one mistake away

1Samuel 12:20-22
Don’t be afraid … You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonour his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.

How often do we despair when we have done wrong and realise our sinfulness? Convinced that the Lord will finally say that enough is enough and declare we have gone too far?

Casting Crowns sing a song with this lyric:

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Though this feeling is natural it is unnecessary. In fact it demonstrates a misunderstanding of God and of our relationship with Him. And it shows a misunderstanding of what grace truly is. We often say that we cannot work to achieve our salvation; that it comes not by our actions but only by the gift of God.

Doctrine 8 of The Salvation Army

We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ …

But somehow we don’t always allow that to extend into our relationship with God. It is as if we think that God will get fed up of and abandon us if we fail to meet his standard. We remove the aspect of grace from our understanding of salvation when we read the next doctrine.

Doctrine 9 of The Salvation Army

We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.

Samuel reminds us that we need to restore grace into continued salvation and gives us insight into a balance that needs to be achieved. A symbiosis between the need for continued obedient faith and a recognition that such obedience is not the fount of salvation. Obedience is not required because the slightest flaw of the regenerate life will result in eternal damnation but because disobedience is the root of turning from God. Samuel shows us that when the relationship with God ends it does so not because God has tired of us but because we have turned our backs upon Him. Grace extends to the disciple as to the unbeliever. Though we may feel one mistake away, the danger is that we stay that way – not that we are left. It is not a well place fear that God abandon us, but an unknowing recognition that we are abandoning Him. For such is sin.

Casting Crowns continue:

I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You’re holding on to me.

Today God says to us: “Don’t be afraid … You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship Me with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on Me. Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! I will not abandon you, because that would dishonour My great name. For it has pleased me to make you My own. It has pleased me … pleased me.”

Lord God, today and every other day: may I please You.