Words Worth Repeating

Let’s see if this sounds familiar:

“But what if I’m not really saved? The fear of finding out too late that I used the wrong words or didn’t fully understand or committed too little is paralyzing. I should probably pray again, just to be safe.”  

Endlessly questioning our salvation is all too common in the church today. Anxiety riddles conversation with God, stealing hours of intimate relationship, until beloved children behave as frenzied beggars. We have neither time nor desire for evangelism when consumed with taking our own spiritual pulse; thus hell renders us useless. Perhaps the most robust response to this problem pours from the comforting pen of the Prince of Preachers:

“It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, ‘Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.’ All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. 

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that ‘Christ is all in all.’ Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. 

We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee” (C.H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, June 28th Morning Reading).

Believer, it is biblical to make sure we belong to Christ. But it is also biblical to trust that same Christ, to take Him at His word. Our belovedness is the truest thing about us. With solid footing only available at the cross, we can turn a determined gaze away from the pit of hell and toward those who are about to fall into it. 

Kassie Prather is a church planting pastor’s wife in Putnam, CT. She desires to make much of Jesus through her blog www.dwell.place.