As a pastor, I cannot count the number of folks who have come to me over the years for counsel explaining to me, “I just want to make sure I’ve done the right thing. I prayed the prayer, and I got baptized, but I’m not sure I really understood it at the time. I did believe, but I’m not sure that I believed enough. I want to be sure that I said the right thing.”
Do you know what the problem is with this? These people still think their salvation is dependent on something they do. They want to be sure that they prayed the prayer the right way. They want to be sure that they got baptized the right way and that the preacher used the right words as he baptized them. They want to be sure that they understood enough. Jesus said:
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure.” Luke 10:21
Some of the most clearly regenerate saints I’ve had the privilege to baptize had Down’s syndrome and other kinds of mental retardation. Jesus never said, “You must become like a PhD in order to inherit the kingdom of God.” He said, “You must become like a child.” (Mark 10:15)
Salvation is not about how deep your theology is. It’s about who you trust. If you think you know enough, you’re wrong. You’ll never know enough.
Jesus cleans up our lives. This cleansing process is called sanctification.
Justification is the term that describes God’s gracious gift of forgiveness and right standing in His sight. It is a judicial term that means I am pronounced, “Not guilty.” It is “just as if I’d never sinned.”
Our justification is not based on anything we do for ourselves. I do not achieve my justification. I receive my justification. I do not partner together with God for my justification. He saves me.
I was dead. I was dead. DEAD. I had no hope. I couldn’t do a thing to save myself. When I was dead, He made me alive in Christ Jesus. He saved me.
The Galatians were told that they must not get circumcised, because they had bought into the idea that circumcision was something they could do to make themselves okay with God. The apostle Paul says, “No, absolutely not. It is essential that you understand that you have no hope except in Christ Jesus.”
Once you know that Christ is your only hope, you have a solid basis for hope. If it’s me and Jesus, I’m going to keep looking at the me part and thinking, I know Jesus is good, but I’m not sure about me. I’ve got problems.
Would you say the apostle Paul showed good evidence of knowing the Lord? Paul said:
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12
Paul had confidence of eternal life, because his confidence was in Jesus alone. Concerning this process of sanctification and getting to really know the Lord, Paul said of himself,
“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12
Our hope of eternal life is not based on our efforts. It’s not based on our knowledge. It’s based on God’s grace alone. Once I understand this, then I can rest in His grace. I can have confidence, because my confidence is in Him, not in me.
