Certainty: The Knowledge of Salvation - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2024

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 NKJV

Certainty: The Knowledge of Salvation
How can you be sure that you have the right kind of faith? Well, have your confidence in the right Person—in the Son of God. It is not a question of the amount of your faith, but of the trustworthiness of the Person in whom you place your confidence. One takes hold of Christ with a drowning man’s grip, while another only touches the hem of His garment, but both are equally safe. They both confidently rest in the eternal effectiveness of His finished work. That is believing on Him.

Make sure that your confidence is not based on your works, religious observances or feelings, or moral training. You may have the strongest faith in such things and perish eternally. The feeblest faith in Christ eternally saves, while the strongest faith in self is of no use. “I do believe on Him,” said a girl to me one day, “but when asked if I’m saved, I don’t like to say ‘Yes’ for fear I might be lying.” This girl was a small town butcher’s daughter. Her father had not returned from market. So I said, “Now, suppose you ask your father how many sheep he bought today, and he says ‘ten.’ Later, someone asks you how many sheep your father bought today and you reply, ‘I don’t want to say because I might be lying.’” With righteous anger, her mother, who was standing with us, replied, “But that would be making her father a liar!”

In like manner, this girl was making Christ a liar by saying, “I believe on Him but I don’t like to say I’m saved because I might be lying,” when Christ has said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (Jn. 6:47).

-- G. Cutting