November 12, 2010

{Scripture Challenge 2} Challenge #23, Assurance

Copied and pasted from Patter Cross Blog ! ( another awesome challenge on  going thru 2010)
http://triplethescraps.blogspot.com/

This week I saw a thread online asking how we know that one religion is right and the others are wrong. How do we know that believing in Christ is the only way to eternal life? The thread broke my heart as I read the many different responses but it also made me think that we need to look at this issue. How do we have the assurance that we belong to God? How do we know that He is the only way to have eternal life? This is not a popular subject, and I hesitated even writing about this today. I even tried to work on another word and failed. God keeps bringing me back to this topic so I will obey, and we will see where He takes me.

 



Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you know in your heart that you belong to Him? Do you question whether or not you truly are His? Do you have that assurance? What is assurance? Dictionary.com says that assurance is “full confidence; freedom from doubt; certainty.” Are you confident that you belong to God forever?


First, you must believe that the Bible is God’s true word and that it is without error. If you do not believe the Bible is true, how do you pick what is true and what is not? What if you pick and choose what you want to believe, and I pick and choose what I want believe out of God’s Word? Who gives us the authority to do that? No one! And if you believe one part is false, doesn’t that make the entire Bible false? Our assurance is based on the authority of His Word. God Himself has given us the Bible through human writers. It is truthful and authoritative. His Word alone has the power to save. If we don’t believe His entire Word or the power of God, it will lead us to faulty thinking and wrong behavior. John 5:24 says “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” In your heart, do you know His Word is absolute truth?


Second, we must understand that our salvation is not dependent upon works. God’s grace is a gift to us—the utterly undeserving. We don’t deserve to be saved. There is nothing in us that causes us to deserve anything from God. He sent His Son to die for our sins as a gift to us because He loves us not because of anything we have done. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “. . . it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." And Romans 11:6 says “and if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” God as our Creator has the right to say how we come to Him. He has authority over all of His creation—not just some but all! He has an absolute claim on us. Are you trying to assure your way into Heaven through works or do you know with full confidence that His grace is sufficient? 2 Corinthians 12:9a says “My grace is sufficient for you.”



*´¨) ¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨) (¸.•´ (¸.•' Have A Great Day! ~Love Barbara~

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