The life of a faithful Christian will inevitably be filled with spiritual highs and lows. We will experience moments of strong faith intermixed with moments of weakness and unfortunate stumbling. To succeed in reaching our eternal goal, we need to know a few things.
God has always been in control. Before time began, throughout history, and even today, God has always been in control. Psalm 115:3 reads, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” In Ephesians, Paul wrote that God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). We need to know that God has always been in control.
Jesus died because of and for your sins. The Bible teaches and assures us that Jesus’ death on the cross was not some unexpected turn of events but was instead a necessary part of God’s plan for our salvation. Paul wrote to the Galatians that Jesus “gave Himself for our sins” (Galatians 1:20). We need to know that His death was caused and motivated by the sins you and I have committed.
You are saved. In 1 John 5:13, John explained that he wrote “these things…so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Because God has always been in control, because Jesus died because of and for your sins, you can know that you have spiritual salvation. Instead of wondering or fearing about eternity, you and I need to obey God’s commands and know that we are saved.
Matt Langfield