Sweet Assurance

Yesterday I watched a video from The Wilds Christian camp in New England.  My heart was so touched by the testimony of how many lives have been reached through its ministry in the nine years of its existence.  But the most compelling part of the video came at about a minute and 45 seconds in when I heard several testimonies from campers from this past summer.

My name is Abby and this week I got assured of my salvation.

My entire life, I considered myself a Christian, but this week God showed me I wasn’t, and I got truly saved.

On Tuesday I got saved because I realized that I needed Jesus and that I couldn’t do it without Him..

In all this world there are many things that we can know about, but the most important truth is to know where you will spend eternity when you die.  These young people made that decision based on God’s Word, and now they have the peace in their heart that when they die, or when Christ comes, they will spend eternity in heaven. I love hearing how the one young man thought he’d been saved, but then he learned the truth about what salvation really is and found out he wasn’t saved the Bible way!

The last testimony shared something that many people don’t understand.  Going to heaven isn’t based on our goodness, our works, or our ability to save ourselves.  It’s all based on what Christ did on the cross.

That is so opposite of a testimony I heard several months ago as I was listening to a Christian radio station.  The broadcaster had her grandson, around eleven or twelve on the air with her.  She asked him to share about a decision he’d made recently.  Here’s what he said,

Well, my grandpa died and I was really sad.  I know my grandpa is in heaven.  I figured the only way I’d ever see him again was to be saved, so I got saved, and now I know I’ll see Grandpa again.

Does that testimony make your jaw drop?  It should, because that is not true salvation.  The radio announcer/grandmother gushed and praised him for his decision.  But I cried out loud, “What decision?!  You see, being saved isn’t a form of escape or a shrugging of our shoulders to get a front row seat to a heavenly ball game we’re sure Grandpa is playing “up there.”

Making the decision to “be saved” is to be rescued by Christ’s death on the cross from the fate of our sin – which is eternal death and separation from God.  When we realize that we are sinners and there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves, we understand that our sin was transferred to Jesus when He took our punishment and He died on the cross to pay the penalty. He took our place to make us right before God that we could have eternal life with Him in heaven.  It’s with a broken and a contrite heart that we come to God to receive what Jesus did for us.  We don’t sign our names to join a church, or do as the radio testimony did and figure heaven is the better option.  We bow before a holy God, turn our back on our sin and receive His Son.

If the camera at that camp was on you, could you give testimony to the fact that you have received Christ as your personal Savior and you’re sure you’re on your way to heaven?  It’s the sweetest assurance to have in this life, because it will determine your eternal destiny.

If you’ve never trusted Christ, why not stop now and pray a prayer something like this,

God, I know that I’m a sinner and I deserve hell, but I believe that you sent Jesus to die in my place.  I repent of my sin and accept what Christ did for me on the cross.  Come into my life and save me.  I fully trust in You to cleanse my sin.  Help me to live for You and to have the courage to tell someone of this decision I’ve made today.  In Jesus name, Amen.

I’d sure love to rejoice with you if you accept Christ as your Savior!  Would you contact me using the email info in my Contact section here?  Don’t allow yourself to go through this life without this sweet assurance!

Lovingly,