For he will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven,/who fulfills in good deeds what he teaches in holy words;/who by his good example goes forth as a model to the faithful,/and guards faith in God in his pure heart.

  - Sechnall, Audite Omnes Amantes (Irish, 5th century)

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

  - Genesis 2.15

The word translated "keep" by the ESV is the Hebrew word normally translated, "guard." We get some sense of the intent of this word when we find it in Genesis 3.24, where the angel with a flaming sword is stationed "to guard" the way to the tree of life. His job was to keep Adam and Eve from returning to the garden, by violence, even, if necessary.

Adam's failure at the temptation was in part the result of his not guarding his garden against corrupting influences - in this case, the serpent. The moment the serpent began questioning God's reliability and motives, Adam - who was present with Eve - should have shut the conversation down and sent the serpent out of the place. He didn't, and our ongoing struggle with sin is the result of his failure as guardian of the garden.

Sechnall commended Patrick because he knew how to guard faith in his heart against the temptations of a pagan culture and the wiles of the devil. Patrick feasted from the Word of God, lived it out faithfully, and preached and taught it with great effects. He was able to recognize temptations when they confronted him, and he dealt with them swiftly. He guarded true faith in God by always believing God, always obeying God, and seeking only and always to serve God and make known His glory.

We are all assaulted every day concerning our faith in God. Our unbelieving, secular, materialist, and sensual age challenges our faith at every turn. We must be on guard against the suggestion that what we believe about God is either merely personal, largely irrelevant, or not scientifically credible.

The world will say to us every day, "Yea, hath God said....?" And at every such instance we must guard the faith with our lives, clinging to the Word of God and telling the world where to get off. The ability to do so is a matter of daily preparation and disciplined obedience to God and His Word.

Are you ready to guard the faith of Christ in your own life today?

If you haven't been to the website lately, there are some exciting new developments. Courses are now available for online or mentored study at The Ailbe Seminary. New articles on the Law of God, Patrick's Confession, and the use of reason in evangelism can help to equip you for guarding the faith of Christ each day. Thanks to those of you who share with us by your donations to our ministry. We have a very uncomplicated approach to generating support for our labors: Trust the Lord and serve His people. He'll do the rest. And we praise and thank Him that He is supporting our needs through the generosity of some of you.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.