Have you ever struggled wondering if your salvation is secure? Has anyone ever come to you wrestling with whether or not they are saved? How secure should we be in our salvation? It depends.
One of the most disturbing passages in all of Scripture comes at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus warns,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt. 7:21-23)
Let’s catch what Jesus says here. First, merely calling Jesus Lord does not necessarily indicate saving faith. Second, doing good things does not demonstrate saving faith. Third, that calling on Jesus as Lord and doing mighty works may actually be demonstrations of lawlessness, not righteousness. Finally, note that Jesus is clear about how we determine who has saving faith. They are those who do “the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
What is the will of the Father? Jesus has just declared what it is in the Sermon on the Mount. To live as salt and light. A secure salvation is not merely a salvation that knows the right things (“Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (Jms. 2:19). A secure salvation doesn’t even find its footing on what it has done (see Matt. 24:24 and 2 Thess 2:9-12 for warnings of those who perform acts of counterfeit power).
There are so many who acknowledge Jesus with their mouths, but their lives are lived apart from him. There is no evidence of God at work in their mouths, their finances, their time, their relationships, their service. As Jesus said,
“This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt. 15:8-9)
But, let us not be confused. While the proof of salvation is found in our works, salvation itself is not found in our works. No, a secure salvation is found in an abiding relationship with Jesus.
Jesus invites us:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn 15:4-5)
Our hope is found in our union with Christ. We are adopted and secure (Rms 8:1, 15-17), sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14).
When Jesus warns us that on the final day of judgment there will be those who presume they are saved but who are not, he is not trying to make our attachment to him insecure. He is not trying to rack our hearts with fear and doubt. In fact, he tells us right in that passage that there is a way to know that we are secure: that we are doing the will of the Father.
Paul tells us that doing the will of the Father is a natural byproduct of the Spirit’s saving work in our lives:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:8-10)
So, if you have presumed upon Christ, thinking that a thin declaration of assent will secure your salvation, then Christ’s words in Matthew 7 ought to shake you to the core. God will not be mocked (Gal. 6:7). We will not be able to slide through a cosmic loophole because of words expressed without a heart that followed.
But if you have put your trust in Christ. If the Holy Spirit is at work within you, do not fear. Jesus will be your advocate on that final day. As Paul says, “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies” (Rom. 8:33).
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