Blessed Assurance (Lent 34, 2023)

As Image and Spirit-bearers,
we have assurance that nothing/no one can
or ever will be able to snatch us out of the hands
of the One who Created and Redeemed us.

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28)

No one. This is the beauty of the finished work of Christ: Assurance. Confidence. Unshakable. Unchangeable. Carved in stone. Permanent. Enduring. Eternal.

As Jesus was hanging on His Cross, two criminals were on either side of Him, both hanging, each on his own cross for his own crimes. One criminal next to Him persisted in abuse. The other saw what justice looked like with the other criminal and himself, comparing himself to sinless Jesus who was on a cross unjustly, and he decided mercy was better. He asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into His Kingdom.

Both criminals were about to meet their Maker. Only one saw justice but pleaded for mercy. For such a response, Jesus said among His final words upon this earth, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Jesus said it and that was assurance of the highest order…for one criminal only.

John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you– they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

Focus for Lent: Somehow in the moment of faith and repentance, one criminal became a faith-filled Spirit-bearer. What about you?

Questions for further thought:

In what way is the crucifixion scene a portrait of two choices: one to mock, deride, and dismiss versus repenting and believing?

How does justice fail to benefit the sinner the same way that mercy does? What does justice give a criminal? What does mercy offer?

Jesus gave words of assurance. How does the indwelling Holy Spirit give us the same assurance? Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession– to the praise of his glory. (see also 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we praise You and thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the seal of Your ownership of us. We ask Lord that You would make us more and more responsive to Your Spirit’s conviction and compelling every day. Bring forth in us the fruit of the Spirit so that we would be a beautiful fragrance of Christ to those who need mercy instead of justice. Thank You, Lord, for Your word … words of truth, ancient words of life, fulfilled words in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.