Am I Really Saved?
I read a statement that rocked me....“Will we be satisfied with only a partial transformation or will we be so captivated by who He is that we will allow Him to KILL everything in us that would keep us from becoming a MATURE manifestation of Christ”. Dang….That's the million dollar question.
Over the past 40 years that I have been saved I have seen a lot in the body of Christ that has disturbed me, umm yea… but none so much as this current trend, a trend Jesus foretold in Revelation 3 as He says 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Pretty strong language; I believe it is pretty evident what He means. He would rather you be unsaved than think you are saved and lukewarm.
The current idea of salvation today has become very skewed from the biblical salvation we read about in scripture. Today if you say you believe Jesus died for your sins and repeat a prayer you are told you are saved. The Word itself says that demons believe Jesus is the son of God and tremble but I think you would agree they are far from saved. The devil believes in the lordship of Jesus but will never see heaven. To be saved we must repent, or turn and go in the opposite direction that we were going.
So what are we really telling people when we offer them this type of salvation? We are telling them that if you simply acknowledge Jesus and ask Him into your heart you will get to go to heaven. According to scripture nothing could be farther from the truth. In the Bible the word "believe" carries with it the meaning of action. It is far more than a mental acceptance of the facts about Jesus; it is a complete yielding of ourselves to Him, a complete giving of our lives and our wills. You no longer belong to you, your life, your desires, your will are given to Him. Jesus stated Himself that He came to do the Fathers will and not His own.
When someone is truly saved there will be evidence of that decision. A total transformation should take place on the inside of us that changes our actions. James 2:14 and 17 state “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
I am not simply talking about doing good things. You don’t have to be saved to do good things. Salvation changes the “why” we do them.This complete transformation does not take place overnight, but as we renew our minds through the Word of God everything about us should change. The way we dress, what we watch on TV, how we spend our money, how we treat people, everything.
I have seen so many people who have confessed salvation go on with their lives and nothing ever changes. They still participate in the same activities as the world does but go to church on Sunday and think they have become a Christian. This is NOT salvation but another gospel, a gospel designed to make you feel good, and believe you are saved, but produces no results.
Real salvation REQUIRES something from you....everything! Jesus was our example, He laid His life down for us. After the apostles were born again they turned the known world upside down and changed the face of this globe. What are most of us as today’s "Christians" doing in this world?
Being raised in a church does not make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car. Saying a prayer does not make you a Christian any more than repeating the national anthem makes you an American. Real salvation causes us to fall in love with Jesus to the extent that we are willing to give everything to Him. We must let Him transform us to our core so when people see us all they really see is Him. Like John the Baptist prayed, we must decrease that He might increase.
Jesus states Himself in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who DOES the will of my Father. Many will say to Me in that day (when we stand before Him) Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never KNEW you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
Salvation is about KNOWING Him....intimately, it's about a relationship. That requires TIME spent with Him alone in prayer, in His word, at His feet. If you are married and you only spend an hour on Sundays sitting with your spouse how long do you think that marriage will last? Marriage by design is a partnership, a relationship, it requires conversatiion, intimacy and sacrifice to be healthy. You can not know God spending an hour on Sundays in church. That's not a relationship with Him. That is a religious act performed to make us feel good about ourselves.
We must examine ourselves...do we really know Him, are we really serving Him or are we serving ourselves in His name?