Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
II Peter 3:9
I. It is God’s will that everyone be saved. II Pet.3:9 says God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Thus we conclude that it is the will of God that you be saved. This is the first reason why you should know you are saved because it is the will of God. The Bible definitely does not teach a universal salvation though Christ is called the Savior of all men in that he is the only Savior offered by God to mankind I Tim.4:10. This statement can be seen as contradictory when compared to our Lord’s words in Lk.13:22-24. His disciples asked him, “are their few that be saved?” And our Lord replied that they should strive to enter in at the narrow gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. Jesus Christ stands at the narrow gate, but few want to take him as their Lord and Savior. There is only one gate into heaven and Christ is the gatekeeper. John 14:6 “ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” There are folks who feel for Christ when they think of his crucifixion on the cross; who are remorseful of their sins; they regret the things they have done, but just as Judas Iscariot felt remorse for what he did in Matt.27:4, they never repent. They never change inside. They may go to church, do good deeds, be good parents, but they have never repented of their sinful condition. They may have followed the preacher’s instructions on how to be saved, but that is all they did. They did not repent in their hearts to God, they only confessed him with their lips, not with their hearts. They to this day are not saved. They still serve their sin nature. They do not have a thirst for God. They do not submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ privately, though they may practice morality and religious traditions openly, they are still lost. They may say good things about the Lord, but this is not the same as being saved.
From Matt.7:21-23 there were those who made a false profession of following and serving the Lord, but he said to them that on the judgment day he will say, “I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” The iniquity is the evil notion that a man can get to heaven on his own merits, imitating salvation, without repenting of his sinful condition.
Their works do follow them as noted in Matt.7:17-20. What fruits follow you when no one is looking? What fruits does your mind cultivate where only God knows what you are thinking? When your sins are secret never think God doesn’t know. He will reveal the hidden things for there are no secrets with God. Have you truly come clean with God?
I am not talking about sinless perfection because no one, regardless of how godly they are will spend a life without sinning in some form or fashion. But what is your current status when it comes to practicing sin, sin of any type. Some folks can live in sin and they ignore the offense their sin is to God. They are oblivious that God watched his Son die on the cross for those sins, and yet they still refuse to give up their sins. What we must be aware of is even though it is God’s will that everyone be saved, the Sovereignty of God honors the free will of man to say no to Jesus Christ. Saying no to Christ is a pattern of their life.
Again, it is God’s will that everyone be saved.
II. It is God’s will that you know you’re saved.
How can I know I am saved and going to heaven when I die people ask? This is a question everyone should ask themselves. Some people say you cannot possibly know; that you cannot know until after you die. What these folks are saying is you cannot trust the promises of the word of God because they do not trust the word of God. They do not trust the record that God gave concerning their salvation.
I John 5:11-13 declares you can know that you are saved and that you are going to heaven when you die. We must never let another person’s unbelief become our unbelief.
I Cor.2:11-14 tells us the Spirit of God confirms our relationship to God. Rom.8:16 says that God’s Spirit bears witness with our human spirit that we are the children of God. Jn.14:16 tells us the Holy Spirit teaches God’s people spiritual matters, and knowing you are saved is on the top of the list when it comes to spiritual matters. Paul said in II Tim.1:12 that he was persuaded that God is able to keep that gospel promise which was committed unto him against that day, the day of going home to heaven. Who persuades the believer that he or she is saved? The answer is God the Holy Spirit who indwells every born again believer. If you are not persuaded that you are saved and going to heaven then you need the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to convince you just as he did Paul and everyone else who believes in Jesus Christ is persuaded. If you do not live like a saved person then you have to ask yourself why not, why don’t I live like I am saved. You could be living in disobedience to God and if that is the case then repentance and confession of sin to God is needed. If you conclude that you just don’t have it in you to live the righteous life of a saved person then you are not saved.
Again, it is God’s will that you know you are saved.
III. You Can Fool Yourself Into Subjectively thinking You are Saved
When the disciples heard our Lord tell the rich young ruler in Lk.18:18-24 to give up what he had to follow him, they saw that rich young man walk away and they were puzzled. Those who heard these words of our Lord, said, “Who then, can be saved?”
The answer is seen in Rom.10:12 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It makes no difference what kind of past you have. God saw your past before he ever created the worlds; before his Son ever came and died for your sins.
But no man can come to God for salvation if he or she thinks anything they have or they can do is comparable to what Jesus Christ did for them on the cross.
The rich young ruler in Luke’s gospel was impressed with his religious life and his personal morality, but his first love was his money and all it did for his personal image. He loved his money too much to turn it over to the Lord. He identified his personal value by the amount of money he possessed, not by what value God put on his soul. When you look at the cross you see the value God puts on a human soul. This young ruler was proud of his religious affiliations and his morality, but he was obviously not objective enough to repent, for in his heart he did not see his lost sinful condition. He subjected his relationship to God based on what he did, not what Jesus Christ came to do for him. As a matter of fact he did not recognize Jesus Christ as Lord, but simply as Good Master, or good teacher. He dismissed who Jesus Christ was as the Son of God, and this was made known to him when our Lord replied to this rich young ruler that no man is good, only God is good. This man failed to acknowledge that he was talking to God in the flesh as he only addressed him as a good master. This rich young ruler compared his goodness with that of the Good Teacher, and there was no comparison. He had three things going for him that the world equates with success and happiness. He had wealth, youth and power and these things fool a lot of people into ignoring God’s word, and their sin. A person’s wealth youth and power are all passing things and they will all disappear in time. This young man felt his good living and religious observances alone would save him and Christ told him otherwise. Don’t fool yourself into feeling you are saved, know it.