Many people spend a lot of time worrying about whether they are saved. Some believe that salvation involves a miraculous “better-felt-than-told” work of God within their fleshly heart, and they spend a lot of time trying to interpret past events in their lives to determine whether this work has been done. Others are sure it has not been done, and they become almost insane with fear that God has passed them by. These ideas are false and not only rob men and women of the joy of being a Christian but may actually keep them from being saved.<\/p>\n
We can be just as sure that we are saved as the Bible is God’s word and that God keeps His promises. Our certainty is based on our faith in His word.<\/p>\n
If a man goes to a bank to borrow one hundred dollars, the banker will give him a note to sign. The banker may say, “If you will sign this note and send it to me, I will deposit the money in your account.” When the man has complied with these conditions and is sure the bank has received the note, he will not hesitate to draw on the deposit. Faith tells him that the banker has done what he promised.<\/p>\n
Recorded in Mark 16:16 are these words of Jesus, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.<\/em>” When we have done these things, we can be sure of it because we have done what he commanded us, and we have enough confidence in him to be sure he will do what he promised.<\/p>\n After we become God’s children, we have another promise: “\u00a0If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have\u05f3 fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin<\/em>.” If I diligently study to see the light and then diligently walk in it, I can be sure he will forgive me of any further sins I commit through weakness or ignorance.<\/p>\n Faith in God’s promises is a firm foundation for our certainty of salvation. No other foundation can be trusted; others only deceive. For this reason, we must not depend on what others say. We must personally study the scriptures with great diligence to determine the conditions God has attached to his promises and be certain that we comply with each one to the best of our ability. Only then can we be sure that we are saved.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Sewell Hall via Gospel Guardian, 23 December 1965 Many people spend a lot of time worrying about whether they are saved. Some believe that salvation involves a miraculous “better-felt-than-told” work of God within their fleshly heart, and they spend a lot of time trying to interpret past events in their lives to determine whether…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[757,250,47],"class_list":["post-85040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-assurance","tag-confidence","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26564,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/evidence-of-pardon-how-can-i-know-i-am-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":85040,"position":0},"title":"Evidence of Pardon: How Can I Know I Am Saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kenneth E. Thomas Christianity is a system of faith, but it is not a leap of faith. Our faith in God is founded firmly upon the evidence of His existence found in His creation. \u201cThe heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork\u201d (Psalm 19:1).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66800,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-salvation-be-lost\/","url_meta":{"origin":85040,"position":1},"title":"Can salvation be lost?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I was hoping you could shed some light on an issue that only seems to get more confused as I try to look into things from a biblical perspective. That issue is whether or not it is possible to lose your salvation following baptism. My understanding and belief\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13413,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-distinction-between-forgiveness-and-redemption\/","url_meta":{"origin":85040,"position":2},"title":"Is there a distinction between forgiveness and redemption?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, I must say that your web site is fantastic!\u00a0 There is much cool stuff here that I wish I had more time to read. At Bible class last night, the issue of forgiveness vs. redemption and taking away sin came up.\u00a0 The issue, and my question, is whether\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":77346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptism-grace-and-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":85040,"position":3},"title":"Baptism, Grace, and Works","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Belknap There are many people today who believe that baptism (immersion) is not essential to being saved. I truly believe this is one of Satan's grandest lies that he has successfully spread throughout the ages. What greater way is there to snatch souls away from God than to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17454,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-faith-be-combined-with-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":85040,"position":4},"title":"How can faith be combined with works?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been reading articles on this web site, especially the one about how salvation comes both from believing and works. My question is this: Did Paul lie to the prison guard when he said: \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved\"? I am having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43274,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/commandment-keeping-and-boasting\/","url_meta":{"origin":85040,"position":5},"title":"Commandment Keeping and Boasting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward Bragwell, Sr. via\u00a0Biblical Insights, June 2014 Jesus declares that hypothetically if we were to keep all his commands, we would still have no right to boast. \"So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}