“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:” (2nd Tim. 2:12)
It is not “part of the deal,” there is no agreement to certain terms set, no contract to sign, no stipulations that must be adhered to, no backing out by either of the two parties. The assurance of our salvation by grace through faith cannot be disannulled, there is no sin that one can commit once we are hid in Christ that will cause the Lord to change His mind, and it is impossible for one who is the righteousness of God in Christ to be cast away as unrighteous.
The King never releases what is His, if we sin, there is punishment for that sin, and the servant who has been born-again, even though he sins, will never continue in that sin, for his heart is set upon glorifying his King.
“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6)
The Romanist claim everything written here is a lie, works-based religious organizations do not state the truth that we will suffer with Him, but that we must suffer for Him, one simple word that changes the entire context and thus the prospective of those who claim to be saved, yet are not.
My friends, there is no reason whatsoever to go about searching for ways to cause suffering to come upon yourself to prove your salvation, the Almighty will ensure that, if indeed you are one of His, you will suffer. How you accept that suffering, as well as the chastisements of a loving Father, will reveal this truth to you.
“Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.” (2nd Cor. 13:7)
How long it took Paul to understand the following verse, or if he ever heard it spoken to him later, I do not know, but I do know that he accepted the truth of it when he realized the necessity of it.
“For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16)
Those same words are spoken to and about everyone who has truly been saved by grace through faith, and though one may seem to suffer more than another, that suffering for each of us, to us, is indeed great. Specifically formulated just for you, never self-imposed, always brought upon us for good, by the One who loves us deeply and forever, to conform us into the image of His Son.
It is why the following words are perhaps the most important words we can say in this life, and only those who have been born-again can say them with the full assurance of their salvation, and for the glory of the Living God.
“Thy will be done.”
Lazarus sitting at the rich man’s gate said them, Job sitting on a dung heap, Stephen while he was being stoned, our Savior at the cross. We accept everything our Father in heaven allows or brings into our lives, servants serving for His glory, never fearful of losing or having removed that which he has promised.
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1st John 1:8)
We will sin, willfully, of our own free will, we will repent and not continue in that sin, He will and always has been faithful and just to forgive us, and we will continue to serve in thanksgiving and praise to His Holy name, accepting the chastisement for our sins.
To search for ways to suffer for His glory is foolishness, if we are His, we will suffer, and it will be your Father’s design in how you are to suffer, and for how long. How you accept that suffering will reveal to you, and to those who witness it, who it is you serve and why.
The sincere heart that serves the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God understands these truths.
