Topic(s): Salvation

Although it may sound arrogant to say, “I know I am saved,” the Bible teaches that one can be confident of salvation. The Christian can know that heaven awaits. John wrote, “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:11-13). Christians can know that they have eternal life!

Having confidence in salvation results from learning and submitting to God’s will. John wrote, “Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). Thus a Christian can be sure that he has salvation—that he “knows” the Father—if he obeys Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus asked him, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-5).

One is “born again”—“born of water and Spirit”—when he is baptized into Christ. His sins are washed away, and he is a new creature in Christ (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Thus begins a life-long journey of the “babe in Christ” growing into a mature Christian (1 Peter 2:2; Galatians 5:22-23). No Christian is perfect. We still sin, but God forgives these mistakes as we confess and forsake them (1 John 1:8-10). God requires a forgiving attitude of Christians (Matthew 6:12-15); He is a forgiving Father for His children.

Salvation does not depend on how few sins or mistakes we make, but upon whether we accept God’s grace and are obedient to Christ. As we continue to serve Christ, the Lord continues to forgive us. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). If we walk in the light, following the Gospel, His blood continues to cleanse us of sin.

Many Christians have doubts because they are moving backward instead of maturing. This often happens when a person does not give his whole heart to Christ. Jesus said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). The person who tries to live as a Christian while not fully surrendering his life to Christ must have doubts because he is walking partly in the light and partly in the dark.
—Bob Prichard, P. O. Box 3071, Oxford, AL 36203