I was terrified! There was no doubt in my mind that I was a sinner. And I knew that there was a place called hell - a place of total darkness where people were sent forever who had never confessed to the Lord Jesus that they were sinners and let Him wash them clean. I knew it was all true, because the Bible said so, and I believed the Bible.
Because I was so afraid, I did what the Bible said - I called upon the name of the Lord and asked Him to save me from my sins. Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13) says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” But still I wasn’t really sure I was saved. Questions would come into my mind like, Do I really believe? What if I don’t really trust enough? and other tormenting thoughts. I also knew the Lord Jesus was going to call all the Christians to heaven sometime soon, and I was afraid I would be left behind. So I memorized my uncle’s telephone number, and I would call him if I came home and my mother wasn’t there. When he answered and said “hello,” I would hang up without talking, so relieved that he was still there. I knew that when the Lord came my uncle would go with the rest of the Christians to heaven. So when he answered the phone, I knew the Lord Jesus hadn’t come back yet.
Was I really saved? Yes, God’s Word says so! He didn’t say “might be saved” but “shall be saved.” I finally became sure that I was truly saved from reading the Bible. One day I read Romans 4, especially the last part of the chapter, and realized that the real question was, Did I believe that God was satisfied with what Jesus did on the cross for me? Oh, yes, of course God was satisfied! It says that He “raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses [sins], and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:2425). When I saw how God felt about the wonderful work His Son had done, then I was sure that I was saved. I realized that my being saved doesn’t depend on how I feel! It only depends on what the Lord Jesus has done.
Are you sure that you are saved?
ML-06/03/2001