I shall live

[Chrysostom]

The joy you express in your words is a gift, yet let us be sober, for we are rebuked not for want, but for poverty of faith, when we forget how much more God clothes the grass of the field than He will care for you, O you of little faith. You say you shall live and not die, but the witness you declare must be His testimony, not merely a human flattery, for a servant speaks the words of Him that sent him. Do not suppose yourself great in this, but know that the Lord is great.

You speak of a divine relationship with God and mention a future spouse. This is good if it is according to His commands, but what stone would this not soften? You have confidence in His obedience, yet examine yourself: is this hope rooted in a mere equal recompense? For the mercy we show as men is far removed from God’s mercy, as wickedness from goodness. Do not treat His grace as a thing to be claimed on your own terms.

You purpose to be a witness in the land of the living, and this aligns with the good confession before Pilate, that Christ came to bear witness to the truth. But the folly of the devil is to twist testimony, as he did, saying, “Cast yourself down,” which was not advice but a temptation. To cast ourselves into desires without regard to His law is the part of demons, not of God’s children. Your future spouse: this relationship must not be a random saying, but a holy thing, for marriage is honorable, yet if you mar it by living together outside the covenant, you mutilate the soul, not the body. To put away wicked thoughts is to obey, not to excuse sin by claims of nature.

You ask no blessing on what runs against His ethic, so let your joy be tempered by the witness of John, who came not flattering Christ but serving the Father. Be amazed at His unspeakable goodness, not bewildered. If you need no testimony from man, then walk in the righteousness He fulfilled, and let your witness be not in words only, but in a life that fears God.

 

[Silas]

The life you claim is not held by your own resolve, and it is not something you have to earn. If your standing before God rested on your works, your confidence would rise and fall with your performance. But Christ is the end of the law for everyone who believes, so your relationship with God rests on his grace and your faith in Jesus. That is why you can speak with such certainty about living and declaring his works. The promise of eternal life comes from a God who cannot lie, and he gives it as a gift, never as wages. So the joy you described, knowing God for who he is rather than only for what he gives, is the very center of a blessed life.

Let that same grace shape how you pray about the future, including your hope for a spouse. God's design for marriage is a lifelong covenant, one man and one woman, and it is meant to be built with God as the center. When he is first in your life, every other relationship can find its right balance. A marriage centered on him is not about two people trying to earn blessing by their own goodness, but about two people receiving his grace and walking in it together. Keep trusting his timing and his purpose, because his original intent is good and his promises are sure.

You do not have to strive to become a witness in your own strength. The life of godliness is provided by him, and his word planted in your heart brings the fruit of his Spirit. As you are led by the Spirit, you are not under a spirit of bondage but of adoption, able to call him Father with the intimacy of a child. That relationship is what makes your witness overflow. You want to declare his works, and that is right, but remember that the fruit comes from abiding in him. Your part is to take freely of the water of life and keep yielding your life to him. He will do what you cannot do for yourself.

May God keep you in the love of Jesus Christ and strengthen you in your walk with him. In Jesus' name.