jesus Christ, and I would have you carefully consider what this means. If you are indeed called by divine grace, you have come into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, so as to be joint-owner with him in all things. Henceforth you are one with him in the sight of the Most High. The Lord Jesus bare your sins in his own body on the tree, being made a curse for you; and at the same time he has become your righteousness, so that you are justified in him. You are Christ’s and Christ is yours. As Adam stood for his descendants, so does Jesus stand for all who are in him. As husband and wife are one, so is Jesus one with all those who are united to him by faith; one by a conjugal union which can never be broken.