1 Corinthians 15:57-58 “But thanks
be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord.”
The trusted 1828 Webster’s
Dictionary defines the word “Steadfast” as: Fast fixed; firm; firmly fixed or
established; or constant; firm; resolute; not fickle or wavering. They week,
Michael continues with part two of his message on steadfastness. He write that
character is built through steadfastness through the trials of life. Thank God
for godly fathers and godly mothers who molded and shaped our character in our
formative years.
How do we become steadfast
and what does that mean? In order to stand steadfast in Him, God will
need to crush the “self” out of ourselves. Through trials He will teach us that
we really have no control over our lives. We're not the masters of our own
circumstances ... God himself is Sovereign overall. Anything I have is all
of grace and none of me. For by
grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. Not of works lest any man should boast.
Every man and woman reaches
a fork in the road of life where they must decide what is more important: try
to please God or to trust God. The road that says Please God leads to a
gathering of people where everyone seems to be having fun. When you approach
the guest table, they hand you a mask. A banner on the wall says, "I'm
working on conquering my sin to live a better life." However, if we could
conquer our own sin, then Jesus Christ would not have needed to pay the price
on our behalf. A performance-based Christian lifestyle will leave us
frustrated and defeated. Many men and women leave the church in shame
because they're tired of lying to themselves and others. Shame says “you
don't give enough, serve enough, pray enough, study enough, or love enough”. When
you become discouraged trying to please God and others, you slip out the back
in shame and guilt. When you return to the fork in the road, you take the other
road that says “Trust God”. This road leads to a house full of messy but
honest people. They know that they are sinners saved by grace. In this
room they live in the liberty wherewith Christ has set them free. In this room
God says, "I love you and I even like
you. When I see you, I see the righteousness of my son Jesus Christ. There is
nothing that you could ever do to keep me from loving you. By trusting me, you
will learn to love me by spending time in my presence and abiding with me and
within me."
The secular world doesn't
teach us what it means to be a man or woman of God. The world teaches that men and
women must work for their own salvation from sin. However, salvation is by grace
alone through faith alone in Christ alone. You cannot earn your way to
Heaven. Grace is all of Thee Lord God and none of me. We are all guilty as
charged of sin before a righteous and holy God. However God intervened with His
mercy and grace. For The wages of sin is
death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, His Son.
The fifteenth chapter of 1
Corinthians shows us the foundation of remaining steadfast. We're steadfast and
unmovable because we have the hope of the resurrection. Because Jesus Christ
conquered the grave when God raised Him from the dead and we can rejoice in the
hope of His return. Our new life in Christ is the witness of our
resurrected Lord. In 2 Timothy 4:7-8,
Paul said in his farewell address: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing.”
In Christ, Brian
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