Be Sure - Steps To Reassurance

The first and most obvious reason people might doubt they are Christians is because they are not. If there has been no lifestyle change since your commitment, there could be cause to wonder.

The second reason people may doubt they are saved is because they have been told that they will never know for sure until they get to heaven. I was taught this erroneous idea as I was growing up. "You'll never know until judgment day, and then...surprise!" I remember asking one of the clergy of my church about this. He replied, "I guess it boils down to this Pete -- if you end up in heaven, you'll know that you were saved all along."

BUT, "What if I end up in hell?" "Then you'll know that you weren't saved." Excuse me, but isn't it a little too late to find out?

The assurance of salvation is explicitly detailed in the Bible. You CAN be sure you are saved and going to heaven. Check out the following scriptures:

"...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved...For 'whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'" (Romans 10:9,13).

"For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him" (I Thessalonians 5:9,10).

(see also Acts 4:10-12; Romans 1:16; I Peter 1:3-5)

These and other scriptures clearly state that if you have prayed and given God your life, you ARE saved -- forever! So now the question is not whether or not you can be sure you are saved and going to heaven, but whether you are saved; whether you have made a commitment to Christ, accepting Him as the Lord and Savior of your life. If you have not prayed and given your life to God, you are not a Christian. If you want to commit your life to Christ, don't wait any longer. Do it now.

To find out how to commit your life to Christ.

Many times people give their lives to God, only to take them back. When you do this, you stop listening to God, and live in the world, for yourself (Proverbs 14:14). In this backslidden state, you are getting beaten up by the guilt of walking away from God, and by the world, with the effects and consequences of your sin. God wants you to come back to Him. Don't keep running away.

To find out how to come back to Christ.

If neither of these things relate to you, then continue steadfastly in your walk with Christ, assured that you are saved and going to heaven, "...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phillipians 1:6).