When first born babies are very susceptible to disease and illness so they must be protected from these. They are very vulnerable. Until they grow and become stronger they are in danger of things that won’t be nearly as hard to fight off later on. When someone is a new believer there is danger they will start to doubt their salvation or fear they have lost it. Thus it is important to make sure young Christians are protected from the diseases of doubt and fear. Satan can’t take away or salvation so he tries to take away the joy of our salvation in these ways.
DISEASE OF DOUBT It’s not unusual for Satan to put doubt into a persons mind right after they become a Christian. Did it ‘work’? Did they ‘do it’ right? There is no requirement to meet so there is nothing that can be done wrong. Salvation is simply a heart attitude of believing that Jesus is God who paid for your sins on the cross. If you believe that you are saved.
Rom 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.
If you aren’t sure when you accepted Jesus as Savior and for that reason wonder if you really did, just take a moment right now to pray and ask Him to forgive your sins and live in you. You will know for sure that He has done that now if not before, so you never will have need to wonder or worry. Write down today’s date so you can always go back to this time and remember that you really did put your faith in Him. ________________________
DISEASE OF FEAR If getting a person to doubt their salvation doesn’t work Satan will try to have you believe that you have somehow lost your salvation. That will take away your peace and joy and replace it with fear. Believing you can loose your salvation will cause you to try to do all you can to not lose it. Thus instead of the Christian life being one of security and assurance in what Christ has done, the emphasis focuses to what you do or don’t do. Fear of doing something that will cause you to lose your salvation becomes the primary motivating force in your Christian life. How could a family operate if everyone had to be nice to the others for fear they would be kicked out of the family?
God wants us to know for sure that there is nothing we can do to lose our salvation. He wants us to be assured of His love forever. He wants us to serve Him our love for Him, not because we are afraid He will send us to hell!
WE ARE UNDER GRACE, NOT LAW, so there is nothing we can do to lose salvation. Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
GOD IS FAITHFUL to His promise to save us if we believe. Even if we become unfaithful He still keeps His promise to us. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
GOD PROTECTS US when we are weak and faltering. When we sin and drift He does not cast us aside. Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. Psalms 37:24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
GOD WILL NEVER HOLD OUR SINS AGAINST US for they were all paid for on the cross. Thus there is no sin that will ever be charged to us. Romans 4:6-8 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
SALVATION CANNOT BE RETURNED, AND SATAN CANNOT TAKE US FROM GOD There is nothing that can come between us and God, not even we ourselves. John 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So any time you feel one of these diseases trying to hit you and take your joy and strength, remember you have no reason to doubt your salvation and you have no reason to fear losing your salvation.
by Rev. Dr. Jerry Schmoyer, Christian Training Organization