SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1252

“Foundation Seal”

But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” – 2 Timothy 2:19

Paul, in this letter to Timothy is encouraging and exhorting him to stand firm on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15

Timothy may have been concerned about the false teachings that were being espoused in the church and deceiving some believers.

But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. – 2 Timothy 2:16-18

It is not easy for some believers to recognize false teachings. This is because they do not have a solid faith foundation on Jesus.

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 3:11

They have been content to have a ‘bottle-fed’ relationship with the Word of God through a relationship with a church denomination rather than an in-depth personal relationship with Jesus through His Living Word and are therefore susceptible to deception.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. – Hebrews 5:12-14

Solid food is found in the Word of God. We ‘feed’ ourselves with this nourishing Word through the ‘constant practice’ of daily devotions, prayer, and study. This builds our relationship with Jesus and strengthens our faith foundation. This firm foundation of Jesus is ‘inscribed’ with two intertwined truths: Relationship and Repentance.

RELATIONSHIP – “The Lord knows those who are his,”

Our faith foundation is built upon a relationship with Jesus, not a religion or religious philosophy.

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. – 1 John 5:11-12

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. … – Matthew 7:24-27

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. – John 10:27-28

REPENTANCE – “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent – Acts 17:30

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 2:38

Relationship and Repentance are inseparably intertwined. Our firm foundation on Jesus depends upon both truths.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ – Matthew 7:21-23

Our relationship with Jesus is first and foremost in our life. This relationship demands no compromise with the sin of the world that so easily entangles us. Through a personal daily walk with Christ, we are transformed and sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit to say ‘No’ to sin and ‘Yes’ to Jesus’ direction for holiness. How do we know that we have a firm foundation upon Jesus?

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God – Romans 8:16

May the foundation of your relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ be indelibly inscribed with both seals.