Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread:"
Is it right for a person to be worried, fearful that he or she will be lost at last? If one takes the question seriously enough, it could lead to depression--or worse. For many people, that's their problem.
There are two possible solutions: Care nothing, think nothing about it, like the pagans--"eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (1 Cor. 15:32); or get serious and believe the Good News of the gospel, which takes away the fear and worry (Rom. 8:31, 32).
If you say, "I know I'm saved because I have accepted Christ," then your salvation depends on your choice to "accept," your own "works," whatever that might mean. But suppose you have not "accepted enough"?
If you say, "I know I'm saved because I keep God's ten commandments," again your salvation rests on the foundation of your own "works." But suppose you are not keeping them as thoroughly as you should? James 2:10 says that if you slip up on "one point," you've broken them all.
Bible good common sense does not encourage either the careless pagan attitude or soul-paralyzing worry: Christ died for the world, redeemed the world, and died everyone's second death. "The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (John 3:16, Eph. 1:6, Heb. 2:9, Isa. 53:6), and He is truthfully "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42).
Furthermore, He is your Savior already (1 Tim. 4:10), but read it all--He is "especially" your Savior if you believe. He already wants you to be saved and "has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began" (2 Tim. 1:9).
Do you understand it? He saved you first, then He "called" you. Verse 10 says that He "abolished [your second] death, and brought [your] life and immortality to light through the gospel." You have "received the grace of God"; don't receive it "in vain" (2 Cor. 6:1).
A wise lady once wrote: "The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does not resist, he will be drawn to Jesus; a knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins, which have caused the sufferings of God's dear Son" (Steps to Christ, page 27).
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 28, 1999.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."
