Readiness characterizes the life of light in Christ

If you find yourself being plagued by fear of Christ’s return, here is a good verse for you to memorize: John 5:24. Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. Does he say may have? He says has. Does he say will have? No—has, right now—eternal life. And then he amplifies it: He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24). Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. What does John 3:36 say? It is another great verse assuring us of an immediate, instantaneous, eternally secure salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Now to be sure, those who prepare for the last day by believing in the Lord Jesus not only receive forgiveness of their sins—not only are they justified through faith alone—they are also born again. In fact, the only reason they believed is that they were born again. And so there is a regeneration that goes on, that most definitely plays out in our life. And so if somebody says, Oh, I have nothing to fear—you know, I went down to the altar call; I invited Jesus into my heart on a certain day—I do not belittle those things, per se. But if that is all you have, and there has been no changed life resulting from it, the question is Did you believe? Because saving faith—which alone secures us forever—will also bear the fruits of a progressively changed and changing life. And Paul gets at that in 1 Thessalonians 5:4: But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. Those who ready themselves for Christ’s return by trusting in him are those who subsequently are living in the light of Christ and his Word and his saving grace and power. And so, unpreparedness for the day of the Lord is a feature of life in the darkness of sin and unbelief, whereas readiness characterizes the life of light in Christ and of salvation.¹

Richard D. Phillips