BASIC DISCIPLESHIP PART I: CAN WE HAVE SECURITY OF OUR SALVATION?
TEXT: JOHN 1: 12-13
Definitely there are many things in our lives that we should be sure of, but none is more important than having the assurance of our salvation and eternal life.
Unfortunately when we go out to preach the word of God many times we meet people, and some of them Christians, when asked the question: If you died this day, where do you think your soul would go? To heaven or hell? The answer they give is: “That nobody knows” or “Only God knows where he is going to send me when I die” or “It depends on how I have lived, on the works I have done” etc.
The word of God shows us that we Christians CAN have assurance of our salvation, that is, if we can be sure of our eternal destiny (Philippians 1: 21-23).
The word of God teaches us that when a person repents and receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith as their Lord and Savior, ALREADY SAVES, does not tell us that one day he will reach salvation if he fulfills a process, if he fulfills norms or traditions, or if he maintains a sinless life, salvation is complete and finished and does not depend on the works we do (Ephesians 2: 8-9).
Let us respond this day through the word of God. How can we be sure of our salvation?
I) UNDERSTANDING THAT FROM THE MOMENT WE RECEIVED CHRIST, A NEW LINK BETWEEN GOD AND US WAS ESTABLISHED: NOW WE ARE HIS CHILDREN AND HE IS OUR FATHER (JOHN 1: 12-13 / Galatians 4: 6-7)
- We are children of our earthly father until he dies, we could leave the country, we could repudiate our father or stop recognizing him as such, and maybe never see him again or hear about him, maybe we could even stop thinking about him for the rest of our lives and We could even get to change our name and surname; but nothing would change the fact that he is our father and we are his children, and this is so because genetically there is an unbreakable link between us and our earthly father, his genes are in us.
- The same goes for our Heavenly Father, we can never reverse our spiritual birth, when we accept Christ as our personal savior we were born spiritually in his family and we belong to him forever, it is not a genetic relationship but spiritual, his Holy Spirit is in us to always, we will be children of God not until the day we die but for all eternity, the Lord has promised never to take us out of his family (John 6:37)
II) UNDERSTANDING THAT THE LIFE GOD HAS GIVEN US THROUGH JESUS CHRIST IS ETERNAL (JOHN 3:16 AND 35 / JOHN 5:24)
- Through Jesus Christ our God has given us eternal life, that is life that never ends, it is not about whether today I commit a sin, or if tomorrow I can sin, life God has given us is not under the earthly terms of yesterday, today and tomorrow, the life that God has given us is eternal.
- This eternal life does not depend on our works but on our faith (John 20:31). We
- do not receive this eternal life because we fulfill rules or precepts, or because we stop doing this or that, this eternal life is only received through Jesus Christ ( 1 John 5: 11-12)
- Eternal life is also a promise from the Father that is received through Jesus Christ, and we can feel confident and secure because God does not lie and always keeps his promises (1 John 2:25 / Titus 1: 2)
III) BELIEVING AND TRUSTING THAT OUR SALVATION IS INSURED BY THE POWER OF GOD NOT BY OUR HUMAN CAPACITY (JOHN 10: 28-29)
- The Christian who lives worried and struggling not to lose his salvation is because he does not believe in the word of God or does not trust in the power and promises of God.
- The Christian does not have to fight to try to maintain his salvation, he does not have to live in worried fear if he is saved or has lost his salvation, the true believer is kept in two hands: The hands of Christ and the hands of God the Father and nobody can snatch it from there.
- The Word of God declares that when we are children of God nothing and no one can separate us from God and his love for us (Romans 8: 38-39)
- God knows that we are saved but we are still sinners and that is why his work in us will be perfect until we are in his presence (Philippians 1: 6)
IV) WE CAN BE SAFE OF OUR SALVATION AND THAT WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD BY THEIR DISCIPLINE IN OUR LIFE (HEBREWS 12: 6-8)
- If a person practices sin, that is to say he lives in sin without suffering the discipline and punishment of God It does not mean that he has lost his salvation but that it is a manifestation that was never saved.
- The true son of God is disciplined and punished by God when there is sin in his life, when there is no repentance in his heart, if the Christian is rebellious and does not repent as we see in Corinthians 5: 5 where we are told about a man Christian who was living openly in sin and Paul says: “He is given to satan, to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
CONCLUSION: The Christian can not boast himself of his salvation, can not say that he will be saved thanks to his life of holiness, nor for the amount of fasts he did, nor for the type of clothing he used, nor for the services and vigils those who attended. The Christian must recognize that he is saved only by the grace and mercy of God, and must glory only in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1: 30-31)