Faith Will Guide Me

February 22, 2017

Day 53: Rescued From Death:
"Jesus told her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha?'"
—John 11:25-26

I don't have too much to say about Anderson's lesson today. He basically tells us that if we believe in Jesus, we do not have to fear death. As a medical doctor, he knows all too well that eventually our "bodies will give way." It doesn't matter "how hard medical professionals try—no matter how many new drugs, treatments, or surgeries we invent—we cannot stop death."  However, Jesus can.

Anderson explains that he has "had the privilege of sitting beside the deathbeds of hundreds of believers" and he has watched them "go without fear" because they know that "with death comes the freedom of everlasting life."

As a believer, I too can "go without fear," but I don't feel that way all the time. I wonder if I will ever be fully secure in that knowledge. I suppose it comes from being made to believe that I can lose my salvation if I do not behave in a certain way. For all the talk of grace that I have heard, it never really stuck. Perhaps it was because it was layered with the idea that in order to receive that grace I must do X, Y, and Z and do it consistently without question. However, the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

There is nothing that I can do, no work that I can perform, that would guarantee my salvation. God gives it freely to those who have faith in Christ. The only "work" to be done is to have faith and to grow in that faith.  "...Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).

My faith in God should be what inspires me to do good works, not fear of judgement and condemnation. Having faith leads to doing good. "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead" (James 2:26).  So I can't really have one without the other, and I do not need to worry about performing in a certain way to please God. My faith will naturally lead me to do so.  Faith assures me of what I hope for (eternal life) and allows me to be certain of what I do not see (God).

I can rest assured that faith will be my guide.