I read somewhere that over 70% of Americans consider themselves Christians. Yet considering the rate of divorce, pre-marital sex, the 40+ Million babies aborted since 1973, and the severe decline in basic decency, I wonder if God's opinion of our salvation is different than ours. How do we know that we are saved? Is there evidence?
I'm not writing this blog to debate OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved). I'm writing instead about individuals who think they're saved, but in reality are not. I think one of the best tools satan has used in the last days has been the gospel of cheap grace. This teaching goes something like this - feel a tug in your heart (as if the heart can be trusted for anything. Jesus told us it is exceedingly wicked), pray a prayer, trust Jesus to forgive you and resurrect you after death, and BAM, you are saved! Once you've done that, go buy a Bible, come to church (except on sunny days, or cold days, or days when you're going to a barbecue, or your aunt's house, or when you got home at 2:30 in the morning and are too tired, sore, or hung over to get up for church), consider getting baptized, and serve every now and then on an outreach.
If I sound flip, it's because I'm angry. I'm angry at preachers who preach this, and I'm angry at individuals who can open their Bible and see if this is true, but are too lazy to do so. Can people get saved at an altar call? ABSOLUTELY! But Jesus is not just our Saviour, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If you never submitted to His authority, then He is not Your King, so how can you consider yourself a resident of His Kingdom? I've been accused by a few MySpace members of being a Lordship teacher. My answer to them is simple – if He's not your Lord, then why repent? If He's just here to save you then why not continue in your sin? Jesus is different than self-help techniques and every other attempt at salvation because He comes to live in you via His Holy Spirit, and He transforms you from the inside out. The gospel of cheap grace is silent on regeneration and sanctification, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ shouts, "Repent!" (That's the opening line of Jesus' first recorded sermon). If your salvation is not accompanied by regeneration, then you are not a new creation. If you haven't fallen in love with Him, begun to hate your sin (even as you commit it), developed new interests in the Kingdom, and feel no desire for His Word or obeying it, then how do you consider yourself saved?
Please don't think I'm speaking of works. Salvation can never be earned, and doing the above won't make you saved. But the above is evidence of salvation. New life, new heart, new desires = new creation in Christ. Will it all be evident at once? No way, and there will be seasons of our life where it's barely visible. But that's the difference between a backslider and a false convert. The backslider is battling and currently losing, but the false convert sees no reason to battle. They are in a very dangerous position because they have become inoculated to the Truth. They received just enough of Christianity to develop antibodies to it, so now they think they're safe, when in fact they're headed to hell. Jesus saved us to know Him and make Him known. He changes us so we'll be salt and light to the world around us. But the gospel of cheap grace neglects this truth.
Please read the following parable of Jesus, and then watch the video at the bottom of the page. Invite the Holy Spirit to stir the truth of this message into your heart, and ask Him for the wisdom to examine yourself righteously. If you realize you're not saved, please don't waste a moment. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. Ask Him to forgive you, save you, and GUIDE you. Ask Him to be LORD over your life, as well as Saviour. Pray for Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and lead you into all truth. The hour is late and nighttime approaches. The
1-2 He went back to teaching by the sea. A crowd built up to such a great size that he had to get into an offshore boat, using the boat as a pulpit as the people pushed to the water's edge. He taught by using stories, many stories.
3-8"Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams.
9"Are you listening to this? Really listening?"
10-12When they were off by themselves, those who were close to him, along with the Twelve, asked about the stories. He told them, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom—you know how it works. But to those who can't see it yet, everything comes in stories, creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight. These are people—
Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing,
Whose ears are open but don't understand a word,
Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven."
13He continued, "Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way.
14-15"The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.
16-17"And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
18-19"The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.
20"But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams." From Mark 4, The Message Bible
Tina Liouzis
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