It is God who keeps us; it is Christ who preserves us. Remember those sweet words that Jesus says in John 10: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He continues, No one can snatch the sheep out of my hand. And then he says, My Father, who is greater than I; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand; I and my Father are one. And so, you are preserved in Jesus, because what we really need in this life, is perseverance.

Why do so many people go in spurts? They go to church consistently for a while, and then they fall off and fall away. That is one of the greatest heartbreaks for minsters: to see people, who at one time seemed zealous for Christ, go back to the world. It is one of the greatest heartbreaks for a minister who put time into people, and then to see them not persevere.

And yet, if you belong to Jesus, if you are really his, if he has really called you, if you have really been sanctified by the Father, you will be preserved by Jesus...We must persevere to be saved or else we do not have salvation. Our perseverance is dependent on his preservation. And so it is not ultimately up to you in your own strength to make it to the end with perseverance in faith; rather, it is up to Jesus Christ to keep you.

I do not know about you, but that is one of the sweetest, most glorious affirmations in the whole Bible: I may fall seven times, as the writer of Proverbs says, and yet the Lord upholds the righteous. The righteous may fall seven times, but this means he rises eight times, because the Lord upholds him. He helps him back up. He preserves you; he keeps you. That has massive implications for you if you fall into sin. Let me just say that if you fall into immorality—God forbid that we would fall into great sins—but if we do, and if you then really go to Jesus, he will keep you and sustain you. He will send tons of misery through your life to bring you back to him. He will break you. He will make your life horribly miserable to draw you back to himself, but he will draw you back to himself, because true believers are kept by Jesus Christ.¹

Nick Batzig