And though they take our life,
Goods, honour, children, wife
Yet is their profit small;
These things shall vanish all
The city of God remaineth.

Martin Luther

Spending time in Hebrews 11 & 12 this morning, with the call to endurance, of eyes fixed on the one whom completes our faith, who makes faith possible, who we have faith in as the completer of the promises. The significance of being promise-aware people is unmistakable – the great roll-call of faith ‘heroes’ in ch11 are those who had faith in the promises despite their present situations. Yet the truth of 12.1-13 is that our Father is disciplining us as we endure, that the situations we go through are forming us, ‘that we may share his holiness’, yielding the ‘peaceful fruit of righteousness’.

The command to lay aside every weight, every constraining factor and unhelpful distraction, and to throw off every sin that clings so closely. Reading Justin Taylor & Kelly Kapic’s foreword to their edited version of John Owen’s ‘Overcoming Sin & Temptation’, with Owen’s tagline ringing in my ears: ‘Be killing sin, or it’ll be killing you‘. Know your enemy, examine yourself, outside and within, so that you are aware of your weakness, of the areas where the creepers are growing up. But they are fleeting pleasures… the blame of Christ will always be of greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. Father, help me to believe it!

God is very kind. In Jonah 1, His judgement upon Jonah’s rebellion isn’t also cast upon the pagan sailors. Instead the whole process has God’s hand over it – the wind (4), the lots (7), the raging waves (11, 13), and instead of sinking the ship and all its inhabitors, the LORD keeps safe the sailors. In fact, they turn from crying out ‘each to his god’ (5), to fearing the LORD ‘exceedingly’ (16, ESV), and making a sincere sacrifice and vows to Him. The Creator’s loving kindness!

This inner assurance of the grace of God is accompanied by outward indications such as gladly to hear, preach, praise, and to confess Christ, to do one’s duty in the station in which God has placed us, to aid the needy, and to comfort the sorrowing. These are affidavits of the Holy Spirit testifying to our favourable standing with God.

If we could be fully persuaded that we are in the good grace of God, that our sins are forgiven, that we have the Spirit of Christ, that we are the beloved children of God, we would be ever so happy and grateful to God. But because we often fear and doubt we cannot come to that happy certainty.

Train your conscience to believe that God approves of you. Fight it without doubt. Gain assurance through the Word of God.

Martin Luther, from Commentary on Galatians