Latest / Reformed Thinking / Hated for His Name: Family Betrayal, Gospel Hostility, and the Call to Endure (Matthew 10:21–22)

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Hated for His Name: Family Betrayal, Gospel Hostility, and the Call to Endure (Matthew 10:21–22) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. In this deep dive, we take a
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piece of source material that might feel, I don't know, a bit
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distant or complicated, and we really try to distill what it
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actually means for life today. And today we're looking at a
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topic that I think many people, whether they're new to the faith
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or have been in church for decades, really misunderstand.
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Right as a common assumption. Yeah, we assume that following
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Christ offers this, you know, comfortable path.
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A path to social harmony, especially at home.
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We sort of hope the gospel is the thing that fixes the tension
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that makes family gatherings calm.
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That is absolutely the hope, isn't it?
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But our source material for today, which is a close look at
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Christ's words in Matthew 10 verses 21 and 22, it just
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shatters that assumption right away, OK?
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It shows that allegiance to Christ can bring conflict not
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just from, you know, governments or strangers, but from the
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closest circle you can imagine, your own family.
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The tension is just built into Christ's claim of lordship.
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So let's unpack this. We're dealing with what is
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basically the Lord's training manual for his first disciples,
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and we're looking at his incredibly sobering words about
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betrayal, about hatred, and the one certain thing he offers
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them. And that's a guaranteed future
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salvation for those who persevere.
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Our mission here is to really get at the full weight of what
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Jesus means when he lays out this dark scenario.
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To ask what it means for the Gospel to demand a loyalty that
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is well higher than blood ties. And that's going to require us
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to dig into the specific words Matthew uses to get this
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alarming message across. And the verses themselves are
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just stark, painfully honest. Jesus says brother will deliver
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up brother to death and the father's child and children will
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rise against parents and have them put to death.
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That's heavy stuff. And you will be hated by all
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because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be
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saved. I mean, that's just a stack of
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hard reality that we need to spend some time with.
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We do, and to feel the full force of those verses, we have
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to start by putting Matthew 10 in this proper context.
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The whole chapter is Christ's mobilization order for the 12.
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Right. It's not a collection of, you
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know, feel good slogans or a clever outreach strategy for
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cultural acceptance. It's a very serious, a very
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sober training manual for men being sent directly into danger.
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I did notice that structural setup in the sources.
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The chapter kicks off with these very specific, almost technical
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instructions. It does.
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Jesus calls the 12. He gives them Apostolic
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authority, and then from verses 5 to 15, he lays out these
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detailed operational logistics. Like where to go, what to say?
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Exactly. The mission starts out
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geographically limited only to the lost sheep of Israel.
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He tells them what to preach. The Kingdom of heaven is at
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hand. It had to travel.
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No extra stuff, just rely on local hospitality.
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Feels like a very structured, you know, mission trip.
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It sounds like a detailed plan for a local ministry push, but
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then the tone just it changes on a dime.
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It shifts from logistics to genuine hostility.
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And that shift is key to understanding what discipleship
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is all about. The logistics part ends around
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verse 16, and Christ moves straight into confrontation.
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He's not setting them up for a successful human project.
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He's sending out heralds of a king into a world that violently
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pushes back against his rule. And think about the contrast
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with today we often treat ministry like a business, you
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know, successful because of strategy or marketing.
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Right audience sensitivity. Yes, but Jesus just assumes
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intense structural opposition from the get go, and only then
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does he promise divine help. He prepares them for the normal
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cost of being faithful, not for guaranteed worldly success.
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This is where that worldview shift really happens.
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Verse 16 Jesus frames the mission not as a friendly visit,
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but as a confrontation, using that famous image of sheep in
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the midst of wolves. And that's not hyperbole.
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That one image defines the disciples whole position in a
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fallen world. The sheep is totally.
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Vulnerable. Totally.
