Eternal Security

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟏𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟔:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟓

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟒𝟗:𝟏-𝟔, 𝟗 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟓:𝟐𝟔𝐛-𝟏𝟔:𝟒𝐚

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “… 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.” (𝟏𝟔:𝟏) 

            Regardless of your status in life, there will be times when you will find yourself in a hole since life isn’t always a bed of roses. Problems come in difference shapes and forms and when confronted with such, you either try to wiggle yourself out of your problems and or you call on the usual problem-busters, relatives, friends, colleagues in the workplace.

            When everything else fail, this is when you try calling on God – the proverbial last resort upon whom you pour out your heart’s content and because God loves you unconditionally, you will start to feel that your problems start falling into place like pieces of a puzzle.

            If you have been reflecting on the Gospels the past few days, you will find that the disciples of Jesus also found themselves in the same situation you could be in right now when the world seems to have caved in on you.

But Jesus being the best and truest of a friend that you can ever find had offered his disciples his very own Spirit whom he called the paraclete or helper. Other translations also referred to the Holy Spirit as Advocate or Counselor the latter being a legal term for the one who will defend someone against an adversary and who guides that person during the ordeal of trial.

            Thus, the Holy Spirit is in a sense our Advocate and Helper who will lead us safely through the challenges and adversities we will face in life. As the hour of the passion and death of Jesus approached, he began revealing more fully to his disciples the person and role of the Holy Spirit.

            What does Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit?  First, the Holy Spirit is inseparably one with the Father and the Son. It is the Holy Spirit who gives life which is the very life of God that is being handed to us and it is also the same Holy Spirit who kindles our faith especially if we become receptive to Word of God.

            The Spirit also paves the way that allows us to know God personally as he fills our minds and our hearts with the wisdom and knowledge of God. In the same way, the Spirit inspires us and moves in our soul to lead us into accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah whom the Father has sent his Son to redeem the world from its sinful nature.

            The Holy Spirit reveals to us the plan of God for all his creation, and he enables us to discern God’s plan with the “eyes of faith.” It is through the gift of faith that we are given the empowerment and inspiration to testify to the transforming power of God in our life.

            Some years back, I was invited by another renewal community in Baguio City to facilitate a talk on the relationship between the Catholic Church and Discipleship. My talk focused on discipleship as the spiritual process through which we are encouraged to become Christ-like and that we cannot help but regard discipleship as the work of the Holy Spirit and this is something that we cannot argue with.

            I believe that many find it difficult understanding the nature of the Holy Spirit is because of the wrong teachings that are being made to appear that the Spirit of God is like a gift that is randomly given to us in the here and now.

We must all understand that the Holy Spirit indwells in everyone who receives the sacrament of baptism and consequently the Spirit infuses into everyone being baptized the virtues of faith, hope and love.

            When a baptized Catholic is confirmed seven years following his baptism, the same Holy Spirit by some mysterious action also infuses what is called the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isa 11:1) and these are: the gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Courage or Boldness, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord.

The infusion of these gifts is also referred to as sanctifying graces because when practiced these gifts are designed to sanctify us and bring us into a close relationship with God.

            For those who have attended the Life in the Spirit Seminar or LSS, the Holy Spirit also distributes other gifts and we can see these in 1 Cor 12:1ff and these are the so-called spiritual or charismatic gifts: Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Prophecy, Discernment of Spirits, Healing, Miracles, Tongues and, Interpretation of tongues.

These gifts are intended not only to enable a person receiving these gifts to live as a Christian, but these are given for the common good which means that we are to use these gifts to help the Church, the Community and others as well.

            We are given the Holy Spirit to help us live as disciples of Jesus Christ because the Spirit provides us with courage and perseverance when we face adversities in life.

Hence, it is incumbent upon us all to also pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in faith, hope and love and to give us the strength to endure with hope when we encounter difficulties in life no matter how difficult these may be.

            It is not easy to live a Christian life because to do so we need to take that leap of faith so we can step into the same path that Jesus walked on. When Jesus summarized the Mosaic Laws into two – love of God and love of neighbor – many of us balked at the prospects of loving those who hurt us, who offended us, who caused us pain and at times ruin.

            And I am no different than some of you as I too was in a situation when I could not forgive former friends of mine who wronged me. But God found me at a time when I was wallowing in despair and He led me to the community where I am serving now, and he impressed upon me the need to forgive and love even the unlovable.

            With the formation programs that followed my Baptism in the Spirit, I found myself forgiving those who swindled me and as times passed I eventually forgot all about it and I was even more surprised that I was able to recoup the money I lost.

            This is what the Holy Spirit does and when Jesus said that he is going to send the Holy Spirit to make sure that we don’t fall away, this was what he did because if God did not find me many years ago, I could have persisted in filling my heart and mind with anger and hatred towards those who wronged me and which could have separated me from God and thus be deprived of the salvation of my soul.

            Christian discipleship is not for the faint-hearted because everyone who wants to become a disciple of Christ must make a choice and that is what is most difficult and it would take a great deal of love and obedience that is steeped in humility to follow Christ.

But follow him we must if we want to take our place in one of the rooms in the heavenly mansion that Christ has prepared for us. The good thing is that we have the Holy Spirit who will provide us with the wisdom, knowledge, counsel, boldness and piety that are anchored on fear of the Lord to get us to where we are going and be assured of the eternal security that can only be found in God. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘔𝘢𝘺 11, 2026)