Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Have you ever heard of a backslider? It's when you make a decision to accept Christ and start off in the Christian walk, and then you get tired, or forgetful, and you fall back toward the world again. Your old habits take over and you get discouraged, and you ask, "What's the use in trying to be a genuine Christian?" That's what it means to backslide, and the world is full of backsliders.
Then comes a revival meeting, or some crisis in your life, something that arouses your fear, and you start again. "Better get my life in shape," you say to yourself, "I may die any time!" But then again, you get tired and backslide.
But look at Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. If we understand what it says, backsliding is impossible. It's not "normal" in the Christian life. Christ did not die in order to let us backslide!
Here is what the verse says: "[I am] confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Who is doing the work? Christ! Does He ever backslide? No! Your salvation is not your work; you cannot save yourself. You need a Savior! And it is He who has initiated this work of changing your heart and giving you victory over your bad habits and reconciling your alienated heart to the Father.
All this wonderful work is what He started, not you. And He never backslides, never gets tired, never gives up what He started. You must understand that if you are saved at last, it will be because Christ has taken the initiative. If you are lost at last, it will be only because of your initiative.
Let the Lord save you! Don't resist Him. You must share Paul's confidence--that He who has begun a good work in you will carry it forward until Jesus returns.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.
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