Can I Be Sure Of My Salvation?

Many Christians have the distressing experience at one time or another of doubting their salvation. Such doubts may surface after a time of separation from God, perhaps a lapse into sin, a time of personal crisis when God seems distant, or even after hearing a fervent sermon emphasizing God's judgment. For others, troubling doubts constantly fester just below the surface of their spiritual life. Yet God wants us to have the full assurance of salvation that comes from relying on his promises rather than on our own performance or emotions (Philippians 4:6-7).

To overcome these doubts one must begin with the most important fact about salvation: that it is God's gift to us (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is nothing we can do to earn it, and none of us is good enough to deserve it. God gives it to us freely when we confess our sin to him and ask Jesus to come into our lives as Lord and Savior. God is not just trying to manipulate or toy with people when he offers them his mercy and grace. He was serious enough about saving us to be willing to send his Son to die for our sins (John 3:16-17).

So when a Christian's assurance of salvation has been shaken, the first question to ask is whether he or she was serious in the decision to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. If a person was sincere in accepting God's gift of salvation at the time of that initial commitment, God is just as serious about welcoming him/her into a vital relationship with him as his child (John 10:27-29). We do not have to doubt our salvation, because it does not depend on us--it depends on God.

Often when people begin to doubt their salvation, what they are really doubting is their emotions. The joy of salvation may be expressed in terms of feelings, but the assurance of salvation is found in God's redemptive act in Jesus Christ. We are not saved by feelings, but by a Person. We can trust him even when our own faith is weak or when we have done wrong. The promise in I John 3:19-21 is very helpful at this point.

Another stumbling block seems to be the tendency to compare one's experience with that of others. When people hear others speak in glowing terms of their salvation experience or their personal, joyful communion with God, they sometimes wonder, "Why don't I have that kind of relationship? I don't sense God's presence or leadership on such an intense level. Does that mean that I really don't have the Spirit, that Christ does not really live in me? Am I really a Christian?"

When plagued by such doubts, we need to keep in mind the uniqueness of human personalities and relationships. One person may not relate to a spouse in exactly the same manner as others do with their mates. Why should s/he expect to relate to God just like someone else who may have a different temperament or background of experiences? We can affirm and celebrate the dynamic way God has revealed himself to another person without feeling that if our own experience is less dramatic, it is wrong or inadequate or even an illusion.

Many people worry about their initial salvation experience--Was I really saved then? Should I be baptized again? Such doubts are especially common in those who made their initial profession of faith at a very early age. Then the questions come, Did I really know what I was doing?

For others, doubt comes after a time of falling away from God. They fear losing their salvation because they think their sins will cause God to reject them. Somehow they have not understood that being a Christian does not mean that we will never again be tempted, that we will never sin or make mistakes. Of course we are to strive for purity, but we are still human and have to work at growing in Christ. I John 1:8-9 tells us how to deal with our times of failure.

The thing to keep in mind is that salvation is both event and process. We are saved at a particular point in time, when we realize our need, confess our sin, and turn to Christ. But we are being saved through the process of sanctification. This involves a constant recommitment and renewal of the relationship with Christ on a daily basis.

It is rather like a marriage: a couple are thoroughly married at the point when they say, "I do!" and the minister pronounces them husband and wife and signs the marriage license. But they really have no concept at that point of all that being married means. The newlyweds and the couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary are equally married in a legal sense, but in a relational sense, what a difference!

So we ought to be more trusting of those first tender responses to God's call, and not discount them because at that time we did not fully know what being a Christian really means. All Jesus said to his disciples was, "Come, follow me!" The criterion was not whether they experienced a certain emotion or said the right words or followed a specific formula. What made them a disciple was that they left their nets and followed him.

So anxious Christians should not be so concerned about whether they fit into a certain mold or formula prescribed by some religious rite. Nor should they burden themselves with guilt or anxiety about their mistakes or failure to maintain their Christian commitment.

Rather they should focus on the genuineness of their response in saying "Yes" to Christ's invitation, "Come, follow me." If we have committed ourselves--to the extent that we know ourselves and understand ourselves--to God as he has made himself known to us, we have his assurance of our security as believers. If we have sincerely asked forgiveness for our wrong choices, we can trust God's loving mercy toward us (Isaiah 55:7).

We can then involve ourselves in worship, study, prayer, ministry, and other activities that produce growth, resting on his power to do what he has promised. When doubts come, we can examine them carefully to see whether God is giving us a message about an aspect of our lives that needs his healing grace. We can do what is necessary to address that need, and then resolutely put away all anxiety and self-condemnation. We can be assured--

--If God is for us, who can be against us? Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son--will he not also freely give us all things?...For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below--there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:31-32, 38).