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And what's crucial is that the sheep isn't allowed to become a
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wolf. It can't use lies or
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manipulation or worldly power. The witness has to be done
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through truthful speech and a kind of wise innocence.
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Which is why he says wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
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That's it. Wise as Serpents speaks to that
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needed discernment about the danger all around them, but it's
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paired with innocent as doves, which means no deceit, no
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manipulation, no personal cruelty.
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They have to understand the danger without letting it
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corrupt their character. And the hostility, he says, will
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start institutionally. It'll be public judicial, he
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says, to beware of men because they'll deliver them to councils
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and flog them in synagogues. Yeah, that's heavy language.
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It's filled with the weight of official, recognized authority.
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It just assumes that the religious and civic powers the
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establishment will work together against the Gospels, messengers
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and he. Immediately takes it beyond the
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local synagogue councils. He does.
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He says disciples will be dragged before governors and
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kings, and not because they're common criminals, but
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specifically for my sake. The mission isn't just local
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evangelism. It's a testimony that's going to
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collide with the highest authorities of the age and every
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political system after that. The conflict is just unavoidable
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because the Gospel says Jesus is king over all earthly kings.
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OK, so that sequence of events, arrest, flogging, being dragged
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before governors, that would naturally cause a lot of
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anxiety, a lot of fear. When a disciple starts to panic,
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thinking, you know, what am I going to say when I'm standing
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there? Jesus directs them away from
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trusting their own abilities. And his provision is the main
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point here. His answer isn't trust your
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reasoning skills or rely on your public speaking.
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He points them to divine help, for it is not you who speak, but
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the spirit of your Father speaking through you.
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The text is really saying that panic in that moment is a form
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of unbelief about God's Providence.
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The disciples are trained to rest not in what they know, but
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in the certainty that God gives the help, the very words at that
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critical moment of confession. That's a remarkable promise.
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It takes the burden of performance off their shoulders
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even when they're facing death. But let's get back to that
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structural shift. After he talks about courts,
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governors, rulers, all this public institutional pressure,
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verse 21 just marks the sudden devastating change he does.
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The conflict moves from the big external institutions to private
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internal intimacy. Jesus brings the pressure from
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the public square right into the disciples living room.
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And that transition is designed to create the maximum shock for
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anyone listening. It shows that the pressure isn't
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just going to come from the hostile strainer, the Roman
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judge of the synagogue ruler, but from the closest blood
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relative you have. So now in this second part, we
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have to just sit with the sheer shock of verse 21.
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Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father, his
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child and children will rise against parents and have them
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put to death. The relationships he picks are
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so specific. Brother, father, child, the very
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people who are supposed to protect you.
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They're the ones who are supposed to shelter and nurture
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you, and in this scenario, they become the very agents of
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destruction. It's scandalous language, isn't
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it? This isn't just describing, you
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know, a tense conversation over dinner.
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This is painting a picture of social and moral collapse at the
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deepest level. It's overturning everything we
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think of as natural about human affection.
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Jesus is preparing them for the deconstruction of the most basic
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unit of society, the family, all under the pressure of this
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conflict between two spiritual kingdoms.
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And the real horror in the verse is that verb he uses three
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times. Deliver up parodied me.
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We have to get the specific meaning there.
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It is not just passive abandonment like a relative just
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walking away from a Christian. It's a precise technical legal
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term. It means to hand over into the
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custody of authorities for judgement.
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So it's active cooperation with the enemy.
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Active volitional It's turning your own family member into an
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informant or even a prosecutor. That intensity is so often
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missed, and I know the sources pointed out it's chilling use
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elsewhere in Matthew's Gospel. Can you talk more about how that
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word choice just deepens the horror here?
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It connects the disciples suffering directly to the
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suffering of their master. Paradinis.
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The exact verb Matthew uses again and again to describe what
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Buddhist Iscariot does to Jesus. It's also the verb for when the
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Sanhedrin hands Jesus over to Pilate for execution.
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So Jesus is drawing this terrifying parallel.
