4 Ways We Can Be Sure of Our Salvation

We Didn’t Save Ourselves

The biggest and most compelling reason we can be sure of our salvation is that our salvation comes from and through Christ. We can’t save ourselves, and therefore we can’t ‘unsave’ ourselves. It can be tempting to believe that there are things that we can do or say to earn God’s favor or to also lose it. Yet this is a narrow view of what salvation really is, and the extraordinarily high bar that Jesus set for us when it comes to being saved.

Jesus presents us with things that we can do that will keep us from salvation, and the list is impossible to fulfill. In the Sermon on the Mount, he says that even having a thought of something sinful will subject us to judgment. This is seen in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.”

This can be seen again in Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”.

So according to Jesus himself, even our thoughts of evil are enough to condemn us before God and leave us incapable of saving ourselves. As we are fully dependent on Christ to secure our salvation, we are also dependent on Christ to sustain and keep our salvation.

We Must Be Born Again

So if we are born sinful, and even one sinful thought condemns us, it is clear that there is no way for us to save ourselves. Our salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone from Christ alone. Salvation, in its simplest definition, is being rescued from the sinful nature that we are all born with. It is this sin that separates us from God, and our salvation that restores our relationship with him. Since we are born in sin, the only alternative to living in sin is to be born again. This familiar concept is articulated in John 3:3 as Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Just as we have been born into sin, we must be reborn out of it. This comes from a conversation Jesus was having with Nicodemus, a teacher of the law and a devout man. He is surprised at this concept, and Jesus replies by telling him, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again”.

When we are born in the flesh, the sin of the flesh is active within us. When we are saved, we are born again, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit at work in us that gives evidence of this rebirth. We will never be able to remove every thought of sin in this life, but once we are born into the spirit, we cannot find the joy and peace of salvation by living in sin any longer.

We Are Secure in His Hand

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” - John 10:28

Jesus gives assurance that when we are saved, there is nothing that can be done to snatch us away from him. We know that God loves us, and it is not our own attempts to ‘do good things,’ but his great love that will keep our salvation secure. Eternal life is not something we earn, because we never could, but it is an all-surpassing gift that we have acknowledged and stand in awe of.

In Ephesians 1:13-14 Paul writes, “you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

To believe that we can lose our salvation through bad behavior or doubt is to believe that the Holy Spirit can unseal us, that we can unhear what we have heard, and that God can take back his deposit. God will not adopt us as children of the kingdom and then later remove all of it because we made a wrong decision.

We Can Boldly Declare and Believe

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” - Romans 10:9

This seems pretty straightforward, but it is simply evidence of salvation. If we have been saved from sin and death and accepted the gift of eternal life, it is assumed that we can boldly state that in our words and that our actions will give proof to what we believe to be true. There are many who will claim to be Christians, but in our culture that is easy to do without putting any actions behind it. Our salvation will be evidenced by not just what we say, but what we do with our lives and where we place our priorities.

Christ died to save sinners (I Timothy 1:15). Abraham, Moses, David, and even Peter made mistakes that they wanted to take back. God doesn’t make us perfect in this life, but he is sanctifying and perfecting us for the next. God was well aware in advance that we were undeserving of his grace, and that we would continue to make decisions that would go against all that we claim to believe. Yet when we are saved, why would we allow ourselves to become so complacent that we would go so far to deny God, and require him to ‘take back’ his salvation? We must repent of our sins and trust that his sacrifice on the cross is more than sufficient to cover our sins past, present, and future. Our salvation is not fickle and confusing, but it is solid and sure. We can be certain that Christ’s resurrection and the Spirit’s indwelling are a guarantee that the same victory over death is the future of all believers, and that there is nothing we can do or not do that will change his love for us. Glory be to God for his great salvation!

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/mbolina

Jason Soroski is a homeschool dad and member of the worship team at matthias lot church in St. Charles, MO. He spends his free time hanging out with his family, exploring new places, and writing about the experiences. Connect on Facebook or at JasonSoroski.net.