.jpg)
Full Assurance of Salvation
Written by my Husband (Mel)
(Ephesians 1:13-14) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
(Ephesians 4:30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
If you are truly born again, you can have full assurance of your salvation because his spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you are his. If we are saved, then we are sealed by his Holy Spirit until the day of our redemption. There is cheap grace and there is costly grace. Cheap grace is the belief that following Christ cost you nothing. Cheap grace believes that you are saved by faith without true repentance or the desire to change. Those who continue to live in the darkness of sin with no desire to be separate from the sinful culture are not truly saved.
You must be born of the water and of the Spirit (born again) to be saved. It cost our Lord his very life's blood to bring salvation to us and the grace he provided requires both faith, as well as obedience from us. Christ said that we must deny ourselves daily and take up our cross and follow him. True Christianity requires discipleship; we must make him Lord of every part of our lives, for his grace is not cheap. I believe in Lordship salvation.
Both spiritual legalism, as well as spiritual liberalism may lead a person to Hell. Legalism is trying to obtain salvation through our own works, or by religious rituals, and customs. You cannot obtain salvation through confessing your sins to a priest, or by reciting liturgies and prayers from the Sidur. Religion without the Spirit is spiritual death.
Salvation was made possible through the finished work of the Son of God upon the cross of calvary. We were ransomed by Christ, and his righteousness was imparted to those who are his. We are sanctified by his blood and saved by his holiness and merit, not our own. Grace is unmerited favor. We are under the New Covenant of Grace, for salvation is a free gift to those who totally surrender their lives to Christ through faith and obedience.
The Lord gave me a dream of his love, care, and devotion for his children. I dreamed, that when I was a young man, the Lord found me lying in a ditch all wounded and dying. The angels picked me up and carried me and nursed me back to health spiritually. The Lord spoke to me while I was awake and said, "I will hold you fast."
We live in an imperfect world and struggle with a fallen nature; however, God has brought us hope and redemption through the cross of Christ and help through his Holy Spirit. If after we are truly saved by his grace, we stray from him down a path of false doctrine or sin, he will come after us, as well as fight for us. Jesus will leave the 99 sheep to go after and rescue the one that is lost. The Lord chastens the son he receives and brings the rod of correction to the ones he loves. The Lord will hold you tight in his hand and will do anything to bring you back to him! The Lord loves us too much to let us remain backslidden from him. However, if you refuse to allow his Holy Spirit to correct you and choose to continue living in darkness, you may fall from grace and be blotted out of the Book of Life. A dead, or lukewarm church, will be vomited out of God's mouth (Revelation 3). Christ compares an unrepentant backslider to a dog that returns to his vomit, or a sow who after being washed clean returns to the mire (mud).
(2 Peter 2:20-22) For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Salvation begins with repentance of sins. Repentance is a change of mind and heart in regard to the old sinful lifestyle, as well as a desire to become a new creation in Christ Jesus. To be truly saved, you must hunger and thirst for righteousness and turn away from the old rebellious life you once knew. When you repent and put your faith in the finished work of Christ upon the cross you are saved from perdition and have been given eternal life. We are justified by faith and saved by grace (unmerited favor). Christ will wash you clean and remove all of your sins and grant you a clean slate. Because of Christ's atonement made upon the cross you walk perfectly before him as long as you remain in the light. God gives us grace to grow in him. We come to him as babes on milk and learn to walk by taking baby steps. Through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are transformed from the inside out.
We must deny ourselves daily, take up our cross and follow after Christ. If we love him, we will obey him. Christ taught us how we should conduct ourselves in this world. The sermon on the mount, also known as the beatitudes, are instructions that we should all live by.
Christ taught us the parable of the prodigal son in (Luke 15: 11-32). The son was tired of his rebellious life for he squandered his inheritance with riotous living. He returned home and his father ran to him, held him, and kissed him, put a robe on him, and a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. They killed the fatted calf for his son and the father said, "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found.
I encourage you to repent of your sins, place your faith in Christ and his finished work upon the cross, and be filled/indwelt by his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will transform you into a new creation, as well as seal you in Christ.
