Have I Already Been Saved...?

Before beginning, I would like to make clear that the matter being addressed here is not about a new believer, that is, someone who previously did not know Jesus, later coming to know and believe in Him, and being saved from past sins (Acts 17:20-31).

 

 

Amen. These passages are always words of grace to all of us. According to these words, “whosoever believeth in Jesus” will not perish, but will receive everlasting life, that is, salvation. This is because, for our salvation, God sent Jesus Christ into this world. In this way, since believing in Jesus leads to salvation, that is, everlasting life, believing in Jesus is more important to us than anything else. Therefore, today I would like to consider what it means to believe in Jesus.

 

Because the matter of salvation is so important to us, in order to make clearer what it means to believe in Jesus, we must first distinguish between “believing in Jesus” and “going to church.” This is because going to church, being active in church, and obeying the words of a pastor, or leaders, are unfortunately things that can be done even without believing in Jesus. Even so, there are people who think that because they do such things, they are believing in Jesus. Of course, because someone believes in Jesus, he may do such things. There is no problem with acting humbly by faith. The problem, however, is doing these things without faith (Romans 14:23). It is also a problem when people judge whether someone has faith or not based on such outward appearances. In any case, it is important for us to recognize that “going to church” and “believing in Jesus” may be different. Only then can we avoid stumbling, or losing faith, because of people within the church. Some people throw away their faith because of something wrong a pastor has done. Likewise, when it is later revealed that people who were very active in church have done wrong, the impact within the church can be very great. This is because people tend to think that pastors, or those who are active in church, must have strong faith.

 

Pastors, or leaders, people who have attended church for a long time, and people who are very active in church may still have no faith. Therefore, rather than judging outwardly whether someone has faith or not, it is important for each of us to discern through the Bible whether we ourselves truly believe, without doubting, all the words written in Scripture. This is because believing the words written in Scripture is believing in Jesus.

 

Returning to the main point, whoever believes in Jesus will receive everlasting life, that is, salvation. And believing in Jesus, as mentioned earlier, means believing the words written in Scripture. This is because Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14). Therefore, we must understand that there are not many different ways for us to receive “the faith of Jesus”; we can receive it only through the Word of Scripture.

 

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

John 5:38-40 “38And ye have not His word abiding in you: for whom He hath sent, Him ye believe not. 39Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. 40And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.”

 

As these words show, faith comes from Scripture, that is, from the Word of God. Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, tried to believe not through the Word, but by seeing the risen Jesus for himself.

 

John 20:25-29 “25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe. 26And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God. 29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

 

Thomas later saw Jesus and confessed in faith, “My Lord and my God.” But Jesus said, “because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Through this, He teaches us that faith based on seeing is not the blessed faith. In this way, the faith we must receive is the true faith that comes through the written Word of Scripture.

 

Now we have come to understand that believing in Jesus means believing the Word of God written in Scripture. And this teaches us that we must never think lightly of the statement, “whosoever believeth in Jesus shall receive everlasting life.” In the past, we too easily thought, “Because I believe in Jesus, I have been saved.” We were confident of this because Jesus died and rose again for us (Ephesians 2:8). However, when we ask ourselves, “Do I truly believe all the words written in Scripture?” for example:

 

Matthew 19:20-22 “20The young man saith unto Him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me. 22But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.”

Luke 14:26-27, 33 “26If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. 33So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.”

 

When Jesus says to us, as He said to the rich young man, “Forsake all that thou hast, and follow Me,” we must examine ourselves and ask how much we can obey that word. “All that I have” does not refer only to material possessions. It refers to our thoughts, our hearts, our knowledge, our experiences, and everything else that stands ahead of the Word of God.

 

2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

 

The disciples of Jesus, just as this word teaches, forsook everything of their own and believed and followed the words of Jesus.

 

Matthew 4:18-22 “18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him. 21And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him.”

 

In this way, the disciples of Jesus heard only the words of Jesus, yet left behind their livelihood and even their father, and followed Him. This is true faith. Therefore, just as it was said earlier that “whosoever believeth in Jesus shall receive everlasting life,” when the disciples later asked, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?” Jesus told them that they would sit with Him upon twelve thrones. In other words, He spoke to them of their salvation and reward. And not only to His disciples, but also to all who forsake everything for the sake of the name of Jesus, He said that they would inherit everlasting life.

 

Matthew 19:23-29 “23Then said Jesus unto His disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 27Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore? 28And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

 

As we see in the case of Jesus’ disciples above, when a person comes to believe in Jesus, actions that forsake all things for the name of Jesus naturally follow. That is why the apostle Paul also counted the knowledge of Jesus as most excellent, and said that he had suffered the loss of all things and counted them but dung (Philippians 3:7-8). James also taught that faith without works is dead (James 2:20-26), meaning that if we have faith, we must act according to that faith. Since believing in Jesus is not as simple as we often think, we must never take lightly the word, “whosoever believeth in Jesus shall be saved.”

 

And because we have not already completed our salvation, but still have the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, we must always obey in faith and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

 

1 Peter 1:5-9 “5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time... 7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Philippians 3:11-14 “11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

 

Through these words, we can understand that now is not the time when our salvation has already been completed. Rather, it is the time to keep the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12) and the time to work out our salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). Therefore, for the sake of our salvation, we must always believe in Jesus and, in all things, call upon and rely on the name of Jesus.

 

Romans 10:10-13 “10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation... 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

 

As this passage says, if we have believed with the heart unto righteousness, then now we must confess the name of our Lord Jesus with our mouth and rely on that name in order to receive salvation. Since it says, “shall be saved,” there is clearly a difference from saying that one has already been saved. Likewise, through the apostle John, Scripture says that we may have life only by believing that Jesus is the Christ and by relying on His name. And through Peter, the Spirit of truth made known that among all men under heaven, there is no salvation except in the name of Jesus.

 

John 20:30-31 “30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.”

Acts 4:8-10, 12 “8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. 12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

 

Now, in conclusion, we must change our thoughts and words according to Scripture. Therefore, from now on, we should not speak as though the final judgment belongs to us, saying, “I have been saved.” Rather, we should say, “Whoever believes in Jesus, the Word of God, and lives in the name of Jesus, shall be saved.” This is because, as mentioned earlier, there is still salvation that remains for us, and because the authority over our salvation belongs only to Jesus. Therefore, no one can say with his own mouth that he has already been saved. In Matthew 7:20-23, Jesus said that on that day many will say to Him that they prophesied in His name, cast out devils in His name, and did many wonderful works in His name, but Jesus will say, “I never knew you.” In this way, what I think and what Jesus thinks may be different (Isaiah 55:8-9). Remembering this, we must judge nothing (1 Corinthians 4:3-5). Since the authority over salvation belongs only to Jesus, the only thing we can say is the promised Word: whoever believes in Jesus and lives for the name of Jesus will surely be saved. And we must always live relying on the name of Jesus, so that this Word may be fulfilled in us and in our household, just as Rahab the harlot did long ago.

 

Joshua 2:21 “And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.”

 

Amen.