The Call to Return

Last time, we looked at a passage in Jeremiah as an example of what truths are just waiting to be found in the lesser-well-known portions of Scripture. We saw a vivid illustration of how the Israelites committed a two-fold evil by turning away from God and by trying to replace Him with lesser things of their own making. But the story doesn’t end there.  This week, let’s take a look at the passage following last time’s verse to see what happened after God confronted the people about their sin.

In the rest of Jeremiah 2 through Jeremiah 3:5, God continues to detail how His people have done wrong and explains the punishment they deserve. But in Jeremiah 3:12, God reveals that He is not only a God of holiness and justice . . .

“Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD.

I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD;

I will not be angry forever.” (ESV)

And again, in verse 14:

                “Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD,

                                for I am your master;”

In verse 12, we see that God is merciful. Once His people have strayed, they are not without hope. They are not doomed to suffer the wrath of God forever. He shows them the way out as He lovingly calls them to return to Him. But He doesn’t only offer to withhold His wrath; He offers to provide something as well—healing.

We see this in verse 22 as God calls His people to return for a third time:

“Return, O faithless sons;

                                I will heal your faithlessness.”

He promises that if they return to Him, He will take the very betrayal they have engaged in and heal it, restoring their lives from the destruction it has left in its wake. He will take them from being faithless sons to being faithful ones.

Notice that the call to “return” implies prior existence in a place that has since been left. In other words, God is not calling the people to enter His family; they are already part of His family. He is calling them to return to the fold. The parallel scenario in our New Testament age, then, is with the Church, i.e. those who have already become part of the family of God by believing in Jesus Christ for their salvation.

There is vital encouragement here for those of us who are in Christ. Why? Because these verses show us that it is possible for a believer to stray. That doesn’t sound like a positive thing, you might be thinking. Well, the straying isn’t, but for those of us followers of Christ with perfectionist, rule-following tendencies, the ongoing struggle with sin in the Christian life can be not only disheartening but downright defeating.

The more we fail to completely put to death the sin we struggle with, the more we begin to doubt whether we’re even saved. We know in our head that it is God’s grace alone that saves us, but we also know in our head that we are called to holiness and called to a transformation that makes us more and more like Christ. So when we do or think things that are pointedly not like Christ, we fail to see the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, and we begin to question whether He lives within us at all.

I truly believe that is why God included the details about so many of His followers straying—Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, just to name a few—and indeed, even these verses in Jeremiah. He knew we would need reassuring that falling into sin as a believer does not mean we are not believers and that it does not mean we have no hope of forgiveness and grace.

(Of course, we also want to avoid false assurance, i.e. believing that we’re saved when we’re really not, but there are other markers to look for in one’s life to help determine if we are truly saved. What I’m speaking to here is the phenomenon that occurs when true believers begin to doubt their salvation because they can’t seem to keep from falling to temptation in their lives.)

What these verses remind us is that the merciful God who saves us does not cease to be merciful after He saves us. Our salvation, after all, is not dependent on any merit on our part but on the gift of Jesus’ perfect record to replace our own record of wrongs. It is dependent not on who we are or what we have done, currently do, or ever will do; it’s dependent on who God is and what He has already done, is doing, and will do.

This reminder, as we see it in Jeremiah, is so needed, especially in today’s church culture, which often can hinder people from being honest about their struggles and doubts. Admittedly, our pride often keeps us from expressing concerns as well (heaven forbid we tarnish our “Christian image” by admitting weakening faith or questioning of our salvation). But I pray that the church becomes a true community, reflective of the family that it is, where people can be open and honest in their moments of crippled faith and can find encouragement from brothers and sisters who will point them back to passages in the Bible such as this one.

If you find yourself wearying under the relentless attacks of your Enemy, who delights in planting seeds of doubt in your hear t and mind, I pray that you have a brother or sister in Christ to lean on for strength—or rather, one that will help you lean on the strength of Christ and on the Truth of God’s Word. I pray that you cling to verses like the ones we’ve looked at today that proclaim the truth of God’s kindness. And if you are straying, I pray you will heed God’s loving, merciful call to return and, in doing so, will rest confident in the assurance that you are His and that He will never let you go.

To read the Arabic translation of this post, click here.

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