My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.     John 10:27-28 NKJV

Are you positive that if you died this minute you would go to heaven? This is the most important question we will ever ask ourselves.

Many people believe because they were baptized, they are saved, but this is not necessarily the case. Many people do these things out of emotion such as a revival or church camp. Others may do this because they are at that age where it is expected of them. Others do it to please loved ones. There are many reasons people claim to “get saved”.

True salvation, however, is when we have drawn near to God and He has drawn near to us as James 4:8 instructs us to do. If we sincerely draw near to God and He draws near to us, He will call us to salvation. He wants us all to be saved and to have everlasting life with Him in heaven.

However, time and time again we see people get baptized and never return to church. Or they get baptized and never make any changes in their lives. They are still doing all the things they did before even those things that go against God’s word. This is where my pastor would ask, “What have they been saved from?”

True salvation requires transformation. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we are told that if we are in Christ, or truly saved, we are a new creation. We have let go of our old ways and all of our ways are new. We no longer want to spend Saturday night at the bar drinking with friends. We no longer want to skip church or any opportunity to learn more about the Lord through Bible study. We want to help others. We want to do the things that God calls us to do. We want to serve Him. As our pastor often says, it changes what we want to do.

We become a new creation that wants to do our best to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. We want to love others as we love ourselves.

The most important question you will ever answer is, “Are you truly saved?” Sadly, my friend if you believe you were saved because you got baptized you better give this some more thought. Baptism is an outward expression of salvation. Baptism doesn’t save us. We get baptized because we were saved. Many have the false belief that because they were baptized, they are saved but this is not the case.

Our Bible verse is one many use to prove their belief that once saved, always saved. When Jesus says no one can snatch them from my hand they believe He means that if we have been saved, we are always saved. I believe this as well, but I believe many people who believe they are saved never were saved.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said that many will call upon Him believing they were saved because they went to church or they were a good person or they got baptized, but He will say to them, “Depart from Me, I never knew you who practice lawlessness.” He says that only those who do the will of God will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Salvation brings about transformation. It makes us want to do God’s will. It makes us pray that His will be done. It makes us trust that He is working all things out for our good and that He’s got our backs. It makes us want to spend time in fellowship with like-minded Christians. It makes us want to draw closer to Him by spending time with Him daily through Bible study and prayer.

If you haven’t experienced a transformation, then you weren’t saved. Draw near to Him, surrender to Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. He will do the rest. Don’t be afraid to change because I can assure you, the change will do you good.

Have a great day!