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For many years preachers confused me about salvation. There are so many different gospels being promoted. Some say by grace through faith, plus nothing, minus nothing. Others say you must believe and be baptized. Then some say you must believe then be baptized. You don*t have to be baptized, but they doubt your salvation if you won*t follow Jesus in this first step of obedience. After all, baptism is the entrance to the church, they say, and you can tell a tree by its fruit. Then some tell you that you must obey the law. Which one is true? They can*t all be right when they*re saying different things. It can send you spinning in bewilderment and leave you wondering in uncertainty until you understand right division (2 Tim. 2:15) of the word of truth. I thank God the answer came to me. I have often heard preachers question people as to when they were saved. I*ve heard songs about showing you the place and remembering the moment. As I*ve contemplated all that, I must admit that I don*t know exactly when I was saved. I grew up with Christian parents who took me to church (traditional, mainline denomination) where they were both faithful and active ever since I can remember. I attended church camp each summer. I was baptized as a child after a profession of faith. I had the knowledge that Jesus died to pay for my sins and rose again from my early childhood. When I became a teenager, I drifted slightly away from strict guidelines although I still held a much higher standard than most all of my friends. So when I weighed my values against theirs, I didn*t look so bad. This soothed my conscience for the time, but God'sword eventually proved me foolish. 2 (or 10:12, ‘For we dare not make ourselves alt he number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. After my mother*s repeated insistence that I wasn*t saved, I repented again. I started afresh as a young adult, newly married to David. We had some troubled times at first and weathered many storms. Sometime during the next four years, we both knew without any doubt that we had believed the gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ as payment for our sins. Now we are both so very happy together. We are thankful for the grace of God that we now know.As I reflect, I remember several pivotal points of my life. Maybe someday I *ll decide which one was the event of my salvation. But for now, it is sufficient that I know without any doubt that I am saved because I have believed God*s Word concerning Jesus Christ and me. So even though I won*t "nail a stake down" as many preachers insist, I am assured that I am saved. I*m not afraid to rest in the fact. I know the Spirit of God lives within me and has given me eternal life in God*s Son. Rom. 8.14-16, "For as many as are led by the Spirit a/God, they are the Sons a/God For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to/ear: but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba (Poppa), Father The Spirit itself bearetlt witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:" I know I*m His, and I*ll share His word with everyone who will listen. Praise His Holy Name! |
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