He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 1:8)
I had a student once who was in danger of failing my class. He was smart enough, he just did not show up. He promised everything, saying things like, “I will get that assignment to you today.” He even set up a meeting with me one morning, only to miss it in the afternoon. It was like he planned to fail.
God does not expect absolute perfection of us, and he has set up a mechanism for forgiveness if we fail (see 1 John 2:1), but we should not think that moral failure is inevitable. When Paul talks to the Corinthians about being blameless when Jesus returns, he is serious. He does not say these sorts of things as a pretend blamelessness. Later in 1 Corinthians, he tells them that God provides a way of escape for every temptation we might face (see 10:13).
Paul also is clear that we need to maintain this state of blamelessness until the end. We do not want to be “disqualified” for the prize (see 1 Cor. 9:27). God wants to preserve us “blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). If we fall, we repent and get up.
It comes down to our true desire to serve God. When we are faced with a choice, we are resolved to choose what God wants because it is what we truly want too.
Do what God wants you to do, because you want it too.
Ken Schenck is vice president for university partnerships with Campus EDU. He previously served as vice president for Houghton College (NY) and dean of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