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The disciples path of being delivered up is patterned on the
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master's path. The brother acts not like
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family, but like a prosecutor seeking a death sentence for his
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own kin. That makes the suffering so
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personal and so theological, and the severity is just, well, it's
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absolute because of the phrase to death.
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Absolutely. The phrase to death means Jesus
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is preparing them for the possibility of martyrdom, not
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just awkward silence or strained phone calls.
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It's a direct statement that just closes the door on any
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sentimental reading of this. The stakes are as high as they
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get. And what about the generational
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violence? He says children will rise
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against parents. The Greek verb for rise against
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is eponastosonti. It means an insurrection, a
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violent uprising from below. In the ancient world, the
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father's authority of the para familias was basically absolute,
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and the 5th commandment honor your father and your mother was
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the glue holding society together.
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So for children to do this. It's a violent, horrifying
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reversal of the created order. It's the most basic bond
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breaking and the final clause and have them cut to death.
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It highlights the active legal role the children play.
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They might not swing the sword themselves, but the idea is
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they're the ones providing the damning testimony that gets
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their own parents executed. Which forces the question, why?
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Why the closest circle? Why does the hostility get so
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fierce right there in the home? Because a conflict isn't about
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preference or personality, it's a conflict of worship and
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lordship. The Gospel demands exclusive
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allegiance to Christ, and in doing so, it exposes the demand
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for ultimate loyalty that fallen humanity naturally places on the
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family unit. You see that everywhere, don't
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you? Preserve the family name,
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protect our standing. Don't shame us.
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Correct. The family, which is often put
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on a pedestal in modern evangelicalism as this
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untouchable good, is shown here to be potentially the most
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dangerous spiritual enemy of the gospel when Christ is confessed
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as Lord. Unbelieving relatives hear that
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as treason against the family. Or a rival claim against their
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own authority or traditions. Right.
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The hostility is theological before it's emotional.
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The family is demanding the crown rights that belong only to
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Jesus, and the faithful believer has to refuse.
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The unbelieving relative resents Christ's exclusive, transcendent
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claim, and the disciple, as the nearest representative of that
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king, becomes the target. This collapse of natural
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loyalties, It has deep roots in the Old Testament too.
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This isn't a new idea. Not at all.
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It's structural to redemptive history.
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Think of Cain hating Abel. It wasn't because Abel insulted
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him, was because Abel's offering was righteous.
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Joseph and his brothers. Joseph and his brothers.
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Scripture teaches us that spiritual enmity runs right
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through bloodlines. Jesus isn't inventing a new kind
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of cruelty. He's just naming that ancient
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covenant conflict as it shows up at the most painful personal
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level. Kinship is no substitute for
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conversion. So the disciple is warned not to
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treat family peace as the highest good, especially if it's
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bought with silence about Christ.
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Faithfulness here means you strive for gentleness and honor.
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You seek peace, but you absolutely refuse to give up the
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crown rights of Jesus. When betrayal comes, the
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temptation is either to compromise or to get angry.
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Christ calls us to neither. He calls us to steadfast
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allegiance, knowing that even if it costs us our closest ties,
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we're just following the path our Master walked.
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So having just described the agony of betrayal inside the
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home, Jesus immediately widens the scope of the warning.
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Verse 22 A and you will be hated by all because of my name.
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The camera pulls back from the family to the whole social
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landscape. And that signals something
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really key. Hatred will be broad, normal,
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and it will keep happening. It's not presented as some rare,
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unfortunate accident. It's a predictable, structural
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part of being a faithful witness in a fallen world.
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Jesus is a profound realist here.
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He knows exactly what his presence and his claims do to a
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world that's organized around human self rule.
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This statement just demolishes the illusion that a disciple can
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find some lasting peace or a safe cultural bubble where
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Christ can be confessed without any cost.
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Right. The world as the Bible defines
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it, this system opposed to God, It's not going to provide a safe
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harbor for people who publicly bear Christ's name.
