This article is for all who have obeyed the gospel by putting their faith in Jesus and being baptized into his death. Do you really believe that you are saved?
The singular message of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation is that God is at work to save you and me from the consequences of our own sin. Yep, that’s really what the entire book is all about.
Why does God want to save us? Well, he assures us it cannot be because we are good. Jesus said there is none good but God (Matthew 19:16-17). He also said we cannot earn salvation since he clearly taught that even when we have done all we are commanded to do we are still unprofitable servants (Luke 17:7-10).
Listen up! God saves us from the punishment we deserve because he is God. It really is that simple. It is his nature to love us even as we are, and we base our faith in salvation on his divine love that we do not and cannot deserve.
Of course we cannot be worthy of what God does for us to save us. This is precisely the reason why he sent his only son to die in our place. God sent Jesus because he alone is worthy. It is about how great Jesus is, and not about how great we can be or how much we can do.
Trust God for your salvation. Stop trying to be good enough. To be sure, examine yourself to see that you are keeping the faith, but don’t confuse keeping the faith with living a perfect life!
Salvation is by faith, but the hardest thing to believe sometimes is that God really will save me and you as messed up as we are.
Do you condemn yourself? Even if you do, you have no right to do so and are not the judge. That’s Jesus’ place, not yours:
“Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things”, 1st John 3:18-20
God has not done for us what he has done and paid what he has paid so we could live our lives worrying and fretting over whether or not we are saved.
Rejoice! Live courageously in the peace that passes understanding!