Friday, April 27, 2018
1 John 3:23-24 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
CONFIDENCE IN OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH-LIFE, OR . . . DEALING WITH DEPRESSION (4)
No, it is not the ten commandments we are told to keep before we can have confidence in God; rather, it is the "commandment" to believe in Jesus -- an "invitation of grace" which itself has the power to create faith!
Note carefully that it is God the Holy Spirit who causes us to abide in Christ. When we were baptized He first brought us to faith and promises to keep us in it. The same Spirit gives us confidence that, in spite of all our shortcomings, we are God’s children.
When Satan tempts us to question our faith's genuineness, even threatening us with depression and despair, consider such a passage as "by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." Yes, the Spirit Himself assures us! Along the same line, consider also:
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ . . ." (Romans 8:14ff). And look who is our "guarantee":
"Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord . . ." (2 Corinthians 5:5ff).
Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
Whose trust, ever child-like, no cares could destroy:
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.
Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm:
Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.
(Lutheran Service Book, 738:1, 4)
