SAFE IN THE ARMS OF GOD

Terrorism has reached out its icy arms around the world resulting in a high level of fear. Uncertainty creates anxiety which robs a nation and individuals of peace and tranquility. As the threat to safety rises, the need for a secure inter life grows more important. Spiritual terrorism exist to day as well. It can take on many forms, but its main goal is to lead a person down a pathway of uncertainty resulting in the fear of not knowing for sure if he/she will arrive in the presence of our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me be clear, this is written for those who have agreed with God and accept His word that we have all sinned and fallen short of His glory. (Romans3:23) and for those who accept the need to be cleansed or forgiven by the blood of Christ and have called upon the name of the Lord to be saved (Hebrews 9:22, Romans 10:13, Romans 10:9). True membership in God's family will show itself by repentance which is a genuine sorrow toward God on account of sin resulting in a change of mind toward sin and toward God (Acts 17:30, Acts 3:19, II Corinthians 7:10, II Corinthians 5:17). As one calls upon the name of the Lord and prays the sinner's prayer, he/she are born spiritually into God's family (John 3:3-17).

Now that you have become a Christian and have been born into God's family, there are times of real threat when you question whether what has happened in your life is real. Satan will attempt by all means to destroy your inner peace and confidence. Also some well meaning Christians will tell you that if you sin, you lose what you have. Over the Internet will come those who might say it is a dangerous delusion to believe that you can have the inner assurance of being a permanent member of the family of God. As we approach this subject, let me say up front that those who seek to drive the cold spike of fear into your soul have failed to understand the sovereignty of God, the Father's infinite power to set the sinner free, God's infinite love and the influence on the Father of the prayer of His Son.

First of all, some people who say they have been, "born again", may not have had a true experience of salvation. As I sat down to write this a 56 year old man, who claims to have been born again, has taken a thirteen year old girl and is being sought by authorities. My brother, who retired from the Michigan prison system as a guard, has shared with me that most men, when checked into prison, grab for a Bible and put on a great show of interest in religion. I am not going into great detail, but God's word is very clear that not all who call themselves Christians are in fact, children of God. I grew up on a farm and showed animals at the 4-H fair and was also in FFA and had a pig project. You can clean up these animals and show them, but you do not change their true natures. In 11 Peter 2:22 we read, "The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire." Neither the pig or the dog has been changed within by being outwardly cleaned up and in time will show their true nature. People who claim to be Christians do not have the nature of sheep, which we as Christians are called in the gospel of John, and sooner or later will show their true nature. Many people in choosing a marriage partner have been led astray by a person who for awhile claimed to become a Christian and six months into the marriage began to reveal it was all a put on. Christ changes us and gives a new nature, He does not temporarily clean up the outside. There is much more I could say but will close this section with I John 2:19, " they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest they were not all of us."

There is so much that can be said and scriptures that undergird this truth, but in this short paper let me share a few scriptures that build line upon line and precept upon precept. In I John 5:11-13 we read, " And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God." We can be know-so Christians based upon the written word of God. As a child of God, we must recognize that when a transaction occurred we must realize that we depend only on Christ as Savior and can say with Paul, "I know whom I have believed." (II Timothy 1: 12). The Lord Jesus said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37) A verse I have repeated in prayer over fifty years is Philippians 1:16, "being confident of this very thing, that He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ". The Holy Spirit who lives in every true believer says in Romans 8:9 ; "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." He began the work of salvation and will bring it to its conclusion. This in outline form is His ministry of justification, sanctification, glorification. That means we have been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin. The Christian is being saved from the power of sin over his life, (Galatians 2:19-20 and Romans 6:14), "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace." The child of God will be saved at the coming of Christ for His own. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and I Corinthians 15:43). Some other portions of God's word to consider are Hebrews 6:11, "And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end." Also Hebrews 10:22 states, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith." If my salvation depended upon me, there is no way I could have full assurance. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus, blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.

To those who feel we have no security in Christ, their appeal seem to lean on experience and reason more than on the testimony of God's word. Usually this field of thought that contends man is supreme and that God must adjust Himself to the scheme of things. Let us remember God is sovereign and His purposes will be realized. Study Hebrews 2:9-10, Ephesians 1:11-12, Romans 8:28-30, Romans 4:16, John 6:37. We as Christians are totally dependent upon the Father's power to set us free and to care for us in this life and bring us safely home. Again consider John 10:29, Romans 4:21, Romans 8:31, 38-39, Romans 14:4, Ephesians 3:20, Philippines 3:21, II Timothy 1:12, Hebrews 7:25, Jude 24, Ephesians 1:19-21. Do not forget the infinite love of God in this whole matter. Ephesians 1:4 and Romans 5 are good points to study along with John 3:16. The prayer of our Lord Jesus to His Father must be carefully studied, for seven times He refers to those who are saved as, "Those whom thou hast given me," in John 17,2,6,9,11-12,24. In John 17:11 He petitions His Father to, "keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one." Will the prayer of the Lord Jesus to His Father be kept? I think most Bible students would agree that God the Father will employ His infinite resources to accomplish precisely what His Son has requested. To deny the safe keeping of the child of God is to imply that the prayer of the Son of God will not be answered. I hope this brief discussion has helped and will lead to personal research and Bible study which we have only scratched the surface.