How Secure Is My Salvation?

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul effectively explains something that many Christians adamantly cling to as a truth.  They sometimes act is if it is more true than anything else in the Bible!  I'm talking about the security of one's salvation. 

Many preachers explain the act of receiving eternal life as a "transaction" that occurs when one says a simple prayer to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was born a virgin birth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again before ascending into heaven to prove that He is God.  They also confess that they are a sinner in need of His salvation, and announce that they freely accept it.

For some of us, this prayer was said in our teens, maybe at a church camp or in a youth group.  And then we go on to live our lives in no particular way - but doing whatever we think best.  After saying such prayer, we may do nothing to educate ourselves about the nature and character of God, or about what He has to say to us in the Bible (we don't read it, much less study it).  So our lives as Christians may look no different than the lives of others in the world.

I won't go into the Scripture references here, but I have studied the Bible - and there are many references which convince me that saying a simple prayer does NOT make one a Christian.  I understand from Bible study that belief must be backed up with action in order to be true.  It supports the old adage that people may not always do what they say - but they will always do what they believe.  So if someone truly is a Christ-follower, it should be evident in the way that they speak and the way that they live their lives. 

My thinking has evolved to the point that I don't see salvation as a transaction that occurs on any particular date - at least not for most of us.  Rather I believe that it occurs over time as I develop my beliefs and they shape my words and actions in life.  In the end, we all understand that God will judge our hearts.  He will know for sure who is a Christ-follower and who is not.  However, there are some clues - some evidence - that may suggest now how that judgment will turn out.  So I allow the Holy Spirit to convict me each time I sin against God or someone else.  And to be clear, I do sin.  Much to my dismay, I have NOT been able to live a perfect life - even after surrendering my life to Christ.

So why am I not adamantly declaring that my salvation is secure and that I can never lose it?  Is it because I doubt the Bible's promises of "once saved, always saved?"  Indeed not.  Those promises are definitely true.  But what is questionable in my mind is whether one is truly saved.  Jesus explained that those who love Him will obey Him.  So I look at my obedience - and wonder if the effort is truly sincere.  I look at how I've surrendered my life to Him - and wonder if there is anything else I can do to effectively surrender. 

I'm confident in my relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit.  I'm so in love with the Lord!  But I am not so cocky as to think that my sin doesn't matter.  I ask the Lord to examine my heart and show me what still displeases Him.  And then I try to make my efforts to align my words and actions with His as sincere as I possibly can.  But I understand that in the end, my fate rests on judgment day - and I trust Him with my life.  In fact, I trust Him so much that I don't need the Bible's promises to defend my salvation.

I know this is a very controversial topic among Christians.  But I also know that I can live with the apparent ambiguity of not knowing whether God sees my heart the way I see my heart.  How about you?  What are your thoughts on this subject?

After Being Saved

I had an interesting discussion recently about what happens - or rather what should happen - after someone "gets saved." Before we even start into such a conversation, it's probably worth stopping to define that term.

There may be several different perspectives on what it means to "be saved." For the sake of this dialogue, let's just agree that it is the term applied to the event of someone making a decision to become a Christian.

I know there's not even agreement on what that means, but cut me some slack here. After all, it's only a discussion.

In today's Protestant churches in the west, someone becomes a Christian when they make a conscious decision to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Often it is followed up with a baptism ceremony ... which is simply a public proclamation of that earlier decision. The baptism of course isn't required for the decision to be real. It merely represents what already is. Some churches don't even practice it.

At any rate, the discussion we're having centers around what happens after this. When someone makes a decision to become a Christian, how do churches and church leaders follow up with them? In many churches - maybe even most churches, the individual may receive some literature, an invitation to attend some classes, etc. There may be a process to officially join the church membership. But generally speaking, that's about it. Few churches really go much further than that.

As you might guess, I have a view on this. I think there's a serious disservice in how churches handle these "just saved" individuals. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's a ministry travesty. Let me explain.

People often make decisions to become a Christian, and then fail to follow through. In other words, they don't live any differently than before. Often they are not found in church years later. In some cases they become incredibly religious at first, but then "backslide" and drift away from their faith altogether. There was a special news segment in New York last week about pastors in the pulpit who no longer believe in God! Can you just imagine?

I think people who turn to God and then backslide, or people who make professions of faith (such as in baptism) but then don't go any further are worse off than people who never turned to Him in the first place. Consider the following prophecy:

"... They claim to follow the Lord, but then they worship (false gods) too. ... I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the Lord's guidance or seek my blessings." - Zephaniah 1:5-6 (NLT)

Now consider people who've fallen away from faith in today's world. Or consider people who would consider themselves devout church goers. Some of them, for example, think nothing of spending weekends at the lake house during the summer. Or they may spend their time and money on sports, entertainment or material wealth - and still attend church regularly. Are these people who claim to follow the Lord, but are still worshipping other gods as well? (If so, God has some sobering news for them!)

