At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Subject: Perseverance
There is a doctrine of Christian living known as the "perseverance of the Saints." In the Calvin acrostic, "TULIP", the "P" is for perseverance. The doctrine, simply stated, means that those who have faith in Christ will persevere to the very end, because Christ will do the work necessary to make the secure. It means that once a person is justified and regenerated by the act of Christ through the ministry of the Spirit NOTHING can separate them from the Love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:29-39). In the above passage Paul is telling young Pastor Timothy that God has and will secure Paul to the end. Although no man may stand with us, those who stand for Christ and stand, by faith, in Christ, will be kept until the very end and secure to the end. There are some who believe that our actions, after faith for regeneration, keep us secure. This very plainly states that it is Christ who keeps us and Christ who gets the glory. If WE can keep ourselves saved WE would get the glory. We can't steal God's glory. God keeps us and deserves to be praised for that keeping!!! He will rescue us from every evil deed.
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