"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom. 8:35).
The great comfort of every believer is that our salvation is secure in Christ. Nothing we do can change what the Lord has done in us and for us. From first to last, our salvation is dependent on the grace of God and His promises. Throughout the Scriptures, we find God’s assurances that those He has chosen out of the world will come to glory, will inherit the kingdom of heaven (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:37, 40, 51). Jesus proclaimed, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27, 28).
While the Christian might be buffeted by the storms of sin in his own soul, by the onslaught of temptation from the world, like Peter, David, and other great saints of the Bible, God will hold them fast and bring them into His everlasting kingdom. This is the assurance, the promise, of every child of God. It is given by a faithful Father and secured by His Son, who died on the cross not for the possibility that some people might be saved but for the certainty that those the Father had given Him would not be lost.
Charles Hodge aptly reminds us that our salvation, being totally dependent upon God, is sure and steadfast. If it were in any way dependent on our abilities, our choices, our salvation would not be secure. “If men were predestinated to eternal life on the ground of their repenting and believing through their own strength, or through a cooperation with the grace of God which others fail to exercise, then their continuance in a state of grace might be dependent on themselves. But if faith and repentance are the gifts of God, the results of His effectual calling, then bestowing those gifts is a revelation of the purposes of God to save those to whom they are given. It is an evidence that God has predestinated them to be conformed to the image of His Son, i.e., to be like Him in character, destiny, and glory, and that He will infallibly carry out His purpose. No one can pluck them out of His hands.” This is our hope and comfort, that we are “kept by the power of God” (1 Peter 1:5).
What causes you to doubt your salvation? Sin often disrupts assurance. When you sin, confess to Christ and He will forgive you (1 John 1:8–10). Sincere confession and repentance is a sign of true faith. Does fear cause you to doubt? If so, trust in God’s promises. Meditate on the verses below and find security in Christ.
