Jesus is faithful even when we are faithless. He is our Strength, and Song, and Salvation. He's all this for us because He is God, and God is love.
Because salvation is by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, there will be some surprises when, at the Last Day, we stand in front of the throne and the Lamb. We'll see, dressed in the whitest robes, women who prostituted themselves in order to support husbands, sons, and daughters. We'll see women no more haunted by guilt and remorse about allowing a boyfriend to pressure them into undergoing an abortion. We'll see cocaine-addled businessmen whose moral compasses snapped off due to one sleazy deal after another. We'll see cold-hearted pastors and self-help gurus, cage fighters and canon lawyers, vegans and big game hunters. When the final roll call is sounded by the Bridegroom we'll be stunned to see who's lined up to be seated at the wedding feast. But how? How can this be true? And the voice of the Ancient of Days will say, "I AM their Strength and their Song and their Salvation. They've washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
There they are with Him. Those who wanted to be faithful but cut and ran instead, who were defeated, dirtied by life, bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's afflictions, but through it all were swept up in the giftedness of Jesus' raw, naked, saving faithfulness.
Jesus is faithful even when we are faithless. He is our Strength, and Song, and Salvation. He's all this for us because He is God, and God is love. He loves us because of who He is. His attitude toward us isn't based on our behavior or feelings.
That means there are going to be people who wander into our churches on Sunday (and into heaven) who are just plain-old believers in Jesus. People of all sorts who just believe in Jesus and His blood shed for their sin as complete payment. There are going to be call girls and drug dealers, cowards, scum, jerks, deadbeat dads, murderers, and all sorts of fringe people. All who live and die and live again believing Jesus is their only hope, that their Salvation is found entirely in Him.
The Lord God, our Strength, and Song holds us up. Jesus holds us up. He holds us up whether we do Christianity right or wrong, whether we obey or disobey, whether we run scared from Christ or run hopeful to Christ, whether we choose to become a wholly faithful Christian or a half-assed kind of Christian, whether we cry, cuss, spit, laugh, sing, or dance, whether we read a novel or the Bible, whether we watch television or pray, Jesus holds us up.
We can trust in that fact yesterday, today and always. Behold, God is our Salvation. His faithfulness to us is trustworthy. We don't have to be afraid. Jesus is our Strength and Song, and He is our Salvation.
