… if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard… – Colossians 1:23a

Scripture reading: John 15:5-6; Colossians 1:21-23 

Faith unites us to the Lord Jesus Christ so that we share in His fellowship of love with His Father and His ministry of love from His Father that He carries out on earth through His church. Being united to Christ, through faith, enables us to live lives worthy of our being in Him. We have been redeemed by His blood and qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light of the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of light.

But once we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy all the blessings of being in Christ, we also need to continue or persevere in our faith. The Bible is clear that those who are united to the Lord Jesus Christ through genuine faith will continue in the faith. But the Bible is equally clear that those who are not united to the Lord Jesus Christ through genuine faith will not persevere.

The Lord Jesus Christ speaks about this in John 15. Some branches/believers abide in Him through true faith and bear much fruit. Other branches/believers do not remain in Him. The latter are cut off and thrown into the fire; the former God will present as holy, blameless and irreproachable living sacrifices for approval before Himself on the Day of Judgment.

These conditional statements in the Scriptures are implicit warnings meant to keep us from a sense of false security. How are you persevering in the faith?

Suggestions for prayer

Ask your heavenly Father to help you to persevere in the faith by remaining in Christ through faith, especially when you feel weary.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Dick Moes is pastor emeritus of the Surrey Covenant Reformed Church in Surrey, BC.