Are you certain you are saved?
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| Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
There are people in this world who are not saved, but who are convinced that they are. The presence of such people causes genuine Christians to doubt their salvation. After all, we wonder, suppose I am in this category? Suppose I am mistaken about my salvation and am really going to hell? How can I know that I am a real Christian?
What if you are not one of the redeemed? What if your destiny is not heaven after all, but hell” Let me tell you that if you was flooded with a chill that went from your head to the bottom of your spine that's a good sign that you're worried about this. Only true Christians really care about salvation. But then if you began to take stock of your life, and you looked at your performance. Your sins come pouring into your mind, and the more you looked at yourself, the worse you felt. “Maybe it’s really true. Maybe I’m not saved after all.”
The reality is there’s nothing you can offer. You can only rely on Christ's atonement for your sins. You can only throw myself on God's mercy.” Even then you know some people only flee to the Cross to escape hell, not out of a real turning to God. You could not be sure about your own heart and motivation. But then up jumps John 6:68. Jesus had been giving out hard teaching, and many of His former followers had left Him. When He asked Peter if he was also going to leave, Peter said, “Where else can we go? Only You have the words of eternal life.” In other words, Peter was also uncomfortable, but he realized that being uncomfortable with Jesus was better than any other option!
Assurance grows from faith, and faith means clinging to Jesus Christ. Christians don’t always have full assurance, but Christians always hold fast to Christ when the “chips are down.” Have you ever had a crisis like this? How did you work it through with God?
