Stand in the Gospel (2)
“In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. He chose us in love to be his holy people—people who could stand before him without any fault. And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it. And this brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely. He gave us that grace in Christ, the one he loves.”— Ephesians 1:4–6 (ERV)
I love how God shapes His Word to reach us. He will send a message through so many different means. I had been writing about standing in the gospel and meditating on that idea. One Sunday, my husband and I couldn’t attend church because of other appointments, so later that week I listened to the service online. I put it on during a run.
When I exercise, I can listen to the message and be encouraged, but afterward I always go back and write down my thoughts. When I opened my Bible app to look up the Scripture from the sermon, the passage above appeared—and it was in a different version than I normally use. As I started reading it, I thought, Oh my God, this is such a confirmation that we can stand on the gospel! I felt like God specifically led me to read this passage in that version so I could see, more clearly, how powerful we are in Christ and how much assurance we have when we stand on the gospel.
We have nothing to fear or be intimidated by, no matter what comes against us. The passage says we were chosen before the world was made and that we can stand before God without any fault. Listen—we have the force of the Almighty behind us. Whatever is coming against us was created by Him, and He chose us! Yes, we can stand in the gospel, because it is our defense, it is our armor, and nothing can penetrate it. Hallelujah!
Key Takeaways
Our identity in Christ is secure and eternal
We stand before God without fault because of what Jesus Christ has done.
The gospel is our foundation and our armor.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19; Isaiah 55:11
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