We have all heard of Social Security – the system whereby the government withholds money from our income and places it in a trust fund so that when we reach retirement age, currently age 62, we can receive a government check. Social Security was put in place by the Roosevelt administration during the depression in August, 1935 and has for the last 70 years provided income for millions of retired and elderly people. For many, Social Security is their sole source of income to meet their daily needs.
Recently, there have been news reports that Social Security is failing and that in its current form it will be out of funds by the year 2041. This news is not so bad to those who are at or nearing retirement age now. However, those who will not be contemplating retirement for another 30-40 years (the twenty and thirty-something’s) had better begin making other plans with regard to retirement! Even if Social Security does not completely fail as predicted – it still does not provide much relief to our elderly and retired friends and family. At best, Social Security only provides for the most basic of needs and in reality it is truly Social IN-Security!
Our national system of Social Security is far from perfect. This is true even just within its scope! Its scope does not even address the most important of all human needs – the need for SPIRITUAL Security. We must not look to the United States government or any other government to provide for our spiritual needs – because human does not have the answer. We must look to God and to God alone for the Spiritual Security that we need in this Spiritually insecure world.
The apostle Paul was one who realized that in God he had true Spiritual security. In his second letter to the young evangelist, Timothy, written during his final imprisonment – not long before he was put to death – Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)
In this verse, Paul expresses his trust in God in spite of all the things that he suffered for the cause of Christ in the past (See 2 Corinthians 11:23-28) and in spite of his current imprisonment and impending execution. Why was Paul so secure in the Spirit? He knew the power of the One in whom he believed and in whom he put his trust. He knew, as should we, that God is in control and that as long as he was faithful God would deliver on His promise of eternal life. Paul, by the Spirit, wrote, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) From this we learn that no outside force can separate us from God. Notice, however, that this passage does not say that we cannot separate our selves from God! There are many passages that teach that a Christian can fall from grace (e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:12; 2 Peter 2:20).
Why was Paul so secure in the Spirit? Because he had committed himself to God’s keeping. He had made his life a living sacrifice unto God. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) Paul knew that as long as he just kept doing the will of God and kept pressing forward in the Lord’s work he would never fall. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
What about you, are you Spiritually secure as was Paul? Or, are you placing your trust somewhere else, unsure as to whether that in which you have it will be eternally sufficient? If you are not Spiritually secure, then why don’t you give yourself fully to God? You can be sure that in God you will have Spiritual security for all of eternity, if you will but be faithful!
We may or may not be persuaded that the Social Security Administration is able to keep that which we have committed (i.e. our Social Security withholdings) against the day of our retirement. But we can and should be assured that God is ABLE to do so!