Encouragement

The Reward For Holding Firm To The Faith

by John Clark 
10/03/22
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With the perilous times in which we live and all the apostasy, other than sharing our faith, as Christians what should be our number one priority? It is endurance. This means staying strong in our beliefs without compromise. Second Timothy 4:3-4 says,”For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” What these verses foretold has come. It is upon us. One definition of a myth is a widely held but false belief. We sure see that today don’t we.

     Not only must we be on guard against false teaching, but also we must “contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints”(Jude 3). Contend has two definitions. One is to struggle to surmount. The other is to assert something as a position in an argument.

     What is the faith once delivered to the saints? The Apostle Paul writes in First Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins...that he was buried, that he was raised  the third day...” So, the faith once delivered to the saints is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This chapter further states in verses 14 and 17 that without the resurrection our faith as Christians would be worthless. 

     Philippians 1:27-28 says we must stand “firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not be frightened in anything by your opponents.”

    Standing firm in our beliefs as Christians means being rejected by society, which is already happening. However, the benefits of endurance far outweigh the opposition. We read in Romans 8:35-37, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

     Meditate on the words of James 1:12. “Blessed is the one who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown  of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” One Bible commentator, Jeremy Myers, says, “It will probably not be an actual crown or ring of leaves, but will be some sort of special blessing, honor, privilege, or recognition in the future, eternal reign of Christ.” This, of course, is only speculation, but whatever it will be, it will be a great reward for enduring these difficult times in which we live.

     May you be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing” (II Timothy 4:7-8).

     Hold firm to the faith, my brothers and sisters in the Lord!