Can I Be Sure of My Salvation?
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Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Hands-on Faith
Can I Be Sure of My Salvation?
by Barry Newton
If you listen to enough people I will suggest that
you will stumble upon both a human answer to this
question as well as one from Scripture. While both
appear to offer comfort, one answer is misleading
and involves playing word games to cover over its
inconsistencies. The other deals with Scripture
responsibly. Let's survey the landscape of this
question.
Can a Christian live with the deep and abiding
peace of mind which comes from the assurance of
knowing he or she is saved? Or are people doomed
to a life of uncertainty mingled with worry and
fear?
The first half of the biblical answer requires
understanding the basis by which God offers
salvation to us. We can grasp just how secure our
salvation is by asking the question, "is there any
doubt that Jesus will be saved?" Of course not!
The absolute beauty of what God has done through
Jesus is, those who rely upon the death, burial
and resurrection of Christ are incorporated into
the body of Christ and are saved on the basis of
Jesus, not upon who they have been!/1 The gift of
grace involves receiving what you do not deserve!
Those in Christ can live with the assurance that
if Christ has been raised from the dead to be with
the Father, then they will also be raised to life
with him./2
The second half of the biblical answer regarding
the security of salvation a Christian has before
God encounters competition from what appears to be
a comforting, albeit human doctrine. Some have
claimed that once a person is saved it is
impossible for that individual to become lost. On
the surface, this would seem to offer continued
security to the disciple. But does it? Not really.
In my experience in talking with those who hold to
this view, in order to reconcile their doctrine of
the impossibility of apostasy with the fact that
some have quit following Jesus, they typically
resort to claiming that those who end up denying
Christ were never really saved. What sort of
assurance is this? From that perspective, how can
a person really know whether his faith is genuine
or not, since from a human perspective this will
only become known based upon his final state?
The biblical answer provides certainty throughout
life. While Scripture reveals it is possible to
fall away from grace by failing to endure or by
distorting the message,/3 if someone has responded
to the gospel and continues to walk in the light,
he can know that he is saved because of what Jesus
accomplished through his death!/4
Since this has been a quick survey, perhaps some
lingering questions remain. Possibly these can be
addressed under two questions. First, if it is
true that salvation is based upon being in Christ,
then does not this eliminate the necessity of
obedience? Second, what happens if I may catch
myself sinning? Do I waffle between being saved
and being lost?
To this last question, there is a difference
between those living under the condemnation of sin
and who have been enslaved to sin regardless of
whatever good they might also do and those, on the
other hand, who have been set free from sin and
its consequences in order to serve God, but who
might still catch themselves in a sin. While
Romans 6:11-23 emphasizes the necessity of casting
off sin because at conversion our master was
changed, 1 John 1:7 and 2:1 underscore the fact
that although those who walk in the light should
not sin, if they do sin, Jesus' blood covers it.
Salvation and grace are found in Jesus Christ! As
Romans 8:1 says, there is no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. This is equivalent
to saying, in Jesus our sins have been forgiven.
To the former question regarding the need for
obedience, God has given his people a purpose
which ranges from worshiping to doing good./5
Those ungrateful servants who refuse to obediently
serve can be cast out./6 Thus, although we can not
earn our salvation, it is also true that lazy and
worthless servants can be rejected; Christ can cut
off those who fail to obey. It would be a grave
misunderstanding of grace to think, now that I
will receive the salvation I do not deserve,
obedience has become irrelevant./7
Can you know if you are saved? Yes! You can live
with peaceful assurance if you have obeyed the
gospel and have not fallen away from obediently
following Christ.
1Colossians 1:22,23; Ephesians 2:4-9,13; Titus
3:4-7
21 Corinthians 15:20-23; 1 Peter 1:3,4
31 Timothy 5:15; Galatians 1:6; 5:4; Revelation
2:4,5; 3:1-3,15,16; Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:22-29,39; 2
Timothy 2:12; 1 Corinthians 15:2
41 Corinthians 15:2; Colossians 1:22,23; 2
Timothy 2:11,12; 1 John 1:7
51 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians
2:12,13; Titus 2:14
6Matthew 25:1-46; Revelation 2:4,5; 3:1-3,15,16
7Titus 2:11-14
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