How To Know For Sure You Are Saved

Hi,

Today’s question from the Life Ignited Mailbag is:

“What text, what information is available that will give a person absolute assurance that his or her name is written in the “Book of Life?”

Here’s my answer:

Dear Book of Life Seeker, I am absolutely THRILLED you asked me this question.

All through my life I’ve heard people at church saying, “You shouldn’t say that you’re saved.”

Well, I’d like to respond to that kind of thinking by quoting the great theologian Ebenezer Scrooge who said, “Ba humbug!”

I have just the text for you—but since there’s a good chance you’ve heard it before, I’ll give you a Greek lesson, too.

Here’s the text:

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).

This is one of my father’s favorite texts and I heard him preach about it often—in fact, it was one of the first ones I learned as a kid growing up.

Okay, that’s the text, now here’s the Greek lesson:

The Greek suggests that this knowledge (the knowledge that you are saved) is intuitive and absolute—it implies FULL conviction.

Here’s the deal: God WANTS your name in the Book of Life—His greatest desire is for you to be with Him forever. And He wants you to KNOW that you’re saved so you can live daily with the confident assurance that you are His eternal child.

Excuse me for being so blunt, but anyone who says, teaches, writes or preaches differently, really doesn’t know what he or she is talking about.

But maybe you’re wondering why you can be so confident about knowing that you’re saved.

Well, if the status of your salvation was up to you then I’d say you have every right to be uncertain; but it isn’t.

Your salvation is based on God’s promise, not your performance.

His grace covers you the instant you receive it. And it nurtures and empowers you as you grow spiritually.

I’ll leave you with some words of Paul that are an encouragement to me:

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10).

Dedicated to Your Spiritual Freedom,

Lynell

PS—If you would like to leave a comment for Dear Book of Life Seeker, then please post a response below.

August 27, 2008 | Permalink | del.icio.us | StumbleUpon | | |