Search this site
IRONSTRIKES
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Beliefs
  • Formation
  • For Women
  • Meetings & Events

On Finishing Strong

5/4/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture
Recently I heard the tragic news that a man who had been the head of a worldwide ministry had committed suicide following allegations against him of child molestation.  Rather than face the grim reality of his sin, he choose instead to end his life through suicide at the ministry site.  He left behind secret sins that were about to be exposed for all to see.

I am not here to judge this man.  I never knew him nor did I know anything much about him or his ministry.  I cannot say whether he was a false convert or not.  I cannot say that he was a man who committed apostasy.  I cannot say where he is.  I don’t know.  I leave that to God alone.  This post is not to judge where this man is or about suicide.  This post is about finishing well.

We could debate the condition of this man.  I have read some who have.  One Calvinist (whom I appreciate though I disagree with him here) states that its possible this man was a false convert.  This man was in prison in for his faith in Cuba for many years.  This man went all over the world preaching about the persecuted church.  It is possible that a false convert could do these things but it’s highly unlikely.  No doubt some will proclaim Jesus and not be truly saved as the case in Matthew 7:21-23.  I do think that Calvinists often misunderstand the point of Matthew 7:21-23 but I shall leave that for another day.  This Calvinist brother went on to write that we must judge people by their fruit (Matthew 7:20).  Because of his belief in the final preservation of the saints, he is unwilling to concede that its possible that this man, like King Saul, had committed apostasy and turned away from the Lord (Hebrews 6:4-20).  This doctrine of apostasy was completed avoided in this brother’s post about this man.

There is no doubt that God promises us security.  Key passages such as John 10:27-30 or Romans 8:38-39 or Philippians 1:6 or Jude 24-25 are often cited to show that God promises security to us.  I agree.  The huge difference between myself and many who hold to eternal security would be that I believe those promises are given to believing believers.  These are not isolated promises that seem to state that God will keep us no matter what.  He promises to keep us in Christ Jesus.  Apart from Jesus, we have no hope (Colossians 1:21-23).  Jesus is our salvation (John 15:1-9).  Jesus is our advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1-2).  Jesus is our faithful high priest who intercedes for us before God the Father (Hebrews 7:25).  Jesus is our everything!  Jesus is our very life (Colossians 3:1-3).  We are seeking to build our lives upon Him and His Word (Matthew 7:24-27).  To be in Christ Jesus through faith does keep us (2 Corinthians 1:24).  Jesus, not our works nor our own righteousness, keeps us safe from harm (Romans 8:1).

But equally clear is the warning to abide in Jesus.  We are to remain in Him through faith (1 Peter 1:5).  Notice 1 John 2:24-25 (NKJV):

Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.  If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.  And this is the promise that He has promised us – eternal life.

That seem very clear to me.  Abide in Jesus and we have the promise from Him: eternal life.  How do we abide in Him?  By keeping His commandments.  Notice that in 1 John 3:24.  1 John 3:24 says, “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.  And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us (NKJV).”  Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.  Obedience to Christ as Lord is vital here.  We must not downplay this.  This is not obedience that flows from a heart of works but of faith.  We love Jesus and through faith in Him, we seek to obey Him as Lord (John 14:15).  Our obedience flows from this transformed heart that He has wrought within us through faith (Ezekiel 36:25-27).  The Holy Spirit Himself helps us to obey.

The Scriptures to me are a perfect balance.  On the one hand we have the promises from God about our security.  What joyful delight it is to read that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  Yet on the other hand, I fear God because of who He is and His just wrath against sin (Hebrews 10:19-39).  Like Paul in Romans 11:20-22, I fear Him and stand in awe of His grace and I rejoice in His salvation but I also tremble at His Word.  I know that my salvation comes from Him and not myself (Jonah 2:9).  I know that He alone saved me by His sovereign grace (Ephesians 1:4-13).  I know that my hope, my salvation, my righteousness, my everything is found in one place and that is in Jesus Christ alone (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).  I don’t begin to believe that I am saved by grace through faith and kept by works (Titus 3:5-7).  The work of God is simply this: to believe in the One whom He has sent (John 6:29).  Salvation is not half God and half me.  It is all of God and all of grace (Acts 15:11).

Yet I want to finish well.  I want to please the Lord.  I want to fear Him always.  I am young now but if I grow to be an old man, I pray that I will be an old man who honors the Lord.  I pray that all my days are spent for His glory alone.  Can you imagine spending years in service to the King and then at the end of your life, turn away from Him toward sinning and end your life with misery and the foulness of sin?  I want to be like Paul the Apostle in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 and be able to say with confidence that I fought the good fight, I have kept the faith (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).  I don’t want to bring shame to the One who gave His life for me.  I want to die well and hear Him say when I enter into His holy presence: “Well done good and faithful slave” (Matthew 25:21).

Thank you to the Seeking Disciple for this guest post.  To view the original post, click here

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

2 Comments
Kevin Bullock
5/4/2012 09:08:53

Thoughts and prayers for his family and ministry. I hope the ones that followed this man who had nothing short of a heroic faith story can get their focus back on the only man that has no sin.

