Thursday, November 10, 2005
1 Peter 1:5 . . . kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
CAN ANYONE BE SURE OF HEAVEN?
There is no doubt that heaven is a very wonderful place. The apostle Peter describes it as our eternal inheritance, incorruptible, uncontaminated, and it does not fade away. He tells us that this inheritance is ours because of the work of our Savior Jesus Christ. He died for our sins and rose again, and because of Him we have this hope of heaven.
But is it something we can really count on? Or is it just an idle dream? We don't have any doubts about Peter being in heaven, or Paul, or any of the authors of Holy Scripture! But what about me? Can I be sure that I will get to heaven? We know we are children of God by faith in Jesus, but our faith is so very weak. Perhaps we sometimes think that we may falter along the way. Perhaps we sometimes think that even though we believe in Jesus now, it is possible that we will fall away somewhere along the road.
How can we be sure that our faith will continue? How can we be sure we will not fall away? Think of Judas Iscariot! He was one of Jesus' twelve apostles, and yet he fell away and killed himself in despair. Didn't Jesus say in one of His parables that there are those who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away? We think about some of our own friends. We were confirmed with them a year or twenty or forty ago. Some of them have stopped going to church. There does not seem to be much evidence that they are still Christians. Will I also fall away. one day?
Besides that, reports are coming in from places all over the world that Christians are being persecuted, tortured, and even put to death for their faith in Jesus? If such persecution comes to our country and I am faced with such torture, will I be strong enough to endure it? Or will I deny my faith as so many others have done down through the years?
Our Lord knows that we are sometimes plagued with questions such as these, and so He has inspired His apostle Peter to speak to us in the words of our text. This is what is recorded in 1 Peter 1:5: (we) are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
