Rescued 1 (of 5) – was saved – assurance

The story is told of the salvation army girl who asked the Anglican Bishop if he was saved. His response was to ask “Do you mean was I saved, am I being saved, or will I be saved?” Indeed there are three aspects to our salvation and we will be looking at them briefly over the next few days. So this morning, “was saved.”

It never ceases to amaze me, how few people really understand the gospel. At a recent Memorial service for a friend who died I was hearing “I hope she is in heaven.” Ruth knew she would go to heaven when she died, not because she was good, not one of us is that good deserving of heaven! No, she knew because she had received God’s salvation as a gift. In the words of Paul “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

There are many things to say about this, let me mention a couple. Since a holy God has to be just, He can be both just and merciful by sending Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross (1 Peter 3:18). One of the reasons He does this is to set us free from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15), and to set us free to do our very best (see tomorrow's post). It seems worth mentioning that many of us are in denial about our fear of death, but I digress!

In order to be set free from this fear, we need assurance. John tells us that many of the things which are written in the Scriptures are written so that we may know that we have (present possession) eternal life (1 John 5:13; John 20:31). The one who has received Christ has in effect, already passed from death to life (John 1:12; 5:24). Part of what this means is that even in the here and now, we can begin to experience His life within us. But of course, this “was saved” is just the beginning. And in order to enter into the experience of His life in the here and now, we have a part to play. It is not automatic! Stay tuned.

Father, I thank You for reminding me again of these foundational truths. When life gets hard, remind me again and again that my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life (Luke 10:20), and also that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8: 18). Lord, I too often lose this perspective, but thank You that You bring me back to it again and again in Jesus Name Amen