Hey Mark,
I didn’t expect to hear back from you so quickly, but I’m glad I did.
Your follow-up questions about your salvation are good on a couple of levels. One, they’re good because they’re where you’re at right now. I think it’s best to deal with the questions you have no matter what they are. I don’t see the point in being disappointed or nervous because of particular questions. If you have a question or a bunch of questions—whatever it or they may be—let’s look at them. On another level, they’re good because the questions (and, hopefully, the answers) are deeply theological and biblical. They really get near the heart—if not the heart—of what this whole life with Jesus is about.
Just to put us both on the same page, let me restate your questions here. You wrote, “I don’t really know how to take what you’ve told me about my salvation. You said that God has saved me and will keep me saved. What does this mean for how I’m supposed to live my life going forward? I’m sure you’re not saying I can do whatever I want because God’s just going to keep me saved. But, honestly I’m not exactly sure. Aren’t I supposed to be living a different life now?”
It seems as though you’re caught a little off-guard by the fact that I quoted a piece of Scripture in order to assure you that if God has saved you, he will keep you saved. Your questions made me think you had expected me to give you a list of things to do and not do. Thankfully (and I hope you can share with me in my thankfulness) that is not the biblical picture of what’s commonly called eternal security—the biblical doctrine of knowing that you are secure in your salvation because God is in control of it.
If you remember back to my first email, I said something in passing about your salvation and the fact that God had done something to you and for you. I really believe this to be case. Salvation is less about what you’ve done and more about what God has done, is doing, and will do. Now, this doesn’t mean you are free from responsibility. You are really, truly responsible. This is why your questions on how your life should now be lived are so on point. Your expectation is that there should be a change in how you live. I’m happy to tell you, your expectation is correct.
The Bible actually has a lot to say about this, but let’s briefly look at two places where the Bible makes it clear that we should expect and work toward a difference in our lives.
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2, NIV)
Notice the few things I bolded and underlined above. The Apostle Paul wrote that to a church as a reminder of what they had already heard and believed, and he makes the point that they have a responsibility. He tells them that they have received what he gave them and they have taken their stand. Both of these statements point to the truth that they are doing something with the message they heard. He also tells them that they are saved if they hold firmly to what Paul preached to them.
So, in their case (and yours in relation to your questions) they are saved if they take up their responsibility and hold on to the truth.“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” (1 John 2:18-19, NIV)
Few places in Scripture address your questions more directly than this section of 1 John. The Apostle John says several important things in this section of his letter. He’s talking about a group of people who were with us—meaning that they were in the church living (for some time) as actual Christians. Unfortunately, however, John says that they did not really belong to the church. And John knows this to be true because they left. If they really did belong to the group they would have remained, but their going showed that they didn’t really belong.
So, John is saying that this smaller group within the larger group of Christians were living contrary to what they professed to believe but, eventually, consistency proved true—their lives aligned with their lack of belief and they left.
What should we take from these two short passages of Scripture? I think at least two things. The first is that both Paul and John believe there to be real human responsibility, as far as it goes, with salvation and the assurance of it. The second thing they do is maybe easier seen by considering the following question: Does human responsibility, especially in regards to eternal security, do something or prove something? As of right now, I’m convinced that our lives prove our salvation with God, rather than keep us saved.
Considering, again, what John wrote in 1 John, I think it’s clear to see that the people who left the group proved that they were never really of the group, because John said if they did belong they would have remained. Now, the experience of the people leaving the group was probably not one of proving anything, but of acting out their will in the moment—they didn’t want to belong with them any longer.
However true that may be, when John looks at the situation, he says they left because they were never really a part of the group in the first place. In other words, it’s not as if were true believers for 5 years and then switched to being an unbelievers again; instead, their “conversion” was never really authentic in the first place. What does this mean for you and I?
It means we have a responsibility to live out the conviction within each of us. Your testimony right now is one of belief in Jesus. How do you know you’ll be a believer tomorrow? Trust God and believe tomorrow. It may sound too simple, but there really isn’t some magic formula to this thing. Live as though you really are a believer and let your life prove to be true tomorrow what you know to be true right now.
Grace and peace to you,
Kevin