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The best you can hope for is a temporary tolerance, not
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acceptance. OK, but we should probably
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clarify the scope of hated by all.
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If you read that too literally, it could lead to a kind of
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paranoia. That's a necessary
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clarification, yeah. Yeah, the sources are clear.
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This isn't a claim that every single individual will despise
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every single Christian. The point is that hostility will
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be pervasive. It'll be spread across all
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levels of society and its institutions.
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Social, religious, legal, you name it.
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So the hatred is widespread and functionally normal.
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Exactly, and it forces the disciple to stop using public
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opinion as a compass. If you decide to live by being
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liked, you will at some point betray the mission.
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Disableship requires a basic willingness to face the world's
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disapproval. And now we get to the
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interpretive key, that little phrase because of my name.
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That's it. That one phrase tells you the
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reason for all the hostility he just described.
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From worldly view, it's a reason everything goes wrong.
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The cause isn't a disciples personality, or their lack of
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tact or their politics, no. The cause is Christ Himself.
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His name stands for His whole person, His authority.
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His identity is the only way to God and His right to command
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repentance and faith from everyone.
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The world can tolerate vague spirituality, but it pushes back
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violently against Jesus name because that name carries an
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exclusive claim to Lordship. So the message is offensive, not
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because of the messengers, but because of what it says about
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the King. It says we're sinners, God will
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judge, Christ alone saves, and every knee must bow.
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That kind of hatred is theological.
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It's systemic, not just a personal dislike.
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It's borrowed hatred, really. The animosity aimed at the
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disciples, whether from a government or a hostile father,
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is just the overflow of the world's basic animosity toward
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the Master. They're hated because they look
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like Jesus and speak for Jesus. This phrase also acts as a
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really needed safeguard for the disciples conscience, doesn't
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it? It helps correct that slide into
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self righteousness, right? It's absolutely crucial A
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disciple has to examine themselves when opposition
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comes. Am I being disliked for Christ's
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name? Or am I being disliked because
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I'm arrogant or uncharitable, or just frankly sinful?
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Right. Not all opposition is
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persecution. Not at all, and some Christians
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are rightfully disliked. This phrase protects us from
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self deception by pointing to the only legitimate cause for
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this kind of suffering. It calls for humility and self
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examination. And on the other hand, it
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confronts that temptation of pragmatism, the impulse to try
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and remove the offense of the gospel by, you know, watering it
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down or marketing Jesus as just self help.
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Jesus says the hatred is because of my name, which means the
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offense isn't some unfortunate packaging problem we need to
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fix. The offense is built right into
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the truth of who He is. You can and should be clear and
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kind, but you can't remove the stumbling block of Christ's
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lordship without removing Christ Himself.
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If you find yourself constantly applauded by the secular system,
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you have to ask if Christ's name is really being proclaimed or if
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you've managed to keep Jesus at a safe, vague distance.
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That clarity gives you stability, not paranoia.
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The disciple who expects applause will fall apart when
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hatred comes. The one who expects it, for
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Christ's sake, knows it's part of the plan and won't be
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surprised or ashamed. And we really have to see this
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conflict as part of the bigger biblical story, this consistent
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line of enmity and witness that runs through all of Scripture.
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The Bible doesn't treat persecution or family betrayal
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like some embarrassing problem to be ignored.
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It treats it as an expected, necessary part of the ancient
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spiritual conflict. A conflict that starts right
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back in Genesis 3.15. The promise of enmity between
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the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.
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History is a spiritual conflict. And that enmity runs right
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through ordinary life and often violently through families.
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We see it with Cain and Abel. Keene's hatred wasn't about
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land. It was because Abel's works were
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righteous and his were evil. We see it with Joseph's brothers
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selling him into slavery. The line between faith and
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unbelief is always deeper than blood.
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Always. So Jesus's words in Matthew 10
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aren't inventing some new cruelty for his followers.
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He's just bringing that ancient covenant conflict into its
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sharpest, most personal focus in the New Covenant.
