There are only a few truly life-changing questions that you need to answer in life. “Who should I marry? and “What should I do with my life?” are among them.
But the most important one of all is this: “Do I know that I am saved?”
Ever since Adam and Eve fell to Satan’s deceptions in the Garden of Eden, everyone in the human family has needed rescue—and you and I are no exception. Like kidnapped children who start to sympathize with their kidnappers (yes, that actually happens!), we’ve accepted the devil’s lie that our heavenly Father isn’t trustworthy. As a result, we think God is out to get us and that our sins don’t really matter.
The truth is that we have been kidnapped by Satan and are trapped by our sins, which means breaking God’s perfect law of love. (See 1 John 3:5.) We have no way of escaping on our own. We desperately need to be rescued!
What Does It Mean to Be Saved?
Being “saved” means that you have been adopted back into God’s family. You have chosen to accept God’s offer of salvation and decided to leave Satan’s service.
The apostle Paul says it clearly: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13).
Salvation doesn’t mean you are instantly perfect or that you’ll never sin again. It simply means that you have begun a new life as a son or daughter of God. You have a new identity, and that identity will shape everything you do and say from now on.
Who Saves Me?
Who delivers us from Satan and brings us into God’s loving family? Is it something we can do for ourselves? No!
Paul tells us that it is “the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Colossians 1:12). God makes your salvation possible! He starts this process of salvation, and He will finish it.
Long before you ever broke the law of love, God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit made a plan to save you. God saw you. And wanted you. So Jesus promised to come to this earth to take the punishment that you and I deserve for our sins. On the cross, He died the death that we should die. As a result, salvation is freely available to you (and anyone else who wants it).
What Must I Do to Be Saved?
Long ago, a jailer asked Paul the all-important question: “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Paul’s answer was simple: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Do you want to be saved? Then believe that Jesus came to this earth and died for you so that your sins could be forgiven. Tell Him you believe and ask Him to cleanse you of all sin and adopt you into His family.
What If I Sin Again? Will I Still be Saved?
Remember who saves you? God does! “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
Our salvation is not based on our goodness. It’s based on God’s goodness and grace toward us.
That means that when we sin unintentionally, we are still covered by God’s grace. The moment we realize we have dishonored God (or sinned intentionally), we can run to Jesus to confess our sins and repent of them. He will gladly forgive you!
Your parents don’t kick you out of the family just because you speak to them disrespectfully sometimes. You are still part of the family. Your actions may require discipline, but godly parents will do that in a way that helps you grow.
The same is true with our heavenly Father. He doesn’t disown us when we fall into sin. Instead, He does everything He can to draw us back to Him. He may allow us to face some of the consequences for our actions, but Jesus took the full punishment we deserve so that we wouldn’t have to die for our sins.
If you have accepted Jesus into your life, you can be sure that you are part of the family of God and that you are saved through God’s grace.
Once Saved. Always Saved?
Jesus described salvation as a new birth (John 3:3–6)—something so radical that it seems like you have become a whole new person. Salvation begins a work of transformation that will change your habits, words, desires, and actions.
You can’t be saved and stay the same as you were before you met Jesus.
As you study God’s Word and choose to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, you will become a new person. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Salvation is not something that happens once and is done. It is a daily choice to welcome Jesus as the Lord of your life. Just like your relationship with your family can improve or get worse each day, your relationship with your heavenly Father can improve or get broken.
If you choose to start distrusting Him, disobeying His commands, ignoring His Word, and spending zero time with Him, you will quickly destroy your relationship with God. Then you will no longer be in a saving relationship with Jesus.
The True Test of Salvation
Do you want to know for sure if you are saved?
Here’s the test: “[How] shall we determine whose side we are on? Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ’s our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do His will, and please Him in all things” (Steps to Christ, p. 58).
Is Jesus becoming more and more precious to you every day? If so, then you can know that Jesus has begun the good work in you and that even when you fall, you are saved by His grace.
Do you want to be saved? Then bow your head and invite Jesus into your life now. Here is a simple prayer you can say: “Dear Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner, but I want to be yours. Please come into my heart now and live in me. Please forgive my sins and make me all new. I give everything I am to you. Thank you! Amen.”
Would you like to know more about what the Bible says about salvation? Then check out this list of verses!