Are You Saved? What Is Your Story?

Good News – June 2021 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Are You Saved?
What Is Your Story?

Did you know that genuine faith leads to action? Where there is no action, the question must be raised, “Is that person actually saved?” – “I will show you my faith by my works” (Jas. 2:18 NKJV ).

If you are saved by God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you should have a story to tell. That narrative will be of the day you had a serious encounter with the living God. It would include the telling of how you came to the conclusion of being a sinner by birth and by practice, and that you needed the only Savior who has been provided.1 Your story would then express how you confessed your sins and received Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. You may not remember a specific date, but it would be an event that you will never forget!

There is this experience of a boy at a Bible camp years ago, where he received a little plaque that read: “Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8 KJV). He was somewhat sure that he had received the Lord Jesus as his Savior at a younger age but was not conscious of a deliberate confession of sin and asking the Lord to forgive those sins and come into his heart. In a little camp cabin, kneeling at an old cot, he called to the Lord in faith and came to the assurance of salvation. On that day this specific event became his story.

Many people who say they are Christians have been asked as to when they were saved. Often, they answered by saying, “I’ve been going to church all my life,” or “I grew up in a Christian family.” These individuals could not give an unforgettable, personal account of a life-changing event. Had they honestly come to the Lord in repentance unto salvation?2 They should probably wonder if they did! A missionary friend has questioned how anyone would not remember the occasion when they turned from darkness to light.

To such, the following recommendation is made:

1. In deep humility, seriously confess that you are a sinner by birth and by practice;
2. Admit to the Lord Jesus your total inability to save yourself, that you need Him;
3. Tell the Savior you believe in Him as to His perfect life, death and resurrection; and
4. Receive Him as your Lord and Savior.

Having done this, write the date on your calendar or in your Bible, and claim it as the confirmation of your second birth! 3We can tell you more.

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10).

“We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Heb. 2:1).

ENDNOTES
1. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NKJV).
2. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10).
3. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit’” (Jn. 3:3-8).