Far too many Christians live their lives out of fear, not faith. They sin and struggle and focus on their behavior instead of on Jesus and their salvation.
They have “roller-coaster faith”: It surges high when they’re serving the Lord, but their confidence drops when they give in to sin. Many of these Christians wrestle with basic questions such as:
“Am I really saved?”
“Why can’t I walk in victory consistently?”
“If I were really a child of God, would I struggle with the same sins so much?”
Just yesterday I got off the phone with a lady who was checked into a mental health facility because she had so many doubts about her salvation that she broke down emotionally. Although I’m not known for being a great counselor (ask anyone I used to pastor), I walked her through a simple, three-step process that, in her words, really, really helped her feel better.
What I did to help her could possibly help you as well, especially if from time to time you question your salvation. Here are the three steps that can help you get your holy swagger back:
1. Make sure you understand and believe the Gospel.
The first thing I did was to make sure she understood and believed the Gospel. After all, 2 Corinthians 13:5 reminds us:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
This is important, because a lot of people think they are “in the faith” because they were raised in a Christian home or said a prayer or walked an aisle or whatever, but they actually aren’t saved. They are, in the words of my friend Dave Gibson, “professors” not “possessors.” They profess with their mouths that they are Christians, but they’ve never possessed true faith in Christ in their hearts.
So how can we know if we possess eternal life? We make sure we understand and believe the Gospel message. At Dare 2 Share, the ministry I founded 30+ years ago, we developed a G.O.S.P.E.L. acrostic that lays the whole story of the Gospel out in a simple way. Here it is:
God created us to be with Him. (Genesis 1–2)
Our sins separate us from God. (Genesis 3)
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds. (Genesis 4 – Malachi 4)
Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)
Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. (John)
Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. (Acts – Revelation)
Ask yourself if you’ve come to a point in your life where you believe this message and have put your faith in Jesus alone to save you from your sins, based on His death on the cross for your sins and His resurrection from the dead. If you have, you pass “the test.” If you haven’t, you fail it.
If you haven’t put your faith in Jesus to save you, you can do so right now.
Boom! It’s done! Your eternity is secure.
2. Memorize and meditate on verses about the security of your salvation.
When I talked to this sweet lady on the phone, I took her to the following passages:
‘All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from Heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.’
John 6:37-39
This passage reminds us that Jesus will “lose none of all those” the Father has given Him but “raise them up at the last day.” This is a promise. You will not be lost. You are now securely in the family of God through faith.
Because I’ve put my trust in Christ, I’m so confident of my salvation that I would trapeze over the flames of Hell on a spiderweb, blindfolded and humming “Amazing Grace” while flipping off the Devil. That’s how sure I am that I’ve passed from death to life.
‘Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.’
John 5:24
Notice the string of promises: “has eternal life” and “will not be judged” and “has crossed over from death to life.” The only condition is to hear the Gospel and believe in Him.
That’s it. There’s no small print here. We believe, and we receive. And once we receive, our salvation is a done deal. We won’t pass from death to life; instead we have passed from death to life. We will not be judged. We have eternal life in our possession right now. As Jesus said:
‘I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’
John 10:28-30
Jesus has got you in His hand. Satan can’t snatch you out. Sin can’t snatch you out. Circumstances can’t snatch you out. You can’t snatch you out.
To pry open the hand of Jesus and the Father would require someone stronger than God. Good news: Nobody is. That means you’re securely “unsnatchable.”
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14
Now that you are “in Christ” through faith, you’re sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is a down payment of your salvation. This deposit guarantees you’ve been purchased and possessed by God through the blood of Christ. You’re guaranteed to receive your inheritance on the day of redemption.
You’re “signed, sealed, and delivered, oh yeah!”
The apostle John spoke of this truth:
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13
God wants you to walk with holy swagger, knowing for sure you’re saved. This is not a license to sin against God but a reason to live your life fully for God!
3. Use these verses as an offensive weapon and a defensive shield.
When Ephesians 6 describes the armor of God, it includes “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) and “the shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).
The sword of the Spirit is our offensive weapon against Satan. When Jesus Himself was tempted in Matthew 4, He combatted Satan’s lies by saying, “It is written,” and then quoting various Bible passages. This is an example we must follow. Think of it as a sword thrust right into the underbelly of the Devil.
But we must also hide behind the shield of faith when Satan shoots his fiery lies at us. What is this shield of faith? I’m convinced it represents the clear promises of God in Scripture that we duck behind in faith when Satan whispers things like “You’re not really saved” and “You’ve sinned too much to be an actual Christian” or whatever.
Thrust and duck. Quote your verses out loud at the Devil in the moment of temptation (thrust) and then hide behind the shield of faith (duck) when he fires back, while reminding yourself you’re eternally secure.
Memorize the verses in point number two. Put them on a 3×5 card, and meditate on them over and over again, until you can quote them without looking. On the day of evil, when Satan attacks your faith, you’ll be ready to fight back.
Walk with divine confidence in regard to your salvation. It will give you boldness to share your faith with others. It will help you claim the victory that’s already yours through Christ over sin. It will give you your swagger back.
It sure helped the sweet lady I counseled over the phone.