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This gets us to the theological idea of the antithesis, that
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absolute gap between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of
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darkness. The family betrayal in Matthew
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10 is just the domestic version of that cosmic reality.
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The sword Christ brings cuts through the thickest biological
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ties that exist. Wait, but if the family is a
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good thing, a blessing from God through common grace, doesn't
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emphasizing this kind of severe conflict risk damaging healthy
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family relationships? How do we find the right balance
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there? That's the right question to ask
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because the imbalance is a real danger.
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And the text helps us by showing a distinction between two kinds
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of grace. Family is a clear blessing of
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common grace. It's a structure God gives to
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restrain chaos in society. It's a real wonderful but
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temporary good. But it's not an ultimate good.
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No. And when special grace, God's
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specific redemptive work in Christ, collides with family
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loyalty, the believer has to choose Christ.
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Which is a direct challenge to the idol of the nuclear family.
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In so much of modern evangelicalism, we often lift
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the family up to a place where it starts to overrule the claims
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of the king. The text just shatters that kind
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of sentimentality. If your theology prioritizes
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family harmony over the truth of who Christ is, it's drifted into
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idolatry. The betrayal Jesus describes is
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what happens when the unregenerate hearts allegiance
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to the world system overrides its natural affection.
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That's why Jesus says in Luke that by comparison, you must
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hate your mother and father. Your devotion to them has to be
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radically less than your devotion to the King.
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The source material also brings up a specific dispensational
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reading of the severity here, which we should probably lay
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out. We should the absolute severity
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of the persecution, he describes.
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Brother handing brother over to death implies what's called
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prophetic telescoping. Jesus is looking past the
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immediate mission to the dispensational horizon of the
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end times. So the ultimate fulfillment of
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this betrayal is in the Tribulation period, the time of
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Jacob's trouble. That's the standard
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interpretation of the source material, yes.
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The idea is that the Antichrist system in that period will be so
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totalizing that it strips away the common grace restraints on
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human evil, forcing a stark choice, the mark of the beast or
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the mark of the lamb. So this text functions not just
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as a general principle, but as a literal manual for those
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Tribulation Saints who have to make that absolute choice when
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the pressure is at its historical peak.
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So while the principle of conflict applies to us now, the
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literal intensity of Brother delivering Brother to death
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finds its final catastrophic setting in that end times
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context. Yes, and understanding that
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helps us push back against the idol of pragmatism.
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Again, the seeker sensitive impulse assumes you can remove
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the offense by adapting to the culture.
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Jesus say hatred is because of my name.
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This demands we get rid of the idol of effectiveness.
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If effectiveness is defined by the world, we're called to be
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faithful, not successful in the eyes of men.
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So after piling up the horror of betrayal and the certainty of
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this widespread hatred, Jesus gives us this beautiful contrast
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that turns the whole warning into a promise.
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Verse 22 B. But the one who endures to the
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end will be saved. That small word, but.
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That little word. They does a ton of theological
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work there. After all the pain, Jesus places
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a stronger, definitive reality, future salvation, right next to
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the suffering. Suffering does not get the final
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word. Let's spend a minute on the
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grammar of this final clause. There are two crucial parts.
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The description of the person ho hypaminas and the promise of the
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outcome is satisitai. Right.
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The phrase ho hypaminas, the one who endures, is an aorist
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participle. It's describing a person not by
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a single act, but by a settled characteristic of their life.
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Endurance is the consistent pattern of staying under
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pressure without giving up on Christ.
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It's the sense of holding fast under a crushing load.
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So it's not a momentary burst of courage.
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It's a sustained, costly allegiance, a lifelong posture.
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And what does to the end mean in this context?
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The end here typically points to the end of 1's earthly life, or
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to the end of the age, given how Matthew uses the term elsewhere.