I know, you're going to ask me to shut up. You may be thinking that I'm about to say our salvation isn't secure. God forbid! The popular thinking in American Christianity today is that "once saved, always saved." It's true that the Bible tells us that when we have our salvation, it is secure. Nothing can take it away from us. And that popular thinking of course believes that the salvation became secure as soon as we made that conscious decision to become a Christian. We simply make the decision, maybe get baptized, and then forevermore have hold of that salvation that we can't lose. Right?

Jesus said, "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter." - Matthew 7:21 (NLT) That seems pretty clear. Only those who do God's will can actually get into heaven. Do churches let people know about that condition when they "get saved?"

You know, this isn't just the dilemma of new believers either. Many times, seasoned Christians or even preachers can be missing the mark (for heaven). Jesus said, "On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord!' We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me ..." - Matthew 7:22 (NLT)

So doing the work of the Lord isn't sufficient to get me into heaven? There's another condition? Serving in my church ... even casting out demons and performing miracles in Jesus' name don't get me into heaven? It seems that if Jesus never knew you, there is no mansion on the streets paved with gold for you. How could this be so?

It's worth considering the word "knew" in what Jesus said here. When we look up the word "knew" in the Bible, it is most often used in the context of extreme intimacy. For example, he "knew" her and she became pregnant with his child. The Bible uses this word to express something considerably stronger than awareness or familiarity.

Therefore, in the Bible, we should understand "knew" to be the highest level of intimacy possible -- and in the context of an exclusive love relationship. So if you want to go to heaven, it will require that extremely intimate ... and exclusive relationship between Jesus and you. Are churches passing that information along to those people are are newly "saved?"

For several years now, I've been deeply saddened by the prevalence of so many evangelists who tell people that all they have to do is "say a simple prayer." The Bible makes it clear that saying one simple prayer is not all you have to do. That's a good starting point. But if one goes no further than that, he or she may well live their lives under the deception that they are headed for heaven - without that actually being the case! As such, they are worse off than before. (See Zephaniah 1:5-6 above.)

So here's the thing ... our entire spiritual future rises and falls on just three things, according to the Bible. They are as follows:

1. Deep, exclusive intimacy with God.
2. Sincere efforts to obey God.
3. Consistent application to the end.

The greatest news is that if those three things are present, nothing can keep me out of heaven. Not my sin, not my failures or fears or weaknesses. Why? Because these three (3) things are the perfect evidence of the salvation that I can't lose.

So my deep sadness is that people are being "led to Christ" by sincere Christians who themselves are sincerely wrong. And if what we tell the "newly saved" is wrong, then it seems possible that they may perish. Only God knows of course. But the Bible makes it clear that our teaching should be sound. It must be accurate. God will decide what to do in the end, but He asks us to be diligent and focused on accurate teaching of His truth.

When someone gets "saved," we must take the responsibility of shepherding them into that exclusive love relationship with God. We must teach them God's will for their lives, and teach them to obey Him. Finally, we must encourage them to consistently apply themselves to that relationship and doing His will.

So how about it, churches and Christians in America? Are we doing that?

Final Judgment?

Do you ever think about the Biblically referenced judgment day? It's spoken of in several books of the Bible. Most of us would understand that there's a day coming when some sort of judgment will occur. Christ will return to judge the world.

Who is it that we think He will judge? I suspect that most of us walking around calling ourselves Christians - calling ourselves "saved" - wouldn't see ourselves on the receiving end of that judgment. Is it because we think we'll all just slip in the VIP entrance to heaven, while Christ stands outside and judges everyone else?

Ask people what it means to be saved. Most will tell you it means that their sins are forgiven through the acts and life of Jesus Christ. That of course would be true. But is that the whole story? I doubt it.

2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." Look at that sentence. Dissect it. Notice words like "all," and phrases like "each one," and "good or bad." Those seem like pretty all-encompassing words. They seem to indicate that everyone who has ever breathed life will be included in this judgment exercise. They foretell an event where everything that every one of us has done, thought, said, believed, supported, enabled, etc. will be reviewed ... regardless of whether it was good or bad.

Perhaps you've never lived an examined life. Nevertheless, this Word from the Lord indicates that Jesus will be examining it for you. No, He's not coming just to judge those who are still rebelling and stuck in their sin because they refused to turn to Him during their time on earth. It seems He's going to get out the books and take a thorough inventory.

Now Jeremiah 31:34 tells us, "... 'they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD. 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.'" Modern day Christians seem to think that God is forgetful. We think this means the sin is wiped from God's memory banks and is beyond His recall. But look again. That's not what it says. Remembering our sins no more is different than forgetting them, or losing the ability to recall them. Make no mistake about it - God does not forget our sins. Even though they may be forgiven, they are not beyond His recall.

