SURE AS SHOOTIN'

"But join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace." (2 Timothy 1:8-9, NIV)

It's a rare day when a golfer faced with two of the game's greatest difficulties--the seventeenth and eighteenth holes at the TPC at Sawgrass--can walk with complete assurance of victory. But that's what Stephen Ames did on Sunday afternoon.

Ames, through a combination of his own solid play and everyone else's astounding collapses, left the field behind. He eagled sixteen as Retief Goosen was holing a birdie putt at eighteen, which put Ames up by six on Goosen, meaning he could double bogey each of the last two holes and still win with a shot to spare. In golf, it doesn't get much surer than that.

How often in your own life have you felt utterly assured?

Scarcely, I'd guess. And I say that as one given to hope far more often than I take to skepticism. But the truth is, in a world where so much can happen in a moment's turn, assurance is nearly impossible to come by.

And yet assurance is a critical distinctive of the Christian faith.

Many Bible teachers remind us that the fact that Christ is risen from the dead and living with the Father is the dominant distinctive of our faith. No other faith claims a living Savior. In that, certainly we must say, "Hallelujah!"

But the assurance we have in Christ is a second crucial difference between the truth of the Bible and the world's false religions. In every other religious structure, eternal reward--be it heaven, nirvana, or reincarnational "promotion"--depends on one's earthly works. The best we can do is a lot of seemingly good stuff. Then, when we have reached the end of our earthly days and our works are judged by whatever god or force judges them, we find out whether we have done enough. One good work this way, or one bad work that way, and we find ourselves on the outside looking in.

Not so with Christ. For in Christ the only righteousness we have is His. He has redeemed our sin and bought our eternal reward--by His works, not ours.

When we surrender the truth of eternal assurance in Christ, we surrender not only a primary distinctive of our faith, but we demean the promise of Scripture. And with that, I can present no better concluding encouragement than this: "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess" (Hebrews 4:14).

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Jeff Hopper

March 27 2006

Copyright 2006 Links Players International

The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.