People often wonder if they have lost their salvation or whether or not they even were saved in the first place. When we boil it down, they may not really be doubting their eternal destiny, but rather the source of their salvation, that is to say, they may be doubting their savior.
And that can actually be a good thing.
Try this quick little exercise: ask yourself, “Am I saved?” In order to answer this question, you first need to think about where salvation comes from.
Personally, if I ask myself, “Am I saved?” then my answer is an emphatic, “Yes!” The reason I am certain can be summed up with Jesus’ famous words:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17 KJV)
Since I believe that Christ has given me eternal life, I believe that I have eternal life. That’s hard to miss, right? Jesus is my Savior and we can trust Him.
But not everyone turns to Christ to determine whether or not he’s saved. An alternate approach to the question, “Am I saved?” might be for a person to look to himself instead of Christ. He might think, “Well… I did tell a lie this morning and I did lose my temper yesterday… and there was that one time when I robbed an aged and blind beggar-woman of four dollars.” He may have done these things and far worse, but notice where the problem really lies: he is trusting himself for salvation rather than to Christ.
It is startling how many people turn to themselves for salvation. Anyone who is honest will admit that he falls short. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul states the obvious when he writes:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Rom 3:23 KJV)
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that it might be a good thing for someone to doubt his savior. If your savior, that is, if whom you are trusting for eternal life, is anyone other than Jesus Christ, then you have every reason to doubt your savior. This should serve as a wake-up call.
But, the moment that you first stop trying to save yourself and instead believe in Christ, in that moment you become a Christian and you never have to doubt your eternal destiny again.