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Jesus is giving a principle that holds true through all the waves
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of opposition. With the final destination in
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view, the genuinely faithful disciple just keeps going with
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Christ. And the outcome is certain 2
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states I will be saved. This is a future passive
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indicative. The future tense points to the
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final outcome, salvation in its completed sense or final
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deliverance. But the passive voice is
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theologically essential here, and we need to camp on this for
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a second. It signals what we call the
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divine passive God is the implied actor.
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Jesus does not say the one who endures saves himself, He says
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the one who endures will be saved.
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Meaning salvation is something received from God, not something
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earned by the disciple. The grammar itself argues
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against turning endurance into a work of self salvation.
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This really pushes back against theological instability and
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teaches the Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of the Saints.
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Endurance is the fruit, not the root.
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Exactly. The Westminster Confession says
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that those God has accepted shall certainly persevere
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therein to the end and be eternally saved.
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Our endurance isn't the fuel for salvation, It's the visible,
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necessary proof that the root of regeneration is alive and held
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securely by God. If salvation depended on our own
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stamina, no one would be saved. We endure because we are saved,
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held by God's power. This clause is also a critical
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weapon against what's often called easy believism, the idea
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that a faith can be genuine even if it just completely Withers
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and abandons Christ under pressure.
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It shatters that dangerous idea. Temporary faith, the kind that
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looks real but dies under the heat of persecution, proves
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itself counterfeit. Jesus is plain true.
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Saving faith is persevering faith.
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The warning is real if there is no genuine endurance.
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The faith was never saving faith to begin with.
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It's not about earning heaven. It's about defining the
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consistent mark of a real disciple.
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And that certainty of perseverance rests entirely on
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God's Providence through all the pressure.
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Jesus places all of it, the betrayal, the hatred, the
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martyrdom inside his foreknowledge and his kingly
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rule. He's not surprised by the
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world's rage. He predicts it and he limits it.
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Providence means that even the sinful actions of persecutors
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can't overturn God's redemptive plans for his people.
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The suffering is never meaningless.
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It purifies the church. It exposes hypocrites.
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And in advance of the gospel, wolves don't roam outside the
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shepherd's pasture. As we start to move toward
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application, we have to keep the person of Christ at the center
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of all this. The division, the cost, the
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endurance, it all has to point back to Him.
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He's both the author of The Division I Came Not to Bring
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Peace, but a Sword, and the archetype of the sufferer we
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follow. The hatred we get is for my
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name's sake, because he is the supreme target of the world's
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hostility, the stone of stumbling over which even the
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closest human bonds can shatter. And he's the ultimate
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fulfillment of the betrayal described in verse 21.
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Think about that verb again. Paradigm me delivered over
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Before any disciple was handed over by a brother, the Son of
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God was handed over by Judas, a friend, a companion in the
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Apostolic family. And Jesus knew the agony of
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alienation from his own biological family.
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John's Gospel says even his brothers did not believe in him.
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He's the High Priest who fully sympathizes with the rejected
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St. because he was the rejected Son.
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He walked that ultimate lonely path, stripped of all earthly
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support, to purchase a new eternal family for God.
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Which brings us back to how our union with Christ is what
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empowers our obedience. The command to endure is just
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crushing if it's just a command with no grace attached.
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Exactly. The command is grounded in what
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Christ has already done. We endure only because we are
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united to the One who already perfectly endured the cross.
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His resilience becomes our resilience.
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His Spirit becomes our voice. In the hour of trial.
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We preach Christ crucified not just as payment for sin, but as
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the active source for our perseverance.
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The elect can't finally fall away because they're held by a
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grip that's infinitely stronger than their own.
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So let's break this down into the four practical areas the
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sources identify, starting with the individual believer.
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What does this mean for a day-to-day life?
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1st the individual has to do some serious self examination
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and repent of the fear of man. That means confessing that
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subtle desire for cultural approval, the quiet compromise
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where we edit Christ out of our speech or our social media to
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keep the peace. We have to stop being surprised
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by the cost of obedience. Jesus treats opposition as
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normal. So practical faithfulness looks
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like patient clarity. It means Speaking of Christ
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without shame when it's appropriate, refusing to lie to
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save face, and obeying Scripture in the small places where
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compromise begins. It's steadfastness without
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bitterness, courage without cruelty.
