Persevering Faith

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.

Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

 

2 Corinthians 13:5

 

 

 

Perseverance is a word that can mean so much.

 

Perseverance can spell the difference between success and failure in so many areas of life. Rarely is anything truly worthwhile achieved without perseverance and determination. Successful relationships, marriages, careers, ministries, and spiritual growth all depend on this vital trait. Perseverance involves making a personal promise or intentional decision to achieve a goal, which requires focus and determination until that goal is met.

 

Paul provides an excellent example of perseverance with steadfast determination. Despite the pain and persecution he faced, he could say, "One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

 

We know that perseverance and determination are essential keys to success, and we may need to go through many rounds of reinforcing the principle of perseverance. But what does it mean to have persevering faith in our life?

 

C.S. Lewis beautifully illustrates persevering faith in The Screwtape Letters, where Screwtape, the senior devil, gives this advice to his young nephew: "Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause [the Devil's cause] is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will [God's will], looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

 

Thus, persevering faith simply stated means that once God draws us unto Himself in an effectual saving relationship through the finished work of Christ, we are His from that point forward. We then complete the race and run the course, which God has purposed for us before the beginning of time (See Ephesians 2:8-10). Neither our doctrine nor our life will be perfect this side of heaven, but this is not what is taught by perseverance. Rather, it is that we lay hold of the promise of God, that by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we live according to His will and ways, which have been established in the Word.