The Heart of the Gospel - Pt 21

And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:20-24 ESV).

Persevering in faith does not mean that we do not go through seasons of doubt and measures of unbelief in the promises and the goodness of God. Our reading shows this conundrum clearly. The father of the afflicted child cried out to Jersus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (v. 24). It is not a contradictory prayer. Measures of unbelief can coexist with a true faith. Therefore what we mean when we say that faith must persevere to the end is that we must never come to a point of renouncing Christ with such hardness of heart that we can never return; Esau is such an example of this hardness (cf. Hebrews 12:15-17). He became so spiritually hard and calloused in his love for this world that when he tried to repent he couldn’t. All he could do is weep over the consequences of his folly, not the true ugliness of his sin or the dishonor he had heaped upon God in preferring a single meal to his entire God-given, God-accompanying birthright. We also see the truth that we must not think that backsliding and waywardness in sin is a one-way street. It is possible to repent and return. That process of wandering and returning is included in “the perseverance of the saints.” John says, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death” (1 John 5:16-17). John’s aim here is clearly to give hope to those who might be tempted to despair, and to those who love them and pray for them. John began his letter the same way he is ending it: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). So when we speak of the necessity of perseverance we do not mean perfection. And we do not mean that there are no struggles or serious measures of unbelief. Belonging to Christ is a supernatural reality brought about by God and preserved by God. The saints are not marked most deeply by what they do but by who they are. They are born again. They are a new creation. They do not go in and out of this newness. It is God’s work. And it is irrevocable. Of that, there can be no doubt!