A CONFLICT REMAINS

It is foolish to think coming to Christ, entering into covenant relationship... salvation, will somehow assuage the difficulties of life. Misplaced expectations will disappoint: Our Lord commanded our perfection, spiritual transformation... godliness in thought, word and deed, the way of the Cross is accompanied by adversity. (Matt. 5:48; 1Thess. 3:3) Through regeneration we have embarked on a life-journey through the narrow gate onto the difficult way that leads to eternal life... a conflict remains. We can see this so clearly in Romans 5:1-3: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Justification sheds the oil of joy upon the believer’s heart... rejoicing in hope eternal... but a conflict remains. “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance.” (vs. 3) The Amplified Bible has it, “Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] Let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.” Paul is not referring here to the “Great Tribulation”, that specific end time event described by Jesus and John and qualified by the adjective “Great”, but normal everyday life... the speed-bumps on The Way... a conflict remains.

Tribulation is from the Greek word “thlipsis”, whose etymology is to crush as in a wine press, variously translated in scripture as trouble, affliction, difficulty, suffering, anguish, tribulation, adversity, in short... pressure, the word the Holy Spirit selected to describe The Way to eternal life, as spoken by our Lord: “Narrow is the gate and “difficult” The Way which leads to life.” Tribulation is the potholes, flat tires, blown engines, crashes, detours, and washed out bridges on the road into eternity with God. Justification ensures trouble, difficulty, adversity, hardship... choose your own word... the bad times of life... the speed bumps on the threshing floor of life that are meant to derail our journey into God, but are turned into God encounters that produce unswerving endurance, mature godly character, and joyful confident hope of eternal salvation. All this and the love of God lavishly poured to overflowing in our hearts by the Holy Spirit... flooding us with the assurance of God’s love for us (verses 4, 5), as God takes what the enemy meant for evil and turns it into good... His good according to His purposes.  Tribulation is the pink slip at work, the bad report from the doctor, the phone call in the middle of the night... the conflict that remains.

Yes, the covenant is ours, with the Cross behind us and eternity with our risen Lord ahead, but we must carry our cross before we wear our crown... we must endure. Justification does not free us from life’s troubles. Our sins were laid on Christ, but His cross was laid on us. We are exempt from the curse of the Law, but not from the chastisement... the scourging of sonship... not from the conforming pressure that produces Christlikeness... not from the trials and tests that purify our faith... not from reaping what we sow... not from the “light affliction” that produces an eternal weight of glory... not from partaking and sharing in the sufferings of Christ... not from the conflict that remains...                                                                                         

“I WILL MAKE THEM MY JEWELS”