1 John 2:27 is pretty “straight to the point” as it says “Just as [the Holy Spirit] has taught you…remain
in fellowship with Christ.” As we move into the New Year, I recall over the
last month (December) during Advent, we opened our hearts to be ready to receive
Jesus. We were challenged to grow ever closer to Him. After the
world-changing, calendar-defining, cosmos-altering birth of Jesus, we
flocked to Church to receive Jesus in a deeper way at Christmas.
Now it is just over a week past Christmas.
Numerous people are packing away the ornaments and taking down their Christmas
trees (even though the Christmas season doesn’t officially end until January 6,
2019). The verse from 1 John (at the start of this article) challenges us to
"remain in" Jesus rather
than, like our Christmas decorations, to "pack Him away until next Advent" (which, by the way, starts Sunday, 1 December 2019).
The worst possible condition for a human being
is to “not remain” in Jesus after having truly received Him. In other words,
treating “salvation” as nothing more than a “fire insurance policy” so we can sit back and relax because now, we don't have to worry about going to Hell anymore! To “get saved” and then do nothing more than to just go on with my life exactly the way it was before I became a Christian is alarming.
To become a Christian, and then to fail to
grow, obey, change and become stronger is horribly sad if not a humiliating
disaster. The Bible says in 2 Peter
2:20-21: "And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by
knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved
by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they
had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the
command they were given to live a holy life."
Scripture reveals to us that it is possible for
one to lose their faith and "fall away from [their] sincere and complete
devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians
11:3). This is Wesleyan (Methodist) teaching that we would call “falling
from grace” which is probably not aligned with what some of you have known as the “once
saved, always saved” concept that some
other Denominations teach.
Therefore, a great “New Year’s Resolution”
could be to plead with the Lord for the grace to always "remain in
Him" (1 John 2:28). So, as the last remaining days of the Christmas season
wind down, don't discard Jesus along with the wrapping paper and
decorations. Choose and prepare to be committed to Him more than ever before.
Worship Him with the wise men and women of all
ages (see Matthew 2:11). "If what you heard from the beginning does
remain in your hearts, then you in turn will remain in the Son and in the
Father" (1 John 2:24). So, stay with Jesus, now.....and forever more!