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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
"I Know I'm Saved . . .I Just Know It"
Having confidence in salvation can be good—or bad. Paul, in a final inspired statement, declared:
- “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing,” 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
Just how sure are you that you are in the right way, on the way to heaven? Could you say what Paul said? Is it possible for anyone to “know” they are saved? Or must we live always in doubt, never able to have the assurance of the forgiveness of God? Men in history have declared their doubts, their fears on this subject. Criminal attorney Clarence Darrow wrote:
“Life is like a ship on the sea, tossed by every wave and every wind; a ship headed for no port, having no harbor, with no rudder, no compass, no pilot, simply floating for a time, then lost in the waves.”
What a sad perspective, with no hope. Bertrand Russell, a renowned skeptic, had a similar view:
“The life of man is a long march in the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, toward a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long.”
Where do you fit into this issue? Are you with Paul—or with Darrow and Russell? What assurance do you have? And, is that assurance based on the Bible, God’s Word? Or is it just a “feeling”?
Some have a false assurance
Claiming assurance is not the same as having real assurance. The same Apostle Paul quoted previously later told King Agrippa he had been mistaken:
- “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,” Acts 26:9.
Paul just “knew” that killing Christians was pleasing to God. But he was dead wrong, and he made it right by becoming Jesus’ disciple.
Perhaps some of us are full of false confidence, having convinced ourselves that we are ready to meet the Lord. Jeremiah the prophet told Judah:
- “The way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,” Jeremiah 10:23.
By God’s inspiration, Solomon wrote:
- “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,” Proverbs 16:25.
We have all been “certain” of some things, only to find later that we were mistaken. We can’t afford to be mistaken about our eternal destiny! There must be a standard, a means by which we can have the kind of assurance the apostle Paul had—and there is, the Bible, God’s divinely inspired Word! See John 12:48.
We cannot know we will stay true to God, nor can we know how we will deal with future temptations. However, we can take God’s Word—the Bible—and compare our life, our “conversion” with what God has commanded therein. There we will discover how we stand in our relationship with God. John wrote:
- “Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him,” 1 John 2:3-5.
Compare your life with the Bible’s instructions, lest you have a false assurance. See if your “conversion” is in harmony with New Testament conversions in the book of Acts. Don’t depend on feelings and emotion.
How did Paul gain such assurance?
Paul was assured of his eternal destiny at the end of his life because he had finished his course. He had “kept the faith.” There had been many trials, many temptations to go back to his old way of life. Instead, he “fought a good fight,” beating back each of Satan’s assaults. He ran the entire race. He resisted Satan, and he won the victory. You and I can do the same, but we must let God’s Word be the judge, not our own feelings. Isn’t it about time man learned what God’s Word says about becoming a Christian? A crown of life awaits those who seek the truth and obey it, John 8:32, 17:17. Will you seek that way of truth? Will you live by it? That is the only way we can have God’s “Blessed Assurance.”
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“Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud—and the only murmur is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word. But in the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.”
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A Strange Marriage
It was a wonderful wedding ceremony. Bob and his new bride, Jennifer, are now in their car alone after having dodged the flying rice. As the car pulls away, Jennifer says, “Okay, you now can take me home.” “Home?? We haven’t even started the honeymoon!” Bob replied. Jennifer looks at Bob and says, “I am happy that we are married, and I am proud to wear your name – but I want to go back and live at my old apartment. I’ll try to get by to see you at least once a week. I know we are now married, but I plan to keep things as they were before – I really do not want you interfering in my life. You realize, of course, that if I am sick or need some money – I’ll call on you at once, after all, you are my husband. I am thankful that you are my husband, but I must go my own way. Please do not interfere.”
This would be quite a strange marriage, to say the least. It is very strange and sad that some hold Jennifer’s view of marriage with regard to their relationship to our Lord.
We are, as children of God, “the bride of Christ.” Paul declared, “For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to [married – KJV] another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom. 7:2-4). As Christians we are married to Christ.
We are appalled at Jennifer’s view of marriage, and we feel sorry for Bob. There are many today who call themselves Christians, having taken on the name of Christ, who then treat our Lord just as Jennifer treated Bob. Many are saying, “Lord I am happy that we are united, and I am proud to wear your name – but I want to go back and live the way I did before becoming a Christian. I’ll try to come to the morning worship services, provided I have nothing better to do. I know we are now to have a special relationship, but I plan to keep things as they were before – I really do not want You interfering in my life. You realize, of course, that if I am sick or need some money – I’ll call on you at once. After all, you are my Savior. I am thankful that you are my Lord, but I must go my own way. Please do not interfere.”
The words of Jehovah, through the mouth of Jeremiah, come to mind, “Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you” (Jeremiah 3:14). Are we treating our Lord with the respect that He is due? Do we realize the privileges we have in wearing Christ’s name? Are we being a loving “bride of Christ” or, are we like Jennifer in her treatment of Bob?
We are to give our Lord our very best. Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). We must treat our Lord with proper respect – giving Him the love and devotion that He deserves as our husband. Please, let us not treat our Savior in this way. Love the Lord as you would love and treat you own spouse. How are you treating the Lord?
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