Reply
drwayman link
5/4/2012 09:32:51

Amen!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Rules for commenting:

    1.  Be respectful  
    2.  Refer to rule #1

    All comments may not be approved.

    Note that many identifying details about individuals in these posts are not accurate.  Their identity is protected, except for those individuals who are being honored or are public figures.

    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    Abortion
    Abraham
    Abstinence
    Abuse
    Accountability
    Adam
    Adam Yauch
    Addictions
    Admiration
    Adultery
    Affair
    Amos
    Angels
    Anger
    Anniversary
    Anoint
    Anonymous
    Anxiety
    Atheism
    Avoidant
    Bad Boy
    Battle
    Beastie Boys
    Beautiful
    Bestiality
    Betrayal
    Bird
    Blame
    Bobby Petrino
    Bondage
    Book Review
    Brian Head Welch
    Brothel
    B.T. Roberts
    Camping
    Cancer
    Challenge
    Change
    Chaotic
    Character
    Children
    Choice
    Christmas
    Church
    Church Camp
    Closed Door
    Compulsions
    Confession
    Confident
    Control
    Courage
    Covenant
    Creator
    Crown
    Crucifixion
    Darkness
    Death
    Deception
    Decision
    Demons
    Depression
    Detachment
    Devotions
    Dez Bryant
    Differences
    Dilemma
    Dirty
    Discipleship
    Disgusting
    Divorce
    Domestic Violence
    Domination
    Doubt
    Dreams
    Dr Hart8bb80a7b00
    Dwayne Allen
    Dysfunction
    Easter
    Eden
    Ego
    Eleazar
    Elitism
    Empty
    Envy
    Ephesians
    Equality
    Erectile Dysfunction
    Esau
    Eternity
    Euthanasia
    Evil
    Exhibitionism
    Eyes
    Facebook
    Faithfulness
    Fantasy
    Fasting
    Father
    Favorites
    Fear
    Fellatio
    Fighting
    Fishing
    Flashing
    Flattery
    Flesh
    Force
    Forgiveness
    Gentleman
    Girls Gone Wild
    G.K. Chesteron
    Goals
    God
    Good Friday
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Greek
    Guard
    Guilt
    Heart
    Heaven
    Hebrew
    Hell
    Henri Nouwen
    Histrionic
    Hogging
    Holiness
    Hollow
    Honesty
    Honor
    Hope
    Humility
    Humor
    Ichabod
    Idols
    Impurity
    Individuality
    Input
    Insane Clown Posse
    Integrity
    Intent
    Intimacy
    Isaac
    Islam
    Jack Schaap
    Jamaica
    Jealousy
    Jimmy Needham
    Job
    Joy
    J.R.R. Tolkien
    Judgmentalism
    Justice
    Kindness
    King David
    Kittens
    Komboloib7e292a311
    Korn
    Larry Norman
    Leave It To Beaver
    Lies
    Light
    Listening
    Loneliness
    Love
    Lust
    Lying
    Macho
    Manners
    Marriage
    Masculinity
    Masturbation
    Maturity
    Mca
    Meditation
    Messianic
    Meticulous
    Mighty
    Missions
    Money
    Monogamy
    Moses
    Motivations
    Movies
    Music
    Normal
    Obedience
    Obscenity
    Open Door
    Parenting
    Passiveaggressive2ed940c88b
    Pastor
    Path
    Perfection
    Personality Disorders
    P.O.D.
    Politics
    Pornography
    Pornograpy
    Power
    Practical
    Prayer
    Predator
    Prejudice
    Premature Ejaculaton
    Preparation
    Pride
    Problems
    Promises
    Protection
    Providence
    Purity
    Quechua
    Quiz
    Racism
    Regret
    Religious
    Repentance
    Reputation
    Research
    Respect
    Responsibility
    Rest
    Resurrection
    Revival
    Righteousness
    Robots
    Roughhousing
    Routine
    Rules
    Rut
    Sabbath
    Sacrifice
    Sadism
    Salvation
    Sanctification
    Satisfaction
    Selfishness
    Self Love
    Self-love
    Service
    Sex
    Sexism
    Sexuality
    Sexual Response
    Sexual Response
    Shame
    Sin
    Singing
    Snobbery
    Soldier
    Sovereignty
    Stalking
    Stephen Hawking
    Step-parenting
    Strong
    Success
    Succubus
    Suicide
    Swearing
    Sword
    Teenagers
    Temper
    Temptation
    Tenth Ave North
    Testing
    Theology
    Thinking
    Thomas Cogswell Upham
    Tim Tebow
    Tournament Male
    Tradition
    Trafficking
    Trapped
    Trauma
    Triggers
    Trust
    Truth
    U2
    Uncle Buddy
    Unity
    Violence
    Virtue
    Vulnerability
    Warrior
    Watchman Nee
    Waywardness
    What Is A Man
    Women
    Worry
    Worship
    Wussification
    Year In Review
    Zombies

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

IRONSTRIKES

Men Forging Men