SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/4/2017
7:25 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The Evidence of Reconciliation”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
1:23
Message of the
verse: “23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of
the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven,
and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”
I have to say that there are some verses in the Word of
God that exhort you to make sure that you are a true believer in Jesus Christ. “5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do
you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless
indeed you fail the test? (2 Cor. 13:5).
Now if a person fails that test they will one day here the Lord Jesus
Christ say to them “22 "Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonders in Your name?’ 23 "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Matt.
7:23-23)!”
Now we have been talking about reconciliation and we have
to understand that reconciliation is exactly what we have been stating it is,
and probably much more could have been said, but I believe what we said is
true. At any rate this does a
non-believer no good and so Paul is telling the Colossians that in order to
prove that they have been reconciled to God they need to “continue in the faith
and this faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the
hope of the gospel.” He is saying that
if you do these things then this will show that you are a true believer in
Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur writes “Of all the marks of a genuine
Christian presented in Scripture, none is more significant than the one Paul
mentions here. People give evidence of
being truly reconciled when they ‘continue in the faith firmly established and
steadfast.’ The Bible repeatedly
testifies that those who are truly reconciled will continue in faith. In the parable of the soils, Jesus described
those represented by the rock soil as ‘those who, when they hear, receive the
word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in
time of temptation fall away’’ (Luke 8:13).
By falling away they gave evidence that they were never truly
saved. In John 8:31, ‘Jesus therefore
was saying to those Jews who have believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then
you are truly disciples of Mine.’’
Speaking of apostates, the apostle John writes in 1 John 2:19, ‘They
went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us,
they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be
shown that they are not of us.’”
2/4/2017 7:41 PM
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