(Note: This Message contains basic descriptions of Faith, Belief and Actions, this is not meant to be a complete description, the depth of these things have been plumbed for centuries and the bottom not found. The basic descriptions are given to help answer the question.)
When wandering the halls of people’s conversation on the topic of Christianity, there are many and varied questions. Ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. But none of these questions get my attention as much as the query, Am I really saved?
To begin to answer this question, let us turn to what is unarguably the most well known scripture in the New Testament.
John 3:16 For God so loved the World that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever should believe in Him, should not perish but have everlasting Life.
While this one scripture could spurn many topics, the one we are interested in is this: Whosoever Should BELIEVE in Him, Should not perish but have EVERLASTING LIFE.
By this one Scripture we know that Salvation (everlasting Life) Is Gained by Believing.
So the Question Asked, “Am I really saved?” Is better asked, “Do I really believe?”
Because we know the Bible Promises are real and God honors all His Promises, so then if He promises us that If we Believe we will be saved, we know that is true.
So then what is Belief and what does it require. Belief, in its simplest Definition is Faith paired with Action.
Faith is a Gift of God (Ephesians 2:8) without which it is impossible to Please God (Hebrews 11: 6) But Faith cannot live alone, it must be accompanied by corresponding works (James 2: 17) Faith is the Ability to See what is unseeable, and to have evidence of an invisible God. (Hebrews 11:1)
God Provides Faith, but what do we provide. Action. It is the conjoining of these that cause belief.
Let Us take a couple of simplistic examples of “worldly belief” to demonstrate the interaction of belief and action.
Example 1: You are hiking through God’s creation and you find yourself under a very precariously balanced rock that you “believe” is going to fall.
The corresponding action to that would be:
A: Sit and wait for the rock to fall
B: Move quickly out of the way to avoid disaster
The answer is Obviously B If you truly Believed the rock was going to fall you would take the A train out of there.
Example 2: You are on your way to a Baseball game and you’ve just heard on the radio that the Local Ball team is going to give $100 dollars to the first 100 people to reach the stadium that day. Now if you believed this was true what would a corresponding action be?
A: Stop at Wendy’s on the way to the ballpark to save 3 dollars on Stadium food or.
B: Get to the Stadium as quickly as possible realizing that even paying the extra money at the ball park for food would leave you 97 dollars richer?
Again the Answer is Obvious, get to the stadium and score that Benjamin. ($100)
Now that we have looked at “worldly “Situations lets look at a Spiritual One.
Example: You’ve just accepted God’s promise that you would have Eternal Life, Peace Joy, Health, prosperity, and a place in His Kingdom (promises available to all Christians) By accepting him as your Lord at the Altar Call at a local Church (or privately in your own home). Now you are leaving Church and Going back home. Do you…
A: return to the Sinful Lifestyle that you left when you came to church.
Or…
B: Do you begin Changing your life that very moment and repent of your
Sinful ways and ask God to help you from that point live a new life that God has given you.
While the answer to this question seems obvious it is often the biggest stumbling block to all new Christians.
When we accept Christ as Our Lord we are given a New Life (2nd Corinthians 5:17) And with that new life comes a new lifestyle and a realization that you are not who you were before you came to Christ. That your friends will not look at you the same, that some of your habits cannot be the same. Every one who is saved, knows this, and knows they are saved.
So then whence comes the question, “Am I saved?” It might come from a lack of knowledge of the word, or a lack of understanding, these problems can be fixed by reading the bible.
But it may also Arise from the Person who at one point agreed that Jesus is Lord, but never made the Life change to accompany it, So their experience with “Salvation” is empty, they have no real contact with the Lord because their faith has Died by the Lack of a corresponding action (James 2: 17) and they are still in their sin.
So then the Answer to the Question of “Am I really saved?” is answered by the question, “Do you really believe?” and if you really believe then your life will show it.
Prayer: Father God I thank you for your wonderful salvation in my hearts and in the hearts of all the precious believers who might read this message. Father I ask that you bless these and confirm in your heart, either your existence or the path they need to follow to gain that confirmation. We bless you Lord and we Praise you.
In Jesus Name we Pray, Amen