Faith

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Salvation: How can we know for sure that we have it is a puzzle many believers face; if we are not sure of our own salvation, how can we explain it to someone who wants it but doesn't understand how to obtain it? This is not a multiple-choice question, there are no guesses, you are either a believer or you are not; you are either saved or you are lost.

First of all, you must realize that the Bible is true and is the Word of God; if you do not believe that, you will have a difficult time believing in salvation or even in God's power to save you. You must see yourself as a sinner and not a good person who maybe does a little wrong here and there, but certainly has done nothing worthy of hell. If you don't see yourself as a sinner, you cannot repent (which means changing the way you live and doing a complete "U-turn" in your life). You are not going to save yourself by being nice or doing a few good things in your life.

I need to say one more thing before we go on: Even if you believe the above and have been going to church for the last 50 years, but have not repented; you are just as lost as someone who does not believe in God at all. There are two judgment days, one for Christians and one for non-Christians. The one for Christians is scary because we will be held accountable for the way in which we have lived our lives. Romans 14:11-12 says, "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Notice this says EVERY, so even believers will have their day of judgment.

Even though the judgment for Christians is going to be hard, is better to be there than at the judgment for unbelievers. Christians will lose some of their rewards, but still be granted entry into Heaven. Not so for the unbeliever; Revelation 20:11-15 tells of their judgment - the White Throne Judgment. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

OK, so now you know why no one wants to be at the White Throne Judgment and, let me tell you this, even if you don't believe it exists and don't believe in God, those beliefs will not excuse you from being there. After that being said, we can see the importance of being sure of our salvation; but how do we know for sure? You need to believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus died for you so that you could be saved not because I said it but because God said it. You need to understand that nothing you can do will save you, nothing is good enough to take away your sins, only the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ can do that. If you do not see yourself as a sinner, you will not see the need to repent; God says you are when He says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23) and “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God,” (Romans 3:10-11).

If we believe the Ten Commandments and follow them, we will soon find out that we can not keep them. God says that the law is like our school master showing us what is required and we cannot possibly keep them all or even a few of them. He also tells us that if we offend in one point we are guilty of all. So one little white lie will send us to hell; and do notice that the small and great were at the judgment, this means the rich, the famous, the business man, politician, and even many preachers will be standing along side the unbelievers and unrepentant souls.

Way back before God created the heavens and the earth, they (meaning the Holy Triune God) discussed what to do about the sin problem that man was going to have. Jesus Christ agreed to become the sacrificial Lamb, to die in our place for our sins. He saw every sin I was going to commit in my entire life and whether I ever became a Christian or not, He was willing to sacrifice Himself so that I would have the opportunity to accept His gift and join them in Heaven. He did that for me and for each and every person ever born on this earth.

There is a simple explanation that I love to use; you may remember Paul Harvey and might have heard his rendition of The Birds. It is a story about a family that lives on a farm and it is a very cold and snowy Christmas morning. The father in the family is a non-believer and does not want to attend the service. While he is sitting in the house some birds began diving against the window and he knows they are cold and want to come in. He decides to go out and shepherd them into the barn where they could get out of the snow. Unfortunately, the birds do not pay any attention to him although he tries many things to get them into the barn. He tries so hard to get them to understand him, but they cannot because they do not speak the same language; it is at that point he realizes that the only way they would listen to him is if he became a bird and led them into the barn. Right then the church bells rang and he fell on his knees repenting of his sins and asking the Lord to be his Savior. He realized that the only way man could understand God is if God became man and led us to safety, and at that point, he believed that Jesus Christ died for him.

So, how can you know for sure? Repent of your sins, ask the Lord to save you, believe that He is capable of keeping you safe and trust Him with your future, then follow Him where He leads. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if 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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:13 declares, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In simple language, that means if you repented and asked, He saved you, and if you believe what His Word says is true, then you are saved no matter what your feelings or doubts are at the moment.

To confirm, you might want to check John 10: 27-30, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.”

And then back to Romans 8:38, 39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So you see, once you belong to Jesus Christ, you are not going to get away from Him. If you could hold on to salvation of your own accord, God would not be much of a god, but merely a little better than a human; but since He is the God of eternity, you are safely in His hands, He is holding on to you and promises to keep your salvation safe and secure. I was lost, but now I am found and since God is real and cannot lie, I will not be lost again because He holds me in the palm of His hand.

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