While there may
be occasions in which a child of God may have doubts about salvation, this does
not happen as often as supposed. Many professed believers have doubts about
their salvation simply because they are not saved, and many unregenerate
professors of faith are convinced that they are saved because they believe
myths, misconceptions, and unscriptural theories about salvation. Many believe
they are saved merely because they had a religious experience, but a religious
experience does not necessarily mean salvation. You can bathe and brush your
teeth religiously (and you should), but this won’t save you from Hell. It
worries me when someone says they were so young that they don’t remember much
about the experience: For one thing, if you had an experience that you don’t
remember much about then you didn’t have much of an experience. Many refer to
certain works or ceremonies as the reason to believe they are saved, but this
tends to indicate the opposite: Salvation is a personal experience with Jesus
Christ and is through the finished work of Calvary, not the shed blood of Jesus
Christ and additional supplements. (John 3:13-16; Acts 2:21; 10:43; Romans 4:5;
5:1-2,8-11; I Corinthians 15:1-4; II Corinthians 5:17-18; Ephesians 2:8,9;
Titus 3:5-6; Hebrews 5:9; I Peter 1:3; I John 5:20)
Did you repent?
(Mark 1:14-15; Luke 13:3) Many describe a salvation experience that did not
include repentance, which indicates that they are not saved. A mere belief
without genuine repentance is not saving faith. (Acts 3:19; also consider Psalm
34:18; Isaiah 55:6-7; 57:15; 66:2) Faith and repentance can be described as the
two sides of the same coin, as they are inseparable; repentance is the turning
from sin to God, and faith is the turning to Jesus Christ (God in the flesh)
for salvation. (Acts 20:21) Repentance is necessary for salvation; it is the
effective agent for forgiveness and remission of sins through the power of the
cross. (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; 17:30-31; I Corinthians 1:17; II
Corinthians 7:10)
In which Jesus
did you believe and how do you describe Jesus Christ? Many describe Jesus
Christ as everything but God in the flesh, Who was born of a virgin, lived a
sinless life, died, was buried, was bodily resurrected, and in heaven today has
a glorified human body. Faith always has an object and the proper object of
saving faith is Jesus Christ, and more specifically, the Jesus Christ Who is
presented in Scripture. (John 3:13-16; I Corinthians 15:1-4; II Corinthians
11:4; I Timothy 2:5; I John 4:2,3; II John7)
Did God change
you? (John 3:3-6; II Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5-7)
Does the Holy
Spirit bear witness that you are a child of God? (Romans 8:14-16)
If you have
doubts about salvation you should go to Jesus as a lost sinner seeking
salvation. What if you go to Jesus for salvation and don’t need to? God will
forgive you. It would be better to seek salvation and not need it than to
finish this life hoping in a counterfeit salvation.
The problem is
often a result of wrong directions to lost sinners. Note that in Acts 16:30-32
Paul and Silas responded to the jailer's question by leading the jailer and his
household to Jesus Christ. Multitudes neglect the issue of salvation
altogether, and multitudes of unregenerate feel assured of salvation, because
of improper directions. All too often someone is assumed to be saved, even
assured that he is saved, because of works and appearances. For example, in
many religious circles someone is often assumed to be born again if he merely
says a repeat-after-me prayer, affirms some basic truths, and decides to live
right; this does not necessarily mean that he was convicted over sin, that he
genuinely repented, that he knows he cannot save himself, that he has a
personal experience with Jesus Christ, or that he even knows which God and
Savior to whom he should pray. In many cases there was no genuine conversion,
but merely a yielding to pressure from concerned friends or relatives, or
acting in accord with myths or misconceptions about God and salvation. When
such people "backslide," losing what they never had, they are likely
to assume that Christianity is vanity or meaningless. Preachers and lay members
alike need to remember that we all have an obligation to spread the Gospel, but
regeneration is an act of God (not man). We must be careful that we are
directing people to genuine salvation.
-Arnold J. Saxton