Doubt Assured and Faith Strengthened

So what do you do when those questions about God’s goodness and trustworthiness press in on you, as they inevitably will in this fallen world? You look again to the cross, the ultimate sign, where Jesus Christ proved once and for all God’s undying love for you, and where he paid in full the price of all your sins. Even you sinful doubts and questionings about God’s goodness were covered there, and the perfect faith and trust in Jesus Christ, which never wavered from his Father even fo an instant, in now credited to you as if it were your faith. That is why we have been given the Lord’s Supper as a precious fit – a sign and seal of God’s faithful commitment to his covenant promise. Each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim the fact that the sign of Genesis 15 became a reality in Christ: that God in human form was broken for us and for our transgressions, so that our relationship with him, broken by our sin, might be restored. In this way, God feeds your faith and strengthens your assurance that, at the end of this life’s long journey, he stands ready to welcome you into the fullness of your heavenly inheritance. This is how he stills your questions and fills you with hope and new strength for your challenging journey of faith.

Iain Duguid, Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality, p. 60-61.

The meaning of this passage is this, that we shall be truly happy when God is propitious to us; for He not only pours upon us the abundance of His kindness, but offers Himself to us, that we may enjoy Him. Now what is there more, which men can desire, when they really enjoy God?

For whosoever shall be fully persuaded that his life is protected by the hand of god, and that he never can be miserable while God is gracious to him; and who consequently resorts to this haven in all his cares and troubles, will find the best remedy for all evils.”

John Calvin