We are called to salvation through God’s grace. This devotional reading looks at how grace helps us overcome our doubts.
Nuggets
- We are Christ’s because God has given us grace.
- Our doubts center around the turmoil of suspicion, discord, and dissatisfaction.
- God doesn’t tempt us to lose our salvation.
We’ve been looking at how Christ will not lose those who have been given to Him to help us alleviate our doubts of our salvation.
It has been a while since we have talked about piety. Piety is an old-time churchy word that is defined as the persistent application of moral virtues to our lives because of our supreme love for God.
The more modern term is righteousness. Righteousness is the indwelling goodness that is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments and from which all virtues flow.
The application of our moral virtues does lead us to be free from sin – as much as our humanly bodies can be free, that is. That can only happen with a solid relationship with God.
Let’s see where Beveridge is taking us with this. His sermon only addresses the first section.
As I was setting this up and writing the other devotions, a couple of things popped into my mind. So, I am going to address them here since we have only one more devotion in the Christ Will not Lose What Is Given to Him series.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the The Surity of Our Salvation study
Here is a running list of nuggets for the study.
The foundation of this study is Beveridge’s sermon The Believer’s Safety
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The title is Beveridge’s words.
Kept Because of Grace
“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (Jas. 4: 6 ESV)
We are Christ’s because God has given us grace.
Well, okay. Beveridge said God was inclining us by His grace. We’re going to say that God is persuading us to accept His grace.
We know that God isn’t a dictator who forces us to accept His salvation. He gives us free will to decide whether we will or not.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sin is not believing that Jesus is our Savior to save us from our actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
Glossary
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
God gives His grace freely. He calls us to salvation.
It is all His doing.
Grace is all about God giving us what we don’t deserve. We don’t deserve to be given any gift from Sovereign God.
But it isn’t about us. God gives His grace because of Who He is, not who we are.
It is amazing how God gives and gives. Scratch that.
It is amazing how freely God gives and gives.
Raleigh told us what exactly God is giving us. He wrote, “… grace that is entirely beyond and above deserving, above all human merit of every kind. Grace is grace.”
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When I first read that, I read God is grace. Well, He is. Grace is one of His attributes.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
What God gives us is beyond what we could ever earn. He gives us Himself.
Yet, most of our doubts focus on us. We aren’t good enough. We don’t see the how or why God is doing what He is doing.
It isn’t’ about us. We are sure of our salvation because of Who God is and what He has promised. We can believe His promises.
- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 16 ESV).
- “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2: 3-4 ESV).
God knew we were going to sin before He made us. He knew we are going to continue to sin after we accept His gift of salvation.
Our surety of salvation is dependent on our attitude toward Him. Do we acknowledge Him as Sovereign Lord? Do we want to submit to His Will?
That is why we have confidence in our salvation.
Letting the Doubts In
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11: 29 ESV)
Our doubts center around the turmoil of suspicion, discord, and dissatisfaction.
If God specifically tells us that His calling to salvation is irrevocable, why do we have doubts? Robertson gave us three causes that sends us into turmoil: suspicion, discord, and dissatisfaction.
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This turmoil flat out make us doubt God – and by extension our salvation. Disbelieving in God can present itself in several different ways in our lives.
- We don’t think God is real.
- We don’t think God’s promises are true.
- We don’t think what God says applies to us.
- We don’t understand where God is leading us and why – let alone how we are going to do what He wants.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3: 5-6 ESV).
We need to put our trust in God. Trust is the assurance that the promises of God are true. We can believe in God’s guarantee that Christ will not lose us.
But the problem is we let anxiety overtake us. We don’t lead with trust.
We focus on the turmoil going on within us instead.
- “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (Jn. 14: 1 ESV).
- “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (I Pet. 5: 6-7 ESV).
- “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 6-7 ESV)
It usually boils down to we are not satisfied with our lives – our outward circumstances. We may have thought this was just a prosperity gospel. We surely didn’t think we would be persecuted as children of God.
What that really means is we want the salvation without the sanctification. That was never God’s plan.
Tested Beyond Our Abilities
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (I Cor. 10: 13 ESV)
God doesn’t tempt us to lose our salvation.
I was reading in my devotions the other day about how Satan attacks our contentment. Of course, the ability to bear verse was used.
We tend to want that mean we won’t be tempted by the hard things. Our response is God won’t give us more than we can bear with His help.
But when our contentment goes, the doubt comes rushing in.
What if this means God won’t give us more than we can bear to lose our salvation? Doesn’t that make sense?
We know we have to be tempted with more than we have the ability at the time so that we might grow. You know, we won’t be stretched to show we can endure more and have the faith in God to do it.
We know God doesn’t cause us to sin. God doesn’t tempt us to get rid of us from His family.
We know He wants us to endure to the end. We can only do that through Him.
Making the Connections
Raleigh said that God know how much we long for His grace and piety. He knows how much we long to be pure.
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To me, that speaks of how sincere our submission is to God. We must choose to fully submit to Him.
If we aren’t truly submitting to God, we don’t have surety of our salvation.
If we don’t want God’s presence in our lives or if we don’t want Him calling the shots, we should doubt our salvation.
We are not truly saved if we have not submitted all we are to Him.
We need to fix that.
How Do We Apply This?
- Work to expand God’s kingdom.
- Hold on to God’s grace.
- Trust God when we are filled with suspicion, discord, and dissatisfaction.
- Endure to the end.
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Father God. We want to keep our focus directly on You. Forgive us when we take our eyes off You and let the doubts creep in. Strengthen us through Your grace. Amen.
What do you think?
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