Have you been biting your fingernails lately, worried that you could lose your salvation? Worried that somehow you might be the one who falls between the cracks and misses heaven after all? Or perhaps you are worried that He is going to change His mind over you because you have really (!!!) failed.
I’m not resting on the degree of my faith or the depth of my belief in Christ for my salvation – I am resting on Christ Himself. I’m not going to heaven because I ‘feel’ saved today. Feelings can fluctuate like a yo-yo. I KNOW I am saved because the Word of God tells me that Christ died for my sins. Just because you don’t feel saved does not mean you aren’t saved. And just because a person feels saved, doesn’t mean they are saved. Feelings can be very deceiving.
Sometimes we dishonor and displease the Lord by giving in to temptation or by failing to walk closely with the Lord in our daily experience. Could I lose my salvation if I mess up really bad? Not according to the Bible.
Get anchored in this truth. “I am eternally secure in Christ. I can NEVER lose my salvation. It’s not my work that saved me. It is Christ’s work that saved me.” The anchor is your Bible. The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christians who had much sin and failure in their past:
That is why it is through HIM that we utter our
Amen to God for HIS glory.
And it is God who 1) establishes us with you in Christ,
and has 2) anointed us,
and who has also put
3) HIS seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as
4) a guarantee.
(2Corinthians 1:20-22 ESV)
In these verses there are four Divine works that distinguish every genuine believer.
1) God establishes us, firms us up, stabilizes us and gets us standing on the solid foundation – Christ.
2) Every Christian is anointed. That word is probably taken from the old commissioning service that set apart and identified the next king or prophet to lead the people. Christians are set apart and empowered by the Spirit of God.
3) The third Divine work that assures me of my salvation is that I am sealed! Now that is official! It’s one thing for a document to be signed but when it is legally sealed – it’s a done deal! (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30)The sealing of a document signifies at least four things: security; authenticity; ownership and authority. It’s quite something isn’t it!
4) You have a guarantee from God! The moment you trusted Christ the Holy Spirit came to dwell inside you and God has given Him as His pledge of your future inheritance in glory. The Holy Spirit within you is God’s down-payment or guarantee that the entire inheritance will follow. So He saves AND keeps!
When you make a down-payment on a purchase the storeowner knows you’ll be back! The storeowner is confident that the deal will go ahead and so are you. You can sleep well tonight because you know it will still be there for you tomorrow.
How much more security and assurance do you need! God is serious about you and your acceptance in Christ is already full and complete. God has no intentions of going back on His Word. The verse above says that all the promises of God find their YES in Him.