Confidence In Our Salvation
What do we have confidence in? My guess is all kinds of things. In fact, we work our lives through the things that provide steadfast foundations for security. We display confidence in the proven tools of our lives, even in small daily tasks. We depend on old recipes because we are confident of the outcome. We rely on our GPS (or road maps) because we are confident that they will lead us to the appropriate destination. We are confident in the tools because they have been proven again and again in our lives.
We can also have unfounded confidence in things that are not certain, things that are not tried and proven. We have confidence that our education and training will provide us with a job, that our riches will allow retirement of ease, that our governments will bring peace, and that our possessions and home will provide security and rest for the future.
The Bible addresses the false sense of security in the things of this earth. Jeremiah 17:5 says, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trust in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.’” Psalms 33 assures us that salvation and security will not come with the powers of earth: “No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its strength it cannot save.”
In other words, confidence is a natural outcome for us when we trust that something will provide a desired outcome. So, how is our confidence displayed in our spiritual life? In what do we confidently trust? Having confidence that God has provided us with salvation means that we have full assurance and peace that, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, saved, and secure in our relationship with God now and forever if we trust in the plan and follow His road map and recipe…and we believe in the outcome of that.
Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lord is my Light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” This salvation is not based on how good we are, but on how trustworthy and finished Christ’s work on the cross is. We are told in Philippians 1:6 that “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
We have confidence then that we are truly forgiven, pressing forward and not looking back - Paul encourages us. We are sure and confident that our sins, past, present, and future can be forgiven and are covered by the sacrifice of our Lord: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). And that true salvation brings and ensures eternal life, not temporarily, but forever as Jesus Himself promised. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
With that confidence then, we find peace and not fear in our journey and our direction. We do not live in fear of losing salvation each time we stumble. While sin is serious and we can certainly drift or fall back into the world and lose our salvation, we must not misunderstand how great God’s grace is. True believers, those who are confident in the salvation and promises of God may stumble but are not cast away by God. We remain determined and steadfast as we confidently devote ourselves to maintain a relationship with God. Knowing that “nothing…will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8) without our own distraction and disobedience.
And so, we live, with confidence that we are saved, and that we will be received by our Lord with all those who have received salvation in Him as described in Revelation 7, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
We live with confidence through our salvation in Christ, our names are already preserved and written in the book of Life. “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” (Revelation 20)
So, what will we do – how will we live? “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” (Hebrews 10:35)
