Biblia

0110. The Followers of the Faith Are Preserved

0110. The Followers of the Faith Are Preserved

The Followers of the Faith Are Preserved

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling" (Jdg_1:24).

Neither our salvation nor our preservation is dependent upon ourselves. We are to give glory, majesty and dominion and power to the only wise God, our Saviour, who is able to keep us from falling.

1. Christ Jesus is able to keep us from sinning. He can lift us to the plane of victory. This is the primary meaning of the text. He tells us that if we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. He is able to keep us from stumbling in our daily walk, and yet, His ability to keep us depends on our yieldedness. We must put off the old man. We must yield ourselves as servants to Him, and not as servants to sin. Peter sank only when he got his eyes off of Jesus. The Master of the winds and the waves was able to keep him from sinking. He is also able to keep us.

2. Christ is able to keep us from falling into hell. This is a secondary thought. Frequently we hear something like this: "God is able to keep me from falling from my salvation providing I am able to keep hanging on to Him." "He will never lose His hold on me, unless I lose my hold on Him." But, there is nothing like this in the Word of God. This is adding to Divine revelation. The Bible says, "Ye shall be holden up." It does not say, "Providing you hold on." The Bible says, "Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation". It does not say, "Kept by the power of God, providing you keep yourself." The Bible says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ"? It does not add, "Nothing shall be able to separate us, unless we separate ourselves."

Christ said to Peter: "Thou art Simon, thou shalt be a rock." God took Peter for better or for worse. Therefore, when Peter was sorely tempted, Christ said, "Satan hath desired to have you, * * but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not". We have One with the Father, who is able to save to the completion, because He is managing our affairs for us.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR