© 05 Colin Melbourne
Part 1 of 4
God wants you to be absolutely certain that you are saved right now. He wants you to be free of doubt about your salvation, so that you can stand confident before Him today, tomorrow, and forever.
The keys to assurance of salvation
The LORD Jesus Christ has provided the only way for you to be at peace with God. The Lamb of God was sacrificed so that you can be assured of a place in Heaven and know you will never be condemned.
What He did for you is; perfect, complete, and finished. You cannot add to it, improve it: Nor ever deserve it. Salvation is a gift that you receive by God’s grace, and everyone who asks receives.
If you are not 100% sure of your righteousness before God, keep reading, do what God says, and you will have divine righteousness, joy unspeakable, and peace that passes all understanding.
- Make sure you do what God says you must do to be saved. Not what theologians say: What God says.
- Make sure you have the Bible evidence that proves you are saved.
- Make sure you don’t fall from grace: Into works and legalism.
Do what God tells you to do to be saved
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ro. 10:9-10,13 Holy Bible, KJV
Note: Lord here means Almighty God. We know because verse 13 is a quote from Joel 2:32, which uses the Hebrew name for Almighty God: YHWH, for LORD. (pron. “Yay-Ho-Vah” or “Jehovah” in English. The Greek word used is Kurios.) So confessing ‘Jesus is Lord’ shows that the believer believes that Jesus is Almighty God in the Flesh. (Jn. 1:1,14)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Jn. 5:24 KJV
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Jn. 6:47 KJV
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Ac. 10:43 KJV
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Jn. 3:16 KJV
Salvation comes by heart faith in the LORD Jesus Christ: Repentance from unbelief in Him saves you.
Repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mk. 1:15 KJV
Faith Alone: By Grace Alone
People want to earn their salvation, but you cannot. Jesus said that the only ‘work’ God requires is this:
This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Jn. 6:29 KJV
Assurance of salvation is given only on the basis of God’s grace to those sinners willing to repent and have faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. That is why the Holy Spirit wrote to born again believers:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph. 2:8-9 KJV
That’s not hard work: it’s no work at all. Just trust that Christ did enough to make you blameless before God.
Cults like to pervert the word of James and usually interject at this point:
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas. 2:24 KJV
They claim this proves that works are essential for salvation. If so that would contradict the Gospel of God’s grace. No! The Holy Spirit was simply contrasting real living faith with dead useless faith. You can see genuine saving faith by its fruit, the works done in gratitude to Christ. The works do not save, it is the source of the works, faith in Christ which saves, because it is genuine living faith. The works prove the faith is living. It is the root, not the fruit, that saves.
What do you have to believe in your heart?
That Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, in other words: Almighty God (YHWH) Jehovah in the Flesh. He always claimed it, and countless scriptures prove it (Jn. 12:41+45; Is. 6:5; Jn. 1:1+14; Rev. 1:8, Rev. 22:13+16; Is. 48:12; Lk. 6:5; Jn. Ch 8, Col. 2:9, etc.), one of my favourites is Christ’s dire warning:
I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Jn. 8:23-24 KJV
Remember this is God speaking, declaring Himself to be Jehovah, YHWH in the Flesh. It is even more powerful than the KJV translators made it. They (rightly) added the word ‘he’. Christ actually said:
…for if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.
Even more plainly, later on in the same encounter, the KJV correctly translates Christ’s words in Jn. 8:58 KJV;
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
YHWH means I AM.
Jesus was telling those unbelieving Jews they were looking straight at Jehovah God.
If Christ be not risen
To be saved you must also believe in your heart that Christ was raised from the dead. His resurrection proves many vital Gospel facts: that He is God, and never sinned, that He paid your debt, conquered death, sin, and Satan for you.
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Ro. 4:25 KJV
The Two Keys
Repentance from unbelief in these two Gospel facts are the keys to salvation. That Jesus is YHWH, Jehovah God in the Flesh, and that He was sacrificed to pay your sin debt, being raised to life, fulfilling the Scriptural prophecies of the Messiah.
The instant you truly repent and believe these truths in your heart, proclaiming your faith that Jesus is LORD: God’s word says you are saved.
That was the message Paul preached when asked:
What must I do to be saved?
They replied; Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
Ac. 16:30-31
Notice: There are no rituals, rites, or sacraments involved in Scriptural salvation. No works to perform: Simply believe in Christ as Lord in your heart, and tell the world.
What About Repentance from Sin?
Oh this is such a precious truth to understand. Hordes of preachers have missed it. Religion programmes sinners to believe that giving up sinful habits will save them from God’s wrath. They say in their hearts,
‘I’ll quit fornicating, boozing, gambling, and lying, I’ll go to church, get baptised, read my Bible, and follow Jesus.’
Is that you? Listen; It’s false: utter vanity.
Repenting from such sin is wonderful and crucial, but don’t make the mistake of putting the cart before the horse. Salvation must come first.
The only repentance that saves is repentance from unbelief in Christ’s finished Sacrifice for you personally. This must come first. Once you’ve embraced that Gospel fact: God’s Spirit will enter your heart and break the bonds that keep you ensnared to sin, setting you free. It is happening to many of you as you read this. Only after you are saved can you repent from all other sin, because only then do you have God’s Spirit in your heart enabling you.
When anyone genuinely believes in their heart they will turn away from sin and follow Jesus, obeying His word not to merit salvation, but because they love Him for saving them.
Christ Alone
The cults object to the beautiful simplicity of God’s way to be saved. For example they twist God’s word to imply water baptism is essential for salvation. The Roman Catholic cult adds a whole raft of sacraments, rites and rituals before their doctrine begrudges the faithful a degree of ‘salvation’. They are demonic counterfeits easily exposed by a comparison with God’s word read in the Holy Spirit.
No, there’s absolutely nothing you can do to save yourself other than to trust completely in the finished Sacrifice of the Saviour on your behalf.
Believe that He did enough to make you righteous, justify you and bring you spotless into His presence forever.
Have you done that Beloved? Make sure you are Trusting in the Rock, and not building your hope on sand.
Part 2: How to be sure you are saved: Make sure you have the Bible evidence that proves you are saved.
© 05 Colin Melbourne