Bob Prichard

Topic(s): Blessings, Eternity & Judgment, Salvation

Although it may sound arrogant for a person to say, “I know that I am saved,” the Bible teaches that the Christian can know that very thing. The Christian can know that that heaven awaits. This is undoubtedly true because John the apostle has written that we can know this. “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). John said, “ye may know that ye have eternal life.” The Christian can know that he has eternal life!

Having confidence in salvation helps the Christian to be devoted to the will of God. John wrote, “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). The Christian can be sure that he has salvation, the he “knows” the Father, if he obeys the commands of Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto 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). A person who is “born again,” by being “born of the water and the Spirit,” by being baptized into Christ, is saved. Thus is begun a life-long journey of the “babe in Christ” growing into the mature Christian. The Christian is not perfect. He still sins, but God forgives those sins for the penitent Christian. God requires a forgiving attitude of Christians, and He is also a forgiving Father for His children.

Salvation does not depend on how few sins or mistakes we make, but upon whether we accept the grace of God and are obedient to Christ. Once we have obeyed the gospel of Christ, as we continue to serve Christ, the Lord continues to bless and 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 pathway of Christ, His blood continues to cleanse us of sin.

Many Christians have doubts because they are not maturing as Christians should, but are moving backward. 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 cannot walk in the light if he does not give his whole heart to the Lord.