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| Volume 25 Number 7 July 2023 |
Page 16 |
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| Volume 25 Number 7 July 2023 |
Page 16 |
Louis Rushmore, Editor
Someone posed the question, “If we are not perfect, how can we know we are saved?” Someone else provided a short answer, saying, “We are perfected in Christ.”
Indeed, we are not perfect. We can all identify with Ezekiel 28:15, which reads, “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you” (NKJV). Consequently, all who read this bear the guilt of sin. “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one’” (Romans 3:10). “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
It is impossible for mankind to save itself through merely its own thoughts and actions. If humanity could extricate itself from the mire of sin, there would have been no need for a Savior to leave Heaven and come to earth and die on Calvary’s cross as a supreme sacrifice for sinners to be redeemed. If men could have lived their lives in perfect agreement with the Law of Moses (the Old Testament), they would have been without sin and would not have needed a Savior.
Though imperfect creatures, Jesus Christ saves those who obey Him and His revealed New Testament. “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). Initially to become a child of God – a Christian – one must be baptized into Christ (Mark 16:16; Galatians 3:27). However, Christians also commit sins sometimes, for which they need forgiveness. That forgiveness occurs in accordance with two scenarios, (1) repentance and prayer regarding sins of which we are aware (Acts 8:22) and (2) “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The latter verse encompasses forgiveness for the sins of which we are aware for which we repent as well as sins of which we are not aware as long as we continue to obey the revealed will of God for us – especially the Gospel or the New Testament for people living today.
Popular, though abbreviated definitions of God’s “grace” (Ephesians 2:8) and mercy (Titus 3:5) are as follows. Through God’s grace, He gives us what we do not deserve, whereas through His mercy, God withholds from us what we truly deserve. However, God’s grace and mercy are contingent upon one’s obedience, but disobedience to the Gospel will ultimately result in eternal condemnation (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; 1 Peter 4:17).
On this basis, we can know that we are saved. As long as we continue to obey the Scriptures, though imperfectly, we can know that we are saved. Consider these verses that state knowledge of being saved. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3). “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death” (1 John 3:13-14). “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:19-20).
No one knows us as well as we know ourselves. We know our shortcomings and sins better than anyone else, and it’s easy to foster self-doubt. Nevertheless, obey God’s Word and rely on God’s grace and mercy.
