Challenge 44. Blog 36

Even Pastors Have Wondered, "How Can I Know If I'm Really Saved?"

Several years ago, a middle-aged Christian war veteran, feeling confused and adrift, Googled “Christian self-confidence.” At the top of Google’s search results, in the number-one position, he found my blog entitled “Christian Self-Confidence: Why It’s Essential and How to Get It.” After reading the blog, he explored my website and discovered that I coach people over the phone about Christian calling and growing in Christ. He scheduled a phone-in Discovery Call with me, and I started coaching him.

This man, whom I’ll call Dave, contacted me because he wanted to discover how he could make a difference in the world for God. But even though he had grown up in church, and even though he still attended church on a fairly regular basis, he admitted that he often doubted his salvation in Christ. He was not sure he had a personal relationship with God or that he would go to heaven when he died.

This kind of story—about people being unsure of their relationship with God, even though they believe in Him—is much more common than you might think. It happens to new believers. It happens to seasoned, active church members. It occasionally happens even to pastors who fall into tough times in life.

Perhaps it’s you, right now, today. Or perhaps it’s someone close to you, or someone God might have you meet tomorrow. In any case, I pray that this blog will help you.

What "Saved” Means

When we decide to accept God’s free gift of forgiveness, and when we decide to hand our lives over to Him so that He is Lord of our life, we are saved. When we are saved, then we are Christians. We do not become Christians just by being a “good person,” or even just by intellectually believing that Jesus is God’s Son who died on the cross and rose from the dead. We become Christians by asking Jesus to forgive our sins and take charge of our lives.

How to Be Saved

The Bible tells us that God wants to have a personal relationship with us. We matter to God. He made us, and He wants to have a personal relationship with us.

• So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

In the verse above, “Abba” is the Aramaic work for “Daddy.” Aramaic was the common people’s language in Jesus’ time. God not only wants us to call Him our Father, but incredibly, He wants us to call Him “Daddy”!

But we—all human beings on the planet—rebelled against God by disobeying Him. Our sins separated us from Him, like the picture of the canyon below.

• All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

All of this is conceptually simple, but it is profound, and it is not easy. We must not only ask Jesus to forgive our sins, but also be willing to hand our lives over to Him and follow Him in all areas of our lives.

We will never be able to obey Jesus perfectly, because we will continue to sin, even after we are saved. And we do not have to clean up before we come to Him—and in fact we cannot, because we do not have that ability. But the desire of our hearts, when we ask Him to be in relationship with us, is that we die to our own desires and commit to follow Him. This is called the pursuit of holiness, and only God gives us that desire and power.

When we decide to accept God’s free gift of forgiveness, and when we decide to hand our lives over to Him so that He is Lord of our life, we are saved. When we are saved, we become Christians. A Christian is not just a “good person,” or even just someone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God and arose from the dead. A Christian is a person who has been forgiven of his/her sins and has asked Jesus to take charge of his/her life.

Does this make sense to you? If you have not already done so, would you like to “move across the bridge” by asking Jesus to be your Savior, Forgiver, Leader, and Friend?

If you would like to ask Jesus into your life for the first time—if you would like to be saved—you can pray a prayer similar to this one:

• “Jesus, I know that I have done wrong things, that I have sinned. I ask you to forgive my sins. And I ask you to take control of my life. I will seek to obey you in all aspects of my life.”

Why We Doubt Salvation

Since the decision to follow Christ is a profoundly important experience, we might think that it would be accompanied by all sorts of wonderful feelings, and that we would never again doubt our own faith in Jesus. However, the truth is that probably every Christian—at least once in life—doubts his or her salvation.

5 common reasons Christians doubt their salvation:

1. Not being able to point to a definite time of salvation.

Some people can point to the specific day and hour they were saved, because the experience felt so profoundly good. Others do not know exactly when they were saved, because salvation for them was a more gradual process. Either route to salvation is fine.

What to do: If you sincerely asked Jesus to forgive your sins and take control of your life, you are saved. This is God’s truth, regardless of how you feel on any given day. Review the section below entitled “Assurance of Salvation.”

2. Not seeing God at work

The more we see God obviously at work, the less we will doubt His existence and His activity in our lives. New Christians, and Christians who are not actively growing in Christ by reading the Bible, praying, and meeting with other believers, tend not to notice God’s activity in their lives. Therefore we doubt that God is real, powerful, and loving.