So doesn't this seem like a conflict? How do we reconcile forgiveness of sins (which occurs now) with the coming judgment? Revelation 20:11-12 describes this coming judgment event like this. "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened."

Did you catch that? The books (plural noun) were opened. What books? Why were they opened? Folks, these are the books that contain a record of all we did, good or bad. When God said, after forgiving our sin, that He would remember it no more, this is where He put it. Our sin is in God's records vault, being held for that final examination that we all face.

Let's see what happens next as Revelation 20:12-15 continues. "Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ... and each person was judged according to what he had done. ... If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Are you following this? The books (plural noun) are opened to reveal everything about us and the life we lived on this earth. All of it is examined and made known. Everything I've ever done in secret? It becomes very public information - known to all! The one book of life (singular noun) is opened. It contains the names of everyone whom Jesus has saved. If my name is in that book, it cancels everything attached to me in all of the other books. But if my name isn't in that book, the other books speak for me. (Yikes!)

I read an article a few months ago. I think the author titled it something like, "Whatever happened to sin?" He said that even Christ-followers seem to act as if sin doesn't exist. It was this author's opinion that we've forgotten about the significance of sin. We behave as if we don't have to worry about it. Our lives seem to indicate a belief that because we're (supposedly) saved, we can do anything. After all, my sins are all forgiven - past, present and future. Right?

Since I've read that article, I've thought a lot about it. I think the author was right. I see too many of us walking around, calling ourselves Christ-followers, with sin that's ongoing. Said differently, we don't look any different than the world around us. Our sin is just as prevalent as the sin of non-believers (the "unsaved"). Are we really naive enough to think that just because we're saved by the blood of Christ that our sin doesn't matter?

The Apostle Paul told us in Romans 14:10-11 that "... we will all stand before god's judgment seat. ... each one of us will give an account of himself (or herself) to God." Paul also told us (in Romans 6:1-2 and 15) that we not to keep on sinning. He said that sin matters ... even for people who are saved. Did you know that? Ask yourself why it matters. If my name in the book of life can cancel my name and all I've done in all the other books that will be opened --- then why does sin matter any more (once I'm saved)?

Could it be that we've misconstrued the meaning of salvation? Could it be that we've missed the point of God's forgiveness of sin? Is it possible that we've justified our sin with God's forgiveness so that we don't have to deal with it?

Whatever happened to sin? The question is worth answering. Even for Christians.

Loss of Salvation

I do a lot of discipling. It's a process where people who are seeking to grow spiritually seek out others who can help them. I'm one of those they seek out. While we might think that most everyone has a different path of spiritual growth (and perhaps they do), there are some common themes. They keep coming up, with a majority of the people I'm talking to. One is knowing God's will. People earnestly seek to know what God's specific will for their life is. The other is the security of their salvation. It's what I'm going to talk about today.

"I'm not sure I'm saved." It's a common statement, especially among people who are finally overcoming the false belief that they are "basically a good person." They are confronting the fact that their sinful bent is insidious, pervading all aspects of their being. It haunts them. It makes them fret and worry. They want to be saved (from their sins). They understand the punishment of sin is an eternity burning in what the Bible calls the "fiery pit of burning sulphur." They want to be certain that they aren't headed there.

The popular doctrine of many Christian religions (like the Baptists) is that you cannot lose your salvation. I wrestled with that for years. I wanted to be sure I was saved. I finally came to the understanding --- where the Holy Spirit led me --- that whether or not I could ever lose my salvation wasn't the right question to ask. A better question to ask was whether or not I ever had my salvation in the first place. A lot of people "get saved." They make a one time decision for Christ. Many can pinpoint the precise day they did. And yet they wonder. Popular theology will simply say it's the devil attacking their peace and serenity. "Once saved, always saved," is a common theme to that theology. Or is it?

Look at what Jesus has to say in the Gospel of John 15:1-3, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, ...." He continues in John 15:6, "If anyone does not remain in me he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; ..." And then Jesus concludes His point with some fairly clear words. John 15:10, "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love ..." and John 15:14, "You are my friends if you do what I command." Are you getting the picture here? Do you see what Jesus is saying to us?

Many of us want to believe the "once saved, always saved" theology. We'll argue that it's Biblical (and it is). However, there is far too little attention being paid to the definition of "saved." Jesus said that in order to be "saved" all one needs to do is to believe on Him. However --- and this is a big however, He clearly defined believing in Him. According to Jesus, those who truly believe will obey. Those who obey will naturally be pruned (by God) and produce fruit (e.g. be vessels of God's will.)

So my dear friend, if you are wondering about your salvation, wonder about your obedience. It is the clearest sign of the true faith in Him that Jesus says is required for entrance to heaven. I can't believe one day, and then not believe the next day --- with an expectation that my salvation is secure. I can't make a one-time "decision" for Christ --- and then go out and live like a heathen with an expectation that my salvation is secure. But when our obedience is sure, then our salvation is surely secure!