“When did you get saved?” “I got saved when I . . . ” Perhaps we have heard, asked or said such statements and questions. The problem is how can one get something that is not theirs to get or give? One cannot “get” saved. Salvation is a gift given by Jesus, the One who earned it and gives it. To claim any part in “getting” saved is to claim something that is not ours to claim.
So, how do you know you are saved? I know I am saved when I point to Jesus, not to self. It is all a matter of who is running the show, who is running the verbs. Am I running the show or is God running the show?
I got saved when I made a decision for Jesus, when I dedicated my life to Him, when I made Him the Lord of my life, when I felt like I was saved. All these statements point to self and we can never be sure of self. How do I know I made the right decision or that I dedicated my life enough or was sincere enough, and what happens when I do not feel so saved? Uncertainty abounds.
I know I am saved because at my baptism God using the hands of the pastor, put water on my head and using the voice of the pastor spoke, His name on me. I know I am saved because Jesus chose me from before the foundations of the earth were laid. I know I am saved because Jesus lived a perfect, obedient life for me and then took my sins and paid the price for my sins on the cross. I know I am saved because God wrote His name on me at my baptism. I know I am saved because Jesus wrote my name in the book of life. I know I am saved and I am certain because Jesus did and I can always be sure that when Jesus does something it is done.
“8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace is gift given with nothing on my part. Grace has no conditions, my doing anything. Grace is God gives and I am given to and when God is the one doing the doing, I am most certain that He has done it right. Certainty abounds.
36 of 52 © Rev. Dr. Ronald A. Bogs (2018)
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