KEY SCRIPTURE:2Ti 1:18 KJV” The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.”

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In our previous study, we considered how faithful Onisepherus served. This meant he was a very committed brother in the Lord ,yet Apostle Paul prayed that God should show mercy on him to escape the wrath that would be coming on the world, and also to be counted worthy to stand before the Lord of glory, our Lord Jesus Christ. This state of affairs brings a whole lot of issues to consider critically.

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It establishes the fact that it is not automatic that once you are saved, you will make it to heaven. It therefore implies that the doctrine of one’s being saved is forever saved is  questionable. This doctrine says that so long as a sinner makes Jesus his Lord, then his eternal salvation is certain. From the statement our Lord made in Luke 21:36, Luk 21:36 KJV” Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

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The Lord said we must watch and pray always. These  two verbs are very significant. To watch means we must be aware of what we do and how we do it. We have to judge ourselves in the light of the truth of God’s word. The second verb is to always ask the Lord to count us worthy, or better still ,to have mercy on us, to be counted worthy to be acceptable before his presence. This means God’s standard for one’s acceptance is very high.

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One may ask what role grace plays here? Grace is very vital in all this. Without the grace of God, no one can be saved. The grace of God has dealt with every inherited nature of sin from our father Adam. We have received the very righteousness of God. The blood of the Lamb has blotted out every trace of sin. The Holy Spirit gives us that divine strength to please the Father. It would be a big error to live a defeated life.

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One thing we ought to know is that there are sins of commission and sins of omission. Sins of commission are deliberate actions that go against the word of God. There are also sins of omission, which are not wilful conscious acts , yet one may  commit them. An example is when you forget to attend to certain tasks, although you were supposed to do them. In your sincerest heart, you did not intend to forget, yet in the presence of God,it is a sin against you. The mercy of God is ready to wash it away if you would ask for it. There are certain actions that one may not be conscious of committing. These acts may be included in those  that we have to always ask the Lord for mercy for issues that we may not be conscious of committing before the Lord.

Dear child of God, be careful how you live. Allow the Spirit of God to rule your heart.

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THOUGHT:THE GRACE OF GOD TAKES AWAY EVERY HINDRANCE, YET TO MAKE IT, YOU MUST COOPERATE WITH HIS GRACE

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FURTHER STUDIES

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Gal 2:21 KJV” I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

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1Pe 4:18 KJV And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?