What to do: Read the Bible and pray regularly. Go to church regularly, connect with other believers in a transparent small group, and participate in God’s Kingdom work. These are foundational practices for growing a strong faith.

3. Hurts

Men and women who experience great loss—i.e. the death of a loved one, career, dream, or health—sometimes wonder where God is in the pain, if He cares, or if He is there at all.

What to do: Different personalities benefit from different approaches. If you’re an introvert, read books about grief, moving on after broken dreams, recovering from abuse, getting healthy, etc. If you’re an extrovert, talk with a friend or counselor, or join a support group. Whatever you do, don’t isolate yourself. Force yourself to stay engaged with God and other people.

4. Sin

When we persist in sin, whether in a rebellious way, or whether we’re sincerely trying to change but keep falling back into old patterns, we begin to wonder if we’re really saved at all.

What to do: Have a conversation with God about your sin. Ask for His forgiveness, even if it’s for the 100^th time! Then talk with Him about why you do that sin, seeking deeper relationship with Him. Listen to what He’s saying, and let Him encourage and transform you.

5. Spiritual valleys

God takes all of us into spiritual valleys. His purposes are to grow our relationship with Him, build our character, and prepare us for our uniquely created Christian calling.

What to do: Learn more about spiritual valleys, God’s purposes in them, and how to navigate them well. Click here to learn about Christian calling valleys.

Assurance of Salvation

I accepted Christ in a little country church during Vacation Bible School when I was 9 years old. But throughout my teen years, I frequently doubted my salvation because some of the Bible and Christianity didn’t make sense to my scientific mind. Later in my twenties, pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry, I doubted again because I lost what I thought was God’s calling to become a medical researcher. Even in my thirties, I doubted because I didn’t think my character or teaching skills would ever be good enough for God.

Sometimes we depend upon false assurances of salvation:

1. “I'm going to Heaven because I believe there is a God.”

• God’s truth: You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. (James 2:19)

2. “I’m going to Heaven because I’m basically a good person.”

• God’s truth: Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (Romans 3:23)

3. “I’m going to Heaven because I am a good person, or I attend church, or I pray often, or I was baptized.”

• God’s truth: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The good news is that doubt about our salvation usually diminishes the longer we live with God, and the more we see Him moving in powerful ways in our own lives and in the lives of people around us. I am almost 60 years old, and it’s been decades since I doubted that God exists or that I am secure in my salvation. The best way to get rock-solid-sure about your salvation is to develop lifelong habits of prayer, Bible reading, growing with other Christians, deploying our gifts and abilities for His Kingdom purposes, and sharing Him with others.

Our relationship with God is not based on our feelings, but on God’s promise. Think of marriage. Married people sometimes feel filled with love for their partners. But at other times… well, they are not! Does the change in feelings affect their marital status? Not a bit. They are not married because they feel married; they are husband and wife because they made commitments at the wedding ceremony.

Various church traditions, such as some Old Order Amish churches, believe we cannot know whether we’re saved until after we die. But God does not intend that we live in constant fear in this life, always wondering if He accepts us, and hoping we might make it to heaven someday.

The Bible says that we can indeed know for sure whether we have eternal life with Christ:

• And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)
• If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
• [Jesus said,] “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24)

Can You Lose Your Salvation?

Some Christian traditions believe you can lose your salvation very easily. For example, if you lie to me and then you’re killed in a car wreck before you ask God to forgive you for telling the lie, some Christians believe you’ll go to hell. The verse below is commonly quoted to support this view:

• If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. (2 Peter 2:20-21)

Other Christian traditions believe you can never lose your salvation. For example, if you ask God to forgive your sins and take control of your life, and if you then completely reject God and even commit atrocious sins like serial murders and unspeakable sexual violence, then some Christians believe you will still go to heaven when you die, even if you never try to restore your relationship with God. Christians who have this view quote verses such as the one below:

• All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:37-40)

Some Christian traditions believe something in the middle of the above two views, because various Bible verses do exist that support both views. However, many New Testament passages emphasize God's desire and power for keeping us securely in His saving grace. And even though different churches have different views about this issue, all acknowledge that we are saved—and kept—in salvation by God’s grace through our faith, not by our works. Click here for more Bible passages about our security in salvation.

