Been There, Done That

For Christians we have biblical certainty that those who are in God's hand cannot be removed (John 10:27-29). We have absolute assurance that He "is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy" (Jude 1:24). These texts and many others are clear that if we are one of His own, it is a sure thing that we will remain so. But ... how many of us have wondered, "Am I really saved?" Why? Well, almost without fail, it's because we all struggle with sin. Often repeated sin. "I just repented of that last week and here it is again." There is not one of us who does not sin and we hate it ... and do it again. So we may well ask, "Do I actually belong to Him, or am I fooling myself?" And it's not a bad question. Paul told us to "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!" (2 Cor 13:5). Jesus warned of those who thought they were His but weren't (Matt 7:21-23). It happens. So we should ask. But, what if we ask and come to the conclusion that we are trusting Christ alone for our hope of salvation and can do nothing else? What do we do then?

Paul experienced the same issue. Yes, the Apostle Paul. "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate," he wrote (Rom 7:15). "I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom 7:22-23). Have you experienced that? (Be assured. Every true believer has.) Paul cries out, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Rom 7:24). Note his answer to himself. "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). Did you catch that? He isn't expecting perfection in this life, although he is striving for it (Php 3:12-14). He doesn't think that he will arrive at it in his lifetime. Neither his "proof of salvation" nor his comfort despite his failures don't lie in sinless perfection. His hope lies in the absolute assurance that there is no condemnation when you belong to Christ.

I would be surprised (and a bit skeptical) if you, too, had never experienced this questioning. I think the realization that we are not free of sin and cannot seem to get free of sin and we hate it is the universal experience of all true believers. In fact, I see it as an evidence of faith, since those who don't know God don't have the same Spirit in them convicting them of sin. So I want to remind you. We are not saved by attaining perfection. We are saved by being in Christ Jesus. In Christ, we no longer have condemnation ... even if we condemn ourselves. If we confess our sin, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin ... and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness -- past, present, and future (1 John 1:9). Our salvation isn't reliant on us; it depends on Him. Our perseverance is not our doing; it's His (Php 2:12-13). And we can rest fully in Him knowing that He is able even though we know we are not.