Guarantee

“I think I will be okay when I stand before St Peter.” – “I hope I will be okay on Judgment Day.” Have you ever uttered the above, perhaps with a nervous chuckle? I have heard these in this exact form, or some variance thereof, many, many times, and that nervous chuckle always accompanies it. 

Can we do better than “I think … I hope?” Is there a better way to live? I will phrase this all-important question another way: Can we have confidence in a wonderful reception from the Lord on that Day … our Day before him? 

The answer is not just “Yes,” but “In Christ all the answers are yes.”

But how, and if so, why? 

Promise – Guarantee 

To backtrack a moment, do you hear a difference when you hear someone “promising” versus someone “guaranteeing?” I do. I hear a much stronger commitment when someone guarantees something versus someone promising something. If I promise you I will do something for you, you can bet I intend to do it, and as far as I am concerned, I will do it. 

But even with my best intentions, I can only try. In my weak human condition, I simply cannot guarantee anything. So where in this fallen world can we find a guarantee? Only in someone who has the absolute power and the absolute authority to make that guarantee. 

Jesus gave us this promise – guarantee? – based on his absolute authority: 

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20, Bold added) 

“And surely I am with you always.” Sounds like a guarantee to me. 

And the Holy Spirit moved Paul to add his color commentary: 

1 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corin. 1:20-22, Bold added) 

So we have a promise and a guarantee from Jesus. No more wishy-washy “hoping” or “thinking.” But – and this is a big but – only when we are “in Jesus” with “his Spirit in our hearts.” 

Do you have this confidence? This absolute, unwavering, confident expectation? Can you? Can anyone? Again, “In Christ, all the answers are yes.” I have it, and it is certainly not because of my performance before or after I was “in Christ.” When I make that statement, I can hear some saying, “How arrogant. You must think you are some super-Christian.” 

If only. 

I am the worst of sinners. If you care to take the time, I will compare my failings to yours any day. But—and this is another big but—in 1995, I surrendered my life to Jesus. I got off the Throne of Sam and asked Jesus to take over as King of my life. 

He did, and it has changed everything.  

Imagine how your day-to-day life would change if you lived with his guarantee—his guarantee that you are perfectly loved by a perfectly powerful, perfectly present Savior. Would it engender gratitude, love, and loyalty?   

Next Week: Loyalty: A Paradigm Shift