Are You Saved?
Dear Friends,
Let’s start 2023 the right way, by making sure that we are saved!
A few decades ago, I was sitting on the beach, watching the surf when a young man approached me and asked, Are You Saved? I responded by asking him a question, saved from what? He look puzzled and said, by Jesus! This young man never explained what being “saved” meant, he simply said, by Jesus, and walked off. I wonder to this day if he was saved?
One of the most terrifying statements made by Jesus is found in Matthew 7:22-23,
“On the Day of judgement many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, did we not do many mighty works in your Name?
And I will say to them, I never knew you, depart from me…!”
What if, when we stand before Christ we were to hear those terrible words from Jesus? If we did, at that point, it’s too late, we will not be given a second chance, we will not wake up from this bad nightmare and we will be condemned for all eternity.
How can we know that we are saved?
Probably the most important question of our life!
In the 16th Century, the Protestant Reformers were asked this same question, “how can we know that we are saved?” Here was their reply;
The said there are three aspects to saving faith. (Forgive me, I must use Latin words here) the three aspects are:
1. Notitia 2. Assensus 3. Fiducia
1. Notitia refers to the content of the Gospel, what we believe. That Christ was born of a virgin, He lived a sinless life, and suffered on a cross in our place. He died, was buried and rose again on the third day. That He is alive in heaven and will return to judge the living and the dead and so on. This basic information is required to believe in order to be saved!
2. Assensus, this means you are convinced that the content above is true! Many people today know about the Gospel and the main aspects of the Christian faith, but are not saved because they don’t believe it’s true. Can you think of people like this? Before a person is saved he or she must hear the correct information about Christ (Gospel) and then must believe it’s true! This leads us to the most critical aspect of Saving Faith.
3.Fiducia, meaning that you personally trust Christ alone for salvation. Fiducia means total and utter reliance upon Christ, Alone!
This is where some of my religious friends fall short, for they believe their church is a part of their salvation. The Reformers said, if a person doesn’t trust Christ alone, but the church or their good works, if they add anything to Christ, they do not possess saving faith. Believing that the church will save us or that our good deeds will outweigh our bad deeds is not saving faith and will not save anyone.
We must trust in the life, burial, and resurrection of Christ alone to save us.
Again Matthew 7:22-23, “On that Day (Day of Judgement) many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your Name, and cast out demons in your Name, and do many mighty works in your Name? And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you, depart from Me…”
To keep from hearing this from Jesus, a person must hear the Gospel and then believe the Gospel is true, then put their full and complete trust in Christ Alone.
A person will only do this if they believe that they are sinful and in need of forgiveness. If you do this, then you are SAVED! You are a child of God and it’s impossible to lose your salvation! You and I will live in heaven with our Savior for all eternity.
Now That’s Good News!
