Throughout the Old Testament, images like a refuge, a shield, and a fortress are used to represent God. They describe how perfectly secure all the ones who live in Him are. The word “kept” is sometimes used as a military word in the Bible to indicate protection, as in a fortress. God is able to keep His children by His infinite and mighty miracle-working power, which is unconquerable. Our faith is strengthened when it grabs hold of this power, and we are therefore preserved.
What else is necessary to keep and preserve a child of God in a state of never-ending trial from the world’s corrupting influence? Nothing. But God can’t guard anyone, in spite of all His power, unless there is a continuing effort called “faith” on our part. God is the One Who exerts this almighty power, but He doesn’t keep us merely by doing this. He also activates faith in our heart, which, along with His power, becomes the means of keeping us.
As long as our faith continues to be in Him, we will be safely guarded. But when there’s no faith or perseverance, there will be no power.
Our Faith Must Continue in Him
We are not united with God spiritually by our intellectual belief. We are only united by trusting in Him every day. He will come to our defense through our faith in Him, which is a combination of being steadfast and trusting, no matter how bad things may appear to us. And it is through faith that we are able to rely on both the power and the promises of the One Who keeps us. As long as our faith continues to be in Him, we will be safely guarded. But when there’s no faith or perseverance, there will be no power.
It is God’s power, through our faith according to His Word, which gives keeps us confident in Him. All who rest on His power are kept in a totally different way than those who rely on their own loyalty as a child of God. The only ones who are able to conquer all their enemies, along with the world, the flesh and the devil, are those who depend on the power of God. It’s better, therefore, for us to be “…kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 3:5).
He preserves us by bringing about the exercising of His grace in us. This will set our heart on things that will keep it united with God and His promise. What is the power that never fails? “The power of God through faith.” God Himself acts by keeping faith in our heart in Him, by which we can be kept to the very end.
Let’s hope that “The eyes of your understanding [are] being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:18-21).
…by faith, His children are kept for the inheritance by His power until the complete deliverance waiting for us comes.
Our Eternal Inheritance
The inheritance of God’s children is preserved for us now in heaven, while we are being kept here on earth for the inheritance. It is therefore kept safe from injury, harm or destruction by the Lord who never fails. And, by faith, His children are kept for the inheritance by His power until the complete deliverance waiting for us comes. It is “ready to be revealed” in these last days when the Lord comes for His children.
The same God Who keeps this inheritance for His children also keeps them for the inheritance. He Himself encircles His people on earth as the “mountains are round about Jerusalem” (Psalm 125:2). If we will hold tightly to the sheltering protection of His power, we will remain as free from harm as our inheritance is in heaven. But heaven has to be in us first before we are able to be in heaven!
The power to keep and to persevere is not in us; it is in God. Earth will soon be closed to us, but we have already had a glorious glimpse of a better inheritance waiting for us. It will surpass the enjoyment of anything we could ever have here.
How eternal is our inheritance? As eternal as the Heavens where it waits for us, and as eternal as the One who prepared it for us! He was from the beginning, He is now and He ever will be. Therefore, the possessions we have in Him are also eternal and will never decay. The heavens and earth may pass away, but God still lives! Nothing He has said will ever fail. The precious promises of God are as eternal as He is.
We are not kept through rebelling and refusing to obey, but by faith as we look to Christ, as we live by Him, and as we rely on Him.
Christ Will Keep Us
Christ has taken the whole responsibility on Himself to redeem His people. He will keep us and mediate for us. In the end, He’ll present us all to our heavenly Father. We’ll be kept safe from harm or destruction by God’s power and our own steadfastness. We are not kept through rebelling and refusing to obey, but by faith as we look to Christ, as we live by Him, and as we rely on Him. He’ll never desert us, and we’ll never desert Him. He is carefully protecting us for our salvation, which will be made known through Him on the last day.
Since God’s children are kept by His own power, we know that we’ll be protected as carefully and securely as if there were troops stationed at a post watching over us, to shield us from all the attacks, invasions, and maneuvers of both the devil and the world. “…you…are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). When the present condition of situations in the world comes to an end, then the grandest and last salvation will be revealed. How very blessed we are when the God Who is all-powerful provides our protection!
[Additional image credits: Featured image (when applicable) from Bruno by Pixabay; Opening photo from Rob Owen-Wahl by Pixabay]