Getting Older to the Glory of God - Pt 3

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 ESV). While there are different ways of dying, there are also different ways of living just before we die. But for the Christian all of them, the final living, and the dying, are supposed to show the glory of God. All of them are supposed to show that Christ, not this world, is our supreme Treasure. This is the path to becoming a “classic.” Growing old to the glory of God means using whatever strength, health, or resources we have left to treasure Christ and in that joy to serve people. Serving people, and not ourselves, as the overflow of treasuring Christ makes Christ look great. Yesterday I wrote that there were two extremes that are deadly in the accomplishment of this pursuit.

The first is to come to believe that perseverance is unnecessary. It’s a mistake to think that perseverance in faith and love is not necessary. Paul says, “The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8-9). So notice that these two are corruption on the one hand and eternal life on the other hand. Then he says in the next verse, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap [that is, reap eternal life], if we do not give up.” So clearly persevering in the faith sowing to the Spirit and bearing his fruit of love is necessary. “God chose you,” Paul says in our reading “…to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” “Saved through sanctification” means that sanctification is the path on which saved sinners go to heaven. And it’s the only path that leads to heaven. The second misguided way of overcoming the fear of not persevering is just as dangerous. It is the way that says: “Yes, perseverance in faith and love is necessary and that means I must wait till the last day for God to be 100% for me, and I must depend on my efforts to secure God’s full favor. God may get me started in the Christian life by faith in him alone, but perseverance happens another way. God makes his ongoing favor depend on my efforts.” What the Bible teaches is that God becomes 100% irrevocably for us at the moment of justification, that is, the moment when we see Christ as a beautiful Savior and receive him as our substitute punishment and our substitute perfection. The moment we see Jesus and receive him, his death counts as our death and his condemnation as our condemnation and his righteousness as our righteousness, and God becomes 100% irrevocably for us forever in that instant. Being intentional in striking the balance of complete dependence on God and total commitment to doing his will, reflecting his glory, is the way to grow old showing the glory of God! Become that kind of “classic.”