previous article<\/a>, I talked about my transformation at age 14, when I gave my life to Jesus. I didn\u2019t understand justification and sanctification; I just knew I\u2019d been forgiven. But what about the things I continued to do? I was trying to be good, but I knew I still sinned sometimes. What did that mean? Was I saved or not?<\/p>\n“Am I Saved?”<\/h2>\n
I started asking youth leaders and pastors, but I didn\u2019t find any answers. I thought I\u2019d never know if I was saved until Jesus came. Then one day I read 1 John 5:13: \u201cI write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was excited. So you can<\/em> know! But wait: \u201cI write these things. . . .\u201d What things? I quickly read the verses above it.<\/p>\nWhoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony . . . And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (vv. 10-12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Instead of making me feel better, this passage made me feel worse! I still didn\u2019t know if I was saved or not, and now I had the added guilt that I was calling God a liar. Now what?<\/p>\n
New Awakening<\/h2>\n
By age 30, I\u2019d been struggling with this insecurity for sixteen years. During this time, I had made a few attempts to read through the Bible, but I always got stuck in Leviticus. I decided to get serious. I read through Leviticus and kept going. Then one day, getting ready for work, it hit me: I can know I\u2019m saved because salvation doesn\u2019t depend on my righteousness, but on Jesus\u2019. That\u2019s it!<\/p>\n
It was so clear and simple. Why did it take me so long to understand? I realized that spending time in God\u2019s Word opened my heart to receive awareness from the Holy Spirit. Like Martin Luther, I had tried to live up to God\u2019s expectations, but the harder I tried, the angrier I became. How could a good God demand perfection from such a fallible creature as me? It wasn\u2019t fair! But then the revelation came: \u201cBy grace you have been saved, through faith \u2014 and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u201d (Ephesians 2:8).<\/p>\n
The law is holy and good, but it demands perfection and reveals our sin (Romans 7:7-14). It cannot save, only condemn. Even though I had sincerely given my heart to Jesus at age 14, I was trying to live under the law. I still thought I needed to be good enough to be saved. Consequently, I had no security in my salvation and little joy in my worship. How could I be an effective witness for Jesus like this?<\/p>\n
Transcend with Christ<\/h2>\n
With a new awakening, I transcended law to grace. I transcended rules to a relationship<\/a>. For the first time, I saw Jesus as my friend. His law no longer condemned me; it lived in my heart. Ever since that day, it\u2019s been a joy to worship Him and to be used by Him in His work of rescue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We cannot truly belong to Christ if we try to earn our salvation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":333,"featured_media":5168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,603],"tags":[384,99,184,573,101],"yoast_head":"\n
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