If I should ask you, “Are you alive?” you would not answer, “I guess so” would you? You would know surely that you were living. There are some things that it is foolish to be in doubt about. It is one of these things that we are going to talk about today, and yet there are many people who are not sure about it. Perhaps you are not sure yourself, but when we finish the lesson, you will be.
If I should ask you, “Are you saved” what would be your answer? Many people would say, “I hope so” or “I am trying to be” or “I hope someday I shall be” But those are all very foolish answers. You and I are going to find out why. For no one who knows the Bible could give an uncertain answer. Every Christian should have full assurance. Full assurance is the certainty that you are saved. Are you certain that you are saved, or are you a “guess so” Christian? We will look at what God’s Word says, to find out why and how we are certain of our salvation.
The first thing we need to know is how we are saved. Can you tell me and give me a verse for it? Are we saved by good works? Look up Ephesians 2:8-9. In these verses we see that our works have nothing at all to do with our salvation. We are not saved by what we do, but by what Christ did. When the Philippian jailer asked Paul what to do in order to be saved, he did not say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and go to church,” or, “Believe and be good,” or “Believe and pray.” He just said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” There is no AND about salvation. Now let me ask you three questions. 1. How can you be saved? (Acts 16:31) 2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? 3. Are you saved? You see the only answer you could give is Yes, for God says if you believe you are saved. If you say you are not, you are making out that God does not tell the truth.
The reason why we are saved only by believing that Christ died for us on the cross, is that when He died, he FINISHED the work of salvation. Do you remember the story of that dark hour when Christ died? Do you remember those words that He said then? They were very important. We will read them in John 19:30. "It is finished,” were His words. He meant that the great work of salvation was all done. In John 17:4 we find the same words. Now look up Hebrews 1:3. There we find that He purged (or washed away) our sins by Himself. He did not need any help. He did it by dying on the cross for us.
It is because of this that we are so sure we are saved. We believe that He did die for us, and it is by His dying, and nothing else that we are saved. So we have full assurance that we are saved, because Christ finished the work of salvation on the cross.
STUDY QUESTIONS
- Can we be certain that we are saved? How?
- How are we saved, is it be our effort/works or grace?
- Why is this distinction important?