Now this is His command:  that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us.  The one who keeps his commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.  1 John 3:23-24 HCSB

There is an expression used in Christian culture that is debated by some. This is the “once saved, always saved” debate.  The belief is that once you are saved, nothing can separate you from God.  You are always saved. This belief comes from the scripture passage John 10:27-30 which says, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish-ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.  My father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all.  No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  The Father and I are one.”

The belief found in this scripture is that once we accept Christ as our savior and we are truly saved that no power or no force is strong enough to destroy our salvation.  So therefore once we are saved we are always saved.

Now here is where the debate comes in.  You and I all know people that profess to be Christians, right?  They went up in front of the church and they made their public profession of faith.  They were baptized and they live like the devil.  So, of course, any sane person would say, “hey wait a minute”.  We would question their salvation.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you of my own experience with this situation.

I was “saved” at the age of 12, but to be honest, I am not really sure that I was saved at that point.  You see I was what you might have considered to be a good girl.  I didn’t get involved in sex, alcohol, or drugs.  I was the voice of reason for some of my friends.  All in all I would say that I did well throughout my teen years.  I didn’t go “hog wild” in college.  But I did stop going to church every Sunday as my mom had made me do in my years growing up.  I continued to attend, just not every Sunday.  I got into law enforcement where I lost a lot of my naivete about the world and my heart became hardened.  I got married too young and without God’s blessing and had my heart broken just four short years later.  I was hurt by this and thought that because God had allowed this terrible thing to happen to me that He would give me a free pass to sin.  I was very wrong.  Yesterday I spoke of how our sin catches up to us.  Well when it did it broke me like a twig.  I cried out to God to help me to get rid of the sin in my life and He did.  Now, I can’t tell you for sure what day I was baptized in my preteen years.  To be honest, I am guessing that I was twelve, but I am not really sure.  But I can tell you that God turned my life around on August 22, 2010.  I vividly remember that date and that experience.  I had hit rock bottom.  I cried out to God and He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the pit that I had fallen into.  He helped me to get rid of the sin that I was holding on to.  Since that day, I have felt His presence in my life.  I have been aware of His Spirit that is within me.  What a glorious day that was.  Knowing that He is right there with me through trial and tribulation has made such a difference in my life.

In the debate of once saved, always saved, I can say this.  I do believe that once you are truly saved, you are always saved. You want to live for God and please Him. However, sometimes we profess our faith and get baptized for the wrong reasons and may not be truly saved.

How do you know if you are truly saved?  Well, our scripture passage today answers that for us.  First, do you believe in Him, I mean really believe in Him?  Secondly, do you love others?  When we love others, we want what is best for them, so think about that one for a minute.  Remember the bible tells us to love our enemies, so that one can be a bit tricky, but God doesn’t mince words.  We are to love others.  Do you keep His commands? Can you check off each of the ten commandments and say that you obey them wholeheartedly? Do you remain in Him?  Do you put God first in your life? Do you count on Him to guide you in the way you behave and the way that you treat others?  Do you feel the awesome presence of God and His Holy Spirit?

I hope you answered yes to all of these questions and can say that you are truly saved.  If not, draw near to God before it’s too late. You need to know that you are truly saved.  This is a matter of life and death, please do not delay.

Have a great day!