If
My mom had a saying whenever I would try to use the excuse of “if only.” Hopefully. you can identify with what I mean by “if only.” “I would have gotten that done “if only” …….
My mom would say to me, “If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t scrape his bottom every time he hopped.” She aimed to suggest that the frog needed to hop regardless of how many times he scraped his bottom. She hoped it would get through to me to keep trying, stay firm in my resolve, and be more determined to stick to it.
The fact is, “if” can be a very powerful word, and believe it or not, it is used in the Scriptures. “If” is a conditional word. Suppose I were to say, “I could have been a professional drummer if I had taken lessons and practiced with much greater diligence,” I am using “if” to explain why I am not a professional drummer and the conditions that are part of that reason. A somewhat similar kind of example appears in Scripture.
Colossians 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
A believer in Jesus was at one time alienated from God. Clearly, we were enemies to Him in our thinking. Something happened, though. That is what But now is getting at. God has reconciled the believer by the physical body of Christ being put to death on the cross. Jesus had to die on the cross so the believer could be holy and without blemish in God’s sight. More than that, the believer is free from accusation as a result of Jesus dying on the cross and them having believed in what that accomplishes on their behalf.
But did you notice there is a condition on this? The condition is not based on an outward work we perform to make ourselves holy, without blemish or free of accusation. It is an inward work of continuing in faith despite our shortcomings or failures.
It says, “If you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.”
This is why the gospel will always be relevant and vital to believers in Jesus. It is the means of becoming saved; it is also the means of remaining holy, without blemish or accusation. Our defense against accusation is not our best behavior; it is Christ’s work on our behalf.
It is not just any gospel that we are meant to be confident of and established in faith by. It is the one Paul preached, which is a gospel of grace, not one of mixture with law, but one entirely reliant upon the finished work of Christ.
The primary and first thing, as well as the continuing things every believer needs to be established in, is their faith in the gospel. They need to have their confidence firmly based on the finished work of Jesus instead of their own work to be holy and acceptable.
1John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus loves you! He gave Himself for you to make you holy, blameless, and free from accusation. You are no longer the object of His anger once you are in Christ. You get to enjoy Him and the fellowship you have been given with Him through Christ. I encourage you today to take advantage of that fellowship and allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with His extraordinary grace and love today. Have faith in Him!
