Showing posts with label Assurance of Salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Assurance of Salvation. Show all posts

Monday, March 18, 2019

Anonymous Asks (31)

“How do I know I’m saved?”

This is a question which occurs to nearly every young believer at one point or another. Some struggle with it more than others.

If you’ve run your question by fellow Christians, someone has probably quoted you Romans 10:9: “[I]f you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Monday, December 24, 2018

Anonymous Asks (19)

“I keep praying the sinner’s prayer. I’m so anxious. Am I saved or not?”

I have some bad news: I’m probably the worst person to answer the question of whether or not you are really saved. In fact, I suspect nobody else can tell you that either, since salvation is a byproduct of faith. Faith is not something we human beings are particularly good at measuring, either in ourselves or in others, since we cannot see into the heart, very often even our own.

As for me, I actually had to look up the “sinner’s prayer” to see what it is. I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing to be found in the Bible, at least not under that name.

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Making Sure

People who don’t think a genuine believer in Jesus Christ belongs irrevocably to him use a variety of verses to support their claim that it is possible to be saved and then lose your salvation.

This isn’t a verse I’m used to seeing used that way:

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

The usual suspects are full of catchy expressions like “eternal sin”, “sin that leads to death” or even “impossible to restore them again to repentance”. Separate such phrases from their contexts and it is possible to become quite confused and concerned about the permanence of salvation.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Can We Really Know?

Although there are many religions in the world, with a great number of differences between them, there is one point at which almost all of them agree: They all claim that man must earn his salvation by good works of some kind — whether this is by performing deeds of charity, observing rituals or cultivating certain attitudes and thoughts. As a result, followers of these beliefs can never be confident that they have done enough to please their god or gods. They can only say, “I think so”, or “I hope so”.

Arrogant Christians?

The believer in Christ, however, does not say “I think” or “I hope”. He is able to say “I know”. Those who follow other beliefs are often taken aback, and offended, by this confidence. How could anyone be so arrogant as to be sure that they have pleased God? But the Christian is someone who has realized that there is a difference between God’s plan of salvation and the way humanity tries to make for itself.