Foundations of Faith
SALVATION (IV)
I remember reading somewhere that people who have doubts about their salvation probably are not saved. That is a potentially dangerous statement and must be clarified. There are several categories of doubts concerning one’s salvation that ought to be distinguished.
Doubts from not understanding the way of salvation. Often when I ask people if they have the assurance of going to heaven their answers express some doubt:”I hope so” or “I think so.” Upon further probing, it turns out that most of these people have never been instructed properly as to the way of salvation outlined in the Bible. Even though they may have heard about Christ dying on the cross for their sins, they have been depending upon their works, hoping that they will have enough good works to outweigh their bad ones on the final judgment day. In many cases, the doubting disappears when the way of salvation is clearly presented and is received in faith by the hearer.
Doubts from not feeling saved. I believe that many young people, as well as some older ones, experience doubts of this kind. I myself went through a period as a child around eight or ten years old when I very much wanted to be saved. I knew I was a sinner and I did not want to spend eternity in hell. I had placed my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who, I knew, had suffered and died for my sins. But I did not feel saved. I was looking within myself for some kind of feelings that would give me assurance that I really was saved. Finally, after a couple of years of constant worry, I was led by the Holy Spirit simply to rest on the certainty of God’s Word and promises. I knew I was trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation; the Bible states, “Whosoever believes in Him … has everlasting life” (John 3:16); therefore I had everlasting life! No doubt I had been saved all along, but I entered into the peace and joy of that salvation once I stopped looking within myself for feelings and started looking outside myself to the sure word of holy Scripture.
Doubts from hard questions by acquaintances. Many young believers have been challenged by friends, acquaintances, and school teachers with difficult questions concerning the Bible. For example, “How do you mesh the Biblical account of creation with scientific evidence? What about all the inconsistencies in the Bible? How could Christ be born of a virgin? What evidence is there apart from the Bible that Christ rose from the dead?” Being new in the faith and not well instructed in the Scriptures, the young people allow these difficult questions to throw them into confusion and doubt.
A Bible teacher once wrote about the doubts he experienced as a young Christian because of difficult questions people threw at him. He was delivered when these words from the Bible came home forcefully to His soul:”Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). If one of our readers is experiencing doubts and questions about the Bible, let those doubts drive you to the Word of God, not away from it. Read it over and over, memorize it, meditate upon it.
The Bible teacher just mentioned writes about a college student who challenged him during a youth conference. The student threw all the questions at the teacher that had crippled the teacher’s own faith years before. The teacher did not argue with the student, but after each question said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Read the book of Romans [or some other appropriate portion of the Bible].” The student responded to the teacher’s challenge and within months became a believer himself.
Doubts from satanic harassment. There is another kind of doubting that I will introduce by way of an illustration. A Christian lady who had been serving and worshipping the Lord for most of her life told me about something that was greatly upsetting her. An incident that she had totally forgotten for the past 60 years suddenly came into her mind. It was the memory of a sin she had committed as a teenager. Because of this memory she began to be plagued with questions and doubts about whether she had ever been really saved.
Others have told me about being plagued with questions that keep coming into their minds, such as:”What if God doesn’t really exist after all?” “What if the Bible is only a bunch of myths?” “What if this life is all there is?” Still others have experienced ugly, blasphemous thoughts about God popping into their head. As a result of such thoughts going through their heads they begin wondering if they have lost their salvation or if they were ever really saved.
As already brought out in the Aug95 issue, all Christians have an enemy named Satan who tempts and harasses them. If Satan cannot keep one from becoming saved by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will do his utmost to keep that person from enjoying his/her salvation. One of Satan’s methods is to whisper negative thoughts and doubting questions into the believer’s mind so that the person will begin to doubt his/her salvation. For this reason, one of the pieces of armor that God has graciously given to each of His children is “the helmet of salvation” (Eph. 6:17). We put on that helmet by keeping fresh in our minds and memories those scriptures that speak of the assurance of our salvation.
Satan would occupy us with negative and doubting thoughts. We can counteract these by focusing on the clear, definite, positive statements and promises of Scripture, such as the following:”He who believes on the Son has everlasting life” (John 3:36). “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). “The blood of Jesus Christ … cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
If you have come to Christ, placing your faith in His sacrificial death on the cross for your salvation, do not be surprised if at times you experience doubts about your salvation. This shows that Satan is busy trying to draw you away from your Saviour. Just remember to put on “the helmet of salvation.” Remember too that “greater is He [Christ] who is in you than he [Satan] who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Running the Race
Assignment 7: Write out at least four verses in John 6 containing promises that give assurance of salvation.