...who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9
Paul wrote the less of First Corinthians to address a multitude of problems in a church where many sins were being tolerated. Yet he starts his letter with a prayer of thanksgiving — an encouraging prelude full of gospel hope. In Christ, even the worst confused sinner is not what they appear to be. And there are two reasons why this is. Those reasons are clearly explained for us in these two verses that end a prayer of thanksgiving. Those two reasons also give us hope today.
The first reason the gospel makes up for our confusion in sin is that God sustains us as guiltless. It isn’t about our own efforts to clear ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. We can’t fix our own sins in human power. We can’t keep ourselves forgiven by our personal efforts. God does it all and that is a great encouragement to sinners!
Secondly when we are unfaithful, God remains faithful. He has called us into new life with Him through His Son. And through our Lord Jesus Christ God remains faithful to us even when we slip up. He will not fail us because Christ’s sacrifice is perfect. So in Jesus we are declared guiltless and in Jesus God is faithful to forgive us. What a joy to know He will complete this work in me today!
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