| Most who hold the name of “Christian” base their salvation on a single event that happened in their life (walking the infamous isle after 4 repeated stanzas of Just As I Am followed by a baptism). Others base their righteousness on attending a place of worship. Does not sin rein even in the church-house? And then there are others that are moral and good who say “GOD is a loving GOD and He won’t damn one such as me or such as them”.The Word of GOD tells us otherwise, and that salvation is not something to take lightly. Salvation is an on-going event that transpires from the day after the Lord quickens the heart (Eph. 2:1)of a lost soul and there is visible fruit that endures throughout the remainder of one’s life.If we claim to be Christians, the Word of GOD says in 2Co 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates”. We must daily examine ourselves to support or come to peace with our fellowship with the Heavenly Father. If we don’t have a continual GOD consciousness or awareness that He sovereignly oversees each of our decisions in life and that we desperately want to please Him and have a fear of HIM, then we must conclude that we have a problem with our salvation.With all this said, there are those days when you are down in the valley and Satan is throwing darts at you and you are in despair and GOD seems a thousand miles away. Does a true Christian give up and give in to the suffering sin causes? No, the Word says in Eph. 6:11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”, and we march on to our desired goal to be more like Him and to have a sweet daily fellowship with Him.Think about all the day to day struggle and sinfulness in this world and explain how one apart from GOD can have true peace and joy. The only true joy a Christian has here on this earth is the thankfulness one has with praising the Lord Jesus Christ for what He did and to have a close personal relationship with the Heavenly Father.
I have much at stake in emphasizing the examination of one’s life. My hope was built on a single event when I was a young lad at the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville Florida. But, then something started bothering me, but I would brush it off as being Satan. I would gain comfort in that old saying “Once Saved, Always Saved”. And I believe that once a soul is saved by grace, you were surely saved. But I continued this up and down battle to gain peace with my salvation for many years even through the daily reading of His word and prayer along with our worship services. But there was one thing was missing in my life and that was Jesus Christ. So, how did I conclude that He that I am His? It is my daily self-examination to see if I know more about His love today than I did last week, last year, etc. So in my case, I didn’t have a single event that lead me to believe that I am a Christian, I have ongoing events in a change of lifestyle and daily walk that gives me hope and joy that I am pleasing Him. That sweet personal relationship cannot be overemphasized. And oh and by the way, a fear not of man but of GOD that is beyond ones thoughts, unless one has ever encountered this fear. My Friends, please don’t rely on a single event in your life. The Word of GOD says in 2Co 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”. The words “are become” means to grow till perfection is fulfilled. And as we know, perfection is only fully fulfilled when we are sitting on the right hand side of the throne with our Lord in eternity (Mt. 25:33). Time is of an essence James 4:14 says “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away”. May GOD have mercy and provide each of us with a continued self-examination of our standing with eternity and may it be built on nothing less than Jesus Christ our Saviour and on the fear of GOD is my prayer. |