Perseverance and Perfect Justice

And so, in Christ we persevere, remembering that we have received the righteousness of God by his grace alone, and this same grace sustains us through this life. And we pray for those who persecute us, knowing the righteous Judge has justified us as righteous in Christ alone, and his gospel is freely offered to all who will believe.

Watching and Waiting

In Christ, we are promised many things, including this: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10). By grace through faith, if we are in Christ, then for Christ we will be treated with contempt, scorned for our faithfulness. For the Christian, persecution is not the consequence of a lack of faith but evidence of it.

In This Hope

We hope then for what we do not (yet) see, which rests on the bedrock of certainty that “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2). Indeed, “those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). From dust to glory is our destiny, a hope-filled truth to which we look with patient fortitude.[9] For, we know who promised, who delivered, and who sustains us, and he is our hope and salvation.