Called and Kept for Jesus Christ

"To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ" Jude 1:1

I was speaking with a woman the other day, and part of our conversation was about Christ and our relationship with Him and to Him. The woman said to me, “I am not walking well with Him.”

When someone makes a statement like that to me, I immediately know there is an aspect of their theology that is out of whack. My response to a person when they begin to say those types of things is that a believer is always "walking well" with Him. (It is an anthem of mine as you know!) She right away told me I was wrong, that it was a fact that she was most certainly not walking well with Jesus.

This raises some big warning bells in my head and heart. First, I grieve that she struggles so with accepting on an application basis who she is in Christ. Let me ask you to think about this same question I asked her about this business of “not walking well with Him.” Does that mean to you that you are not keeping the rules? Think about that for a while… How much of your acceptance by God in Christ is based on how well you keep the rules?

...to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14
 
I wish to remind you again that what we have is a relationship and not gained by keeping the rules I believe many of us need that reminder occasionally. We love those rules! We love needing them and wanting them and clinging to them because then we feel secure. We think that following the rules gains us some status or stature or security with God on some level. In one breath, we agree that we are always secure in Christ and in the next we say that we have to have those rules!

If I can impart this one truth to your hearts by God’s grace and the moving of His Spirit, let it be this! As a believer in Christ, you are always secure in Him. What Jesus Christ did was enough for yesterday, today and tomorrow. Nothing more is needed, nothing more is asked for. From the perspective of Almighty God our relationship with Him never waivers. He never sees us any differently in spite of the good or bad choices we make in life. 

Consequences occur as results of our choices, both good and bad but they do not define our relationship with Him.

...and in Him you have been made complete, Colossians 2:10