Saturday, September 12, 2020

Are You Sure You’re Saved?


Minden Cathedral photo by TUBS 2010

What does it mean to be “saved?” Salvation, or receiving eternal life in Heaven, requires believing that Jesus Christ is God, the perfect, sinless Sacrifice Who died to pay our sin debt (John 1:29). Cults that deny His divinity fail this requirement.

It requires acknowledging that we are sinners deserving eternal death in hell, and repenting of our sins (Romans 3:23; 6:23). This knocks out Satan and his minions who believe and know the Bible and know who Jesus is (James 2:19), but who feel their sins are justified because of their pride.

It requires believing the Gospel of Grace, putting our trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only way (John 14:6) to Heaven (unlike Buddhists and others who believe in multiple paths to nirvana). Faith, no matter how intense or sincere, is saving faith only if it is faith in Christ and His completed work of salvation on Calvary’s cross.

It requires a personal relationship with Him, recognizing that we are sinners in need of a Savior and making Him Lord of our life. This eliminates those with a "head" knowledge of Who Christ is and what He did, without a heart relationship -- many professing Christians may fall into this category (Luke 13: 23-27). As our former pastor once said, the distance between being lost and being saved may be only 18 inches – the distance between the brain and the heart.

Romans 10:9 [I]f thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Once saved, we are always saved, because:

When we are “born again” (John 3: 3-8) by confessing and turning away from sin, and by placing our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus as the only Way to Heaven, we are indwelled by and sealed with the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:13-14; Ephesians 2: 22).

We did nothing to merit or earn our salvation, and there is nothing we (or anyone or anything) can do to lose it or take it away, provided it was a genuine, heartfelt spiritual rebirth (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We are in the double grip of eternal security – Christ holding us tightly within His hand, which is held tightly within the Father’s hand (John 10:27-29).

No sin, past, present or future, and no trick or trap of Satan or his demons or of evil men – nothing --could cause us to lose our salvation (Romans 8:38-39).

When we are born again, we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). One of the paradoxes of the Christian life is that we must die to truly live (1 Corinthians 15: 36-38). As we trust Christ as our Savior and turn away from our sins, we die daily to our flesh, that is, our sin nature, that would control us (Romans 6:6-14). We must fight this spiritual battle between our sin nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit by putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17). The change that He began in us at the moment of salvation He will continue until He brings us home (Philippians 1:6).

Before the beginning of the world, God knew who would be saved by accepting His amazing offer of eternal life by grace through faith (Ephesians 1:3-15), yet the mystery is that He did so without taking away our free will to choose eternal life in Christ or to reject Him and suffer eternal death in hell. God makes no mistakes, and if we could lose our salvation, His foreknowledge would have been wrong. 

Romans 8 describes the domino effect of God’s foreknowledge: because of it, He has predestined believers to be like Christ, justified (made “just as if” we had never sinned), and glorified. Because of that, we are beyond condemnation: God is for us, so who can be against us? (Romans 8:29-37).

God saved us for a purpose, and each of us is fitted into His body as precisely as a stone block is fitted into a cathedral vault. If one could lose their salvation, the building would fall apart (Ephesians 2: 18-22).

Although we must daily fight the battle between sin, which ultimately results in death (Romans 6:23), and the new, abundant life we received at the moment of salvation through the indwelling Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ has won the war on our behalf. We know how it will all turn out; we can look forward not only to the Rapture but to His glorious appearing as we return to earth with Him to fight the Battle of Armageddon; and we can stand victorious on His promise of eternal life.

He has permanently conquered sin and death for all who trust in Him as Lord and Savior (1 Cor: 15:20-22; 55-57). Praise God for His amazing love, mercy and grace, allowing us to choose salvation through faith in His Son!  Praise God that He securely keeps that gift for us forever!


© 2013 Laurie Collett
Reposted from the archives




 

8 comments:

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear Laurie,
An excellent truth of the Gospel and eternal salvation. And as you say, salvation is secure, being in itself a free gift as Paul writes in Romans 5.
If salvation can be lost by the believer, heaven would remain empty, devoid of any saved human souls, as James says, that if one keeps the whole Law but stumbles at just one point, he is guilty of breaking the whole Law and must face judgement.
Forfeitable salvation is no salvation at all.
May God bless you and Richard.

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Frank,
Thanks as always for your encouragement and Bible-based confirmation of God's truth. John 3:16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ has eternal life. If we could lose our salvation, "eternal life" would have no meaning and God would be a liar, for we would be doomed to hell anew each time we sinned.
Praise the Lord that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by keeping the law, which is impossible even after we are saved,
God bless you and Alex,
Laurie

Brenda said...

Hi Laurie, we who have been born again of God's Spirit because of Jesus's sacrifice could never experience a greater love than the love of God in Jesus. Yes,we are the body of Christ on earth being joined as one and being taught by the Holy Spirit as we grow in the Spirit. The old man of the flesh is dead and we have been given access to the mind of Christ Who is the One mediator between man and God. The devil might be cunning, but when we take every thought captive and bring it into obedience to the Word spoken to us daily in our walk with the Lord then we will recognise the truth of the Lord. Thank you for sharing God's truth through the scriptures you have shared. His Word can not go out and return to Him void. God bless you and yours.

Donald Fishgrab said...

Great Post, Laurie.

As you pointed out there are many who have professed salvation who seemingly have never acknowledged their sin, or recognized that it is Christ's sacrifice that saves them, not their own goodness. Many view salvation as a fire escape, rather than as a door to a new life.

Laurie Collett said...

Hi Brenda,
Amen and Amen! Praise God for the Scriptural truths you have shared in your comment. May we always listen for His still, small voice as He guides us into truth. May God bless you, your family and ministry,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Hi Donald,
As the saying goes, salvation is not a "get out of hell free" card, but an invitation to a new life as a new creation in Christ Jesus. If we depend on our own "goodness" to be saved, we are surely doomed.
Thanks as always for your comment and God bless.
Laurie

Personal Blog said...

Great readd thanks

Laurie Collett said...

Hi Personal Blog,
Thanks for your visit and comment! God bless,
Laurie