No Doubt

There's no doubt God loves us all. The hope of an eternity with God is a blessing we share as members of the church. Christ made salvation possible through his fulfillment of the plan of salvation and God, through the Holy Spirit, gave us the instruction we need to acquire this salvation (2 Peter 1:3). Therefore, this hope is made possible for every man (Titus 2:11) and we can be sure of that. This is evidence without doubt of our Gods great love for each and everyone of us.

           Concerning our part in salvation, there's to be no doubt in our obedience. God gives us His word and we can know that if we obey it will direct our steps without doubt. God did this because he did not want us to doubt our actions or take a chance of falling into sin rendering our eternity doubtful. Doubt causes us to sin because all things are to be done in faith (Romans 14: 5, 23) without doubt.

Paul addressed some of the decisions that needed to be made in Romans 14 and gave inspired and sound advice to help us make decisions removing man's doubt. Regarding the issues being considered in the early church (eating questionable meat etc.), he cautions that one is to be fully persuaded in his own mind of his actions (Romans 14:5). In other words, leave nothing to chance. He instructs us not to offend a brother in these things (vs. 13) but also makes the point that if we are not convinced in our own mind (that our actions are pure and acceptable) that we convict our self as well (vs.14).  It's important to note that Paul is not addressing acts of sin here but rather the acts that did not constitute sin in and of themselves. God has already defined what sin is and sin will always be wrong, that's a given. Paul is addressing choices concerning things that in and of themselves are not sin (vs. 14), but acts that are only wrong if it offends a brother or violates one's own conviction. He finished by concluding that he who doubts condemns himself and that all things are to be done by faith or it is sin (vs.22, 23). We cannot live our lives or leave our eternity to chance. We must be fully and completely convinced without doubt. Our eternity is simply too important to leave to chance.

            There's no doubt concerning our eternity if we obey Gods word. Christ has promised a place for us in heaven if we are found obedient (John 14:2,3; 12:48). This is a blessing we all can enjoy without doubt as members of the church. God wanted us sure of our salvation so he gave us all pertaining to life and godliness in his word (2 Peter 1:3). However, our initial and continued obedience to his word is always subject to freedom of choice on man's part. Man can certainly make bad choices and even fall from grace and back into the world (Gal. 5:4). These bad choices cause doubt on our part concerning our eternal state, which is bad for us; but we can be sure of this, God never doubts our condition. He's just and righteous without doubt and all men (Romans 14:12) will give an account to God. Today, we can make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10) without doubt.

 - Marc Hopkins