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Got Salvation? I want everyone to notice that the title of this article does not say, "God Saved?", but "Got Salvation?" There is a huge difference between the two ideas. Most of our religious neighbors hold to at least some of the tenets of Calvinism. Among some of the other things Calvinists believe, man is made passive in his salvation. Therefore, they believe a person gets saved, instead of a person being saved. Peter said, "Be saved from this perverse generation" (Acts 2.40b), thus showing an action is to be performed in order to receive salvation. This begs the question, "How do Calvinists know they are saved and how does the Bible say one knows they are saved?" To answer the question about the Calvinist, one has to understand the following facts: According to Calvinistic doctrine, Jesus died only for the elect - - those personally chosen by God. Thus, there is nothing a person can do in order to be saved. Man is totally depraved, given over wholly to sin. Some even believe that after regeneration man is still sinful. Thus there may be no difference in how they live after the Holy Spirit comes into their heart than before he came upon them. This means that a Calvinist does not really know whether they are saved or not. Thus, you have some talking about some type of emotional experience, a warm feeling in their heart - - a sign of their salvation. Have you ever heard the old joke about the farmer's son who came in from the field to tell his father about being called to preach. The father asked how he was called? The son said while plowing he looked to the clouds and saw the letters "G" and "P."; which meant Go Preach. To which his father replied, "G", "P" means Go Plow! Once one looks for signs or emotional feelings, then objective thoughts go out the window. It all becomes subjective. Some will try to have it both ways and say that a saved person will live differently than a person that is lost. This creates quite a problem for the Calvinist because the doctrine of once saved always saved means that a saved person can sin and still be saved. I once asked a preacher that if person was saved, could they become an atheist and still be saved? To which replied that he may not have been saved to start with?! So they really do not know if they are saved or not. How does a Christian know if they are saved? Some will come to the same position as the Calvinist; uncertain about their salvation. After all we can all sin. There are numerous warnings in the Bible directed to Christians about being separated from God, 1 Corinthians 10.12; 2 Corinthians 13.5; 2 Peter 2.20-22, Hebrews 6.4-6; 10.24-25, 1 John 4.1, to name but a few. I am talking about what the Bible says about our salvation and how we know our sins have been forgiven. A person knows they are saved when: 1. They obey the Gospel of Christ, Romans 1.16. 2. They walk in the light as He is in the light, 1 John 1.7. 3. They confess and receive forgiveness of their sins, 1 John 1.9 4. They keep the commandments of God, John 15.7 Our confidence is not in our emotions, although salvation should make us confident and happy; but only through our believing and obeying God's word. Keep this in mind, salvation is not a onetime event. It, like faithfulness, is what we do and obtain as we live each day. Is it wrong to express confidence in one's salvation? The Apostle Paul did not think so: "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only to also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4.8). -- Dennis Tucker |