Therefore, I believe, along with millions of other Christians, that even if it is possible to lose your salvation—and that's a big if—it doesn’t happen easily or capriciously, like losing your car keys! If it’s possible to lose your salvation, you would have to deliberately, intentionally, rebelliously, and permanently renounce your faith. So, if you wonder or fear that you’ve lost your salvation, your concern shows that you have not done so!

Sometimes a person will ask about the “unforgivable sin,” wondering if they have committed it, quoting this verse:

• I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:1-32)

The context of this verse is that the Pharisees, seeing Jesus heal a man on the Sabbath, accused Him of healing through the prince of demons. The Pharisees had heard Jesus’ Gospel and did not believe Him, so they were speaking against Jesus Himself. But the Pharisees’ hearts were so hardened against the Gospel that they did not even believe the miraculous confirmation of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit’s healing.

So the “unforgivable sin” is forever rejecting Jesus’ Gospel and never entering into a saving relationship with Him. All other sins can be forgiven, even the most heinous ones, if the person truly repents and turns his or her life over to Jesus. Even suicide is not the unforgivable sin, as some people worry after losing a loved one through suicide. The only unforgivable sin is never having made the decision to repent of sins and follow Jesus.

On the other hand, it’s dangerous to think that you can go on sinning and putting off salvation, thinking that you’ll later repent and accept Jesus. First, you don’t know if your life will suddenly be taken and you won’t have that last chance to repent. Second, and more importantly, if you live your life in rebellion, it’s not very likely that you’ll suddenly be able to sincerely repent and hand your life over to God “at the last minute.” God knows our hearts, and we can’t fool Him with such self-centered duplicity.

The Blessings of Salvation

Salvation in Christ is past, present, and future:

1. Justification

In the past: We were "justified," which means “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned. That happened when you asked Jesus to forgive your sins and take control of your life.

• Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. (Romans 5:1-2)

After salvation in Christ, we are no longer under condemnation, because our sins have been covered by Jesus' shed blood on the cross:

• So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

2. Sanctification

In the present: Sanctification is the process by which God grows us and makes us more like Himself, but in ways that uniquely preserve and value our uniquely created selves.

• Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

3. Glorification

In the future: We will be glorified, when we go to live with God in heaven.

• For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:20-21)

Pass It On!

I highly recommend the booklet, Steps to Peace with God, published by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I adapted portions of the booklet to write the pictorial presentation of salvation above. I keep copies of the booklet in my car, and I have used the booklet many times to share God's plan of salvation.  Click here for more info about the booklet or to order it.

Please also think about how you could share your three-minute personal testimony of salvation whenever you have the opportunity. Simply share a bit about what your life was like before you were saved, how God saved you, and what your life is like now.

I share my personal testimony of salvation in different ways, depending upon the person I’m with, but here’s an example:

• "I grew up in church. But one night when I was 9 years old, in Vacation Bible School, I looked around the worship area, and I realized that I was not sure I would go to heaven when I died. Our small Baptist church had a tradition of going to the front of the church to pray “the sinner’s prayer.” So I went. The pastor explained what I’d heard many times before at church and from my parents, about how to be sure I was saved. For the first time, I realized I had indeed sinned. In the best way I knew how, I asked Jesus to forgive me, and I told Him I wanted to follow Him for the rest of my life. I felt such joy and peace. I was baptized the next week in a lake, and I joined the church that same day. Since then, I’ve struggled a lot, because I’m not perfect. But Jesus gives purpose and joy to my life. I’ve seen God work miracles in my own life and in the lives of others, and I have peace knowing that I’ll always belong to Him.”
• But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15)

What is your personal salvation testimony? Will you share it?

Or if, before you read this blog, you weren’t sure of your own salvation, will you pray that “sinner’s prayer” yourself now? God created you for a wonderfully intimate and fruitful relationship with Him on this earth, and for the complete fulfillment of your eternal inheritance with Him in heaven:

• Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Community

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Parts of this blog were adapted from Following Jesus, a discipleship training manual written by Steve Cordle and R.J. Scherba for Crossroads Church in Oakdale, PA.