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Wise as serpents, innocent as doves.
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And that endurance has to be fueled by the ordinary means of
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grace. Reading, Scripture, prayer,
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fellowship. It's a marathon, not a Sprint,
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and we need that daily bread. The second area is the family
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which Jesus names as the site of this potential agony.
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We have to repent of making family peace or approval an
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idol. Harmony is not the highest good
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if it's bought with silence about Christ's exclusive claims.
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Faithfulness here means you keep honoring parents, you lovingly
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instruct children you pursue peace, but you refuse to deny
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the Lord just to keep the table calm at a holiday dinner.
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So what does that look like practically?
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I mean, how do you honor family while refusing to yield Christ's
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Lordship? It looks like this.
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As parents, we prepare our children not for worldly success
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but for costly fidelity. We prize their conviction over
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their comfort, and when conflict comes, we have to make it clear
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that the opposition is because of Christ's name, not because of
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our own temper or pride. The disciple has to show
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consistent love, pray for their conversion and seek peace, but
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refuse to surrender the crown rights of Jesus.
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The third area is the church. It has to function as the true
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spiritual household for those whose earthly homes turn
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hostile. Yes, if betrayal comes from
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biological relatives, the church has to step in tangibly as the
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family forged by the Spirit. A church that's allergic to a
26:44
fence and focused only on comfort can't prepare Saints for
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hatred because of my name. The church has to train members
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to suffer well by preaching the sober cost of discipleship,
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offering strong counsel and giving tangible support.
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Hospitality, financial aid, constant prayer for those who've
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been cast out by their own family.
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And leaders have to teach discernment, getting rid of
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needless personal or cultural stumbling blocks, but never
27:07
removing the essential offense of Christ's exclusive Lordship.
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Absolutely. The church has a prize, fidelity
27:13
over popularity and holiness over hype.
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It has to be a place where the reality of Matthew 10 is
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discussed openly, so believers are prepared, not surprised.
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Finally, the 4th area is the unbeliever.
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This text is a kind of diagnostic tool.
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It is if you're listening and you feel a deep gut level
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resentment toward Christ's name if you mock his people, or if
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you demand that disciples keep Jesus totally private.
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The core problem isn't sociological, it's theological.
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It's your standing before God. The hatred Jesus talks about,
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his spiritual it's a reflection of your heart's rejection of the
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King. And the call then is to
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surrender to that king, to repent and believe in the Savior
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who endured it all. Betrayal, hatred, death for
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sinners, for the very people who hated him.
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Stop trying to negotiate the terms of surrender.
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Lay down the weapons of pride and unbelief and receive the
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salvation promise to the one who perseveres.
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The loss the believer takes for Christ's sake, the loss of
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temporary biological safety, is repaid instantly by gaining an
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eternal ontological security. That's the great exchange in
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this passage. The loss of a brother for
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Christ's sake is repaid by finding Christ as first born
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among many brothers. The kinsman Redeemer who never
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betrays you lose a temporary bloodline to gain an eternal 1.
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The central tension of Matthew 10.2122 is sober and clear.
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The Gospel doesn't promise peace with the world, and it may bring
28:35
a sword that cuts through the closest bonds.
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But that conflict isn't a sign of failure.
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It's the necessary cost of fidelity, and it leads to a sure
28:44
God secured salvation. And true saving faith is
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authenticated by a supernatural perseverance.
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So the final thought for you to consider is this.
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If Christ is worthy of a love so supreme that by comparison we
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must hate Father and mother, what common grace blessing are
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you currently elevating? Your comfort, your reputation,
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your career, your family's peace to a position that rivals the
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sovereignty of the King. That's what we all have to
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honestly ask ourselves.