Christ with You Always

A new Christian said to a friend, "When I received Christ, I felt the love and joy of His presence, but I don't have that feeling now. It bothers me. Have I done something wrong?" His friend said, "He's still with you always. Feelings come and go, but He has promised never to leave you. Simply take Him at His word."

You may get excited through special times with the Lord, when you know He is moving in your life. However, remember the Lord is with you today and always. Jesus promised to be with you always. Feelings say, "Sometime I know He is with me. Other times, I'm not sure." Faith says, "He is with me always, whether I feel His presence or not." Faith is not a feeling, and feeling is not faith. Only faith can know the Lord is with you today and always.

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, remember that He is with you today and always. He will never leave you, because He loves you. That's a good reminder to all believers everywhere. Take the Lord at His word. Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).

Every believer is indwelt by the Spirit of the living Christ (Romans 8:9). He comes to live in you. The Spirit of Christ is your constant companion. As an expectant mother may feel the unborn baby move within her from time to time, nevertheless, most of the time she does not feel the baby move. So it is with the Spirit of Christ within you as a believer. He can move within ways you recognize. However, He lives in you today and always.

Predestined In Christ

The word predestination (proorizo) means to mark off beforehand. The death of Christ was predestined by God (Acts 4:28). Believers are predestined in Christ to adoption (Ephesians 1:5), to an inheritance (v. 11), and to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29).

The root word for predestination pictures the horizon of the sky and earth. At a distance, you may see where the landscape of the earth ends and the sky begins. That's a line drawn by God Himself. Your destiny in Christ draws the line between those who are saved and those who are not. God has "marked off beforehand" to save all who believe in Christ (Acts 16:31). Believers are predestined in Christ to an eternal inheritance, which is to be conformed to the likeness of Christ.

Predestination in Christ means all believers shall be glorified into His likeness (Romans 8:29-30). We shall be glorified in a body like unto that of our risen Lord. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). That's your destiny foreordained, as a believer in Christ.

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a destiny foreordained by God. That is our security as believers. Yes, we are predestined in Christ. God's plan for us is certain. We are predestined as God's adopted children, by faith in Christ, unto an eternal inheritance to be glorified in Christ. We are predestined in Christ to an inheritance.

God's Effectual Call

F. F. Bruce wrote that the "effectual calling which is the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel."

God's effectual call is to Christ by the Holy Spirit through the gospel. It is the Holy Spirit's work to convince us to believe and receive Christ. Jesus said, "And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin because they do not believe in me" (John 16:8-9).

Bruce noted from Scripture that the called of God belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:6); called to be saints (Romans 1:7), because of his call (Romans 9:11). The Holy Spirit calls us to Christ through the gospel.

Dr. Bruce recognized that the call to Christ is offered freely to all. However, he focused upon those who respond to the gospel of Christ in the effectual call. The convincing work of the Holy Spirit makes the difference in those who come to Jesus Christ our Lord by faith.

God's call to Christ is not received by those who refuse in unbelief. Therefore, they must be responsible for their own just condemnation. Dr. Bruce explained "that the gates of God's mercy stand wide open for their entrance, that his free pardon is assured in Christ to all who claim it by faith."

Christ Revealed to You

Christ is revealed to you through the Bible. All Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). He reveals Christ in Messianic prophecies and promises of the Old Testament, as well as the fulfillment and assurance of those promises in the New Testament. 

Christ is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit. He opens your eyes of understanding to see the light of Christ (John 1:9). Without the Holy Spirit, the purpose and point of God's truth is not seen (John 16:13). The hymn Amazing Grace includes these words, "I once was blind, but now I see." That's spiritual blindness, but the Holy Spirit opens your eyes of understanding to see the truth of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ is revealed to you in the Old Testament, with foreknowledge and vision given to the prophets. The Holy Spirit revealed Christ in prophecy. Today, the same Holy Spirit reveals Christ to you. Scripture is the revelation of the Holy Spirit, given through the prophets and apostles (Ephesians 2:20). Christ is the Revelation (Revelation 1:1).

Christ is revealed to you through the gospel (1 Thessalonians 1:5). He is revealed to you in salvation, by the Spirit of grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9, 18). The Lord Jesus saves to the uttermost all who come to him by faith. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ saves and keeps you (John 3:8, 16). What he begins in you, he is more than able to complete (Philippians 1:6).

Believing Is Receiving

Charles H. Spurgeon defined faith as an "immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace." 

Believing is receiving Christ (John 1:11-12). We come to Christ by faith, through the Spirit of grace working in your heart. The Spirit of God leads us to receive the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Believing Christ is receiving eternal life as the gift of God (Romans 6:23). Eternal life is a personal relationship with the eternal God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 17:3). It is fellowship or communion with God (1 John 1:7). Believing in Christ is receiving from God through a covenant relationship (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Believing Christ is receiving God's grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ works in us and through us, to the praise of His glorious grace (Ephesians 1:6). It is not what we do for Christ, but what He has done for us, and continues to do in us (Philippians 1:6; 2:13). Believing Christ is receiving grace to do in us what we could never do by ourself. 

Believing in Christ is receiving the gospel, according to the Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Believing is receiving Christ by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). We are believing Christ died for our sins and he is risen from the dead.

How God Draws Us

Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44). Again, Jesus said,"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself" (John 12:32, NKJV).

No one comes to Christ unless the Father draws us (John 6:44-45). Albrecht Oepke, the author of a Kittel's article on John 6:44 and 12:32, explains how the Father draws us: "There is no thought here of force or magic. The term figuratively expresses the supernatural power of the love of God or Christ which goes out to all ... but without which no man can come" (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged Edition, ed. Gerhard Kittel) 227.

God the Father draws us to Christ without any violence to our will. There is no coercion. The Spirit of God's love works in our hearts to transform our lives (Romans 5:5). Those who come to Christ "love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

John 12:32 teaches that God draws us to Christ, as well as people out of all nations. Likewise, Jesus said that He would be lifted up from the earth, that is Christ crucified, drawing all people unto Himself. The word draw in John 12:32 is the same word used in John 6:44. Understand that God "works in you both to will and do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). He draws and enables us to come by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Way of Salvation

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "I saw the way of salvation ... There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away ... I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to HIM."

Charles Spurgeon believed the precious blood of Jesus Christ cleansed him of all sin (1 John 1:7). The way of salvation is faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by faith alone in Christ, according to the gospel. Our salvation is by the same gospel, according to the Scripture. Saving faith looks to the One who endured the cross for our sins. 

The way of salvation is faith looking unto Jesus Christ. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). Salvation is by faith looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ dying for our sins, and risen to the right hand of God.

The way of salvation is in the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Saving faith based upon Scripture and focused upon Christ (Acts 16:31). Salvation is through faith alone in Christ. The Holy Spirit works through the gospel, bringing conviction and convincing you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith is believing the gospel of Christ. Christ died for our sins. He is risen from the dead.