Salvation is a wonderful, marvelous, stupendous, terrific, unbelievable free gift from God. He paid a price for our sins we could never imagine. Our only part is to stop rejecting Him. We put our faith in Jesus and salvation is ours forever. Nothing could be greater. Even Satan himself cannot keep us from salvation or take it from us (John 10:27-30; Romans 8:31-39). What he can do, though is to take the joy of our salvation from us if we let him. He lied to Eve in Eden in order to take their joy and he does the same to us today. Satan is a liar and the father of lies: Jesus said: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Let’s look at some of these lies so we can recognize them and stop them by using God’s truth.
- “I’M NOT REALLY SAVED” Rare is the believer who never wonders about this. Doubts are common and normal, but when those thoughts stick around and impact our peace and joy no matter what we do to stop them then they are probably from demons and must be rebuked and rejected. Normal doubts can be handled by focusing on the truth. John the Baptist was a faithful and courageous servant of God, filled with the Holy Spirit from conception. Yet when going through great oppression he had his doubts (Matthew 11:2-3). But he handled them correctly by going to Jesus for assurance, which he received (Matthew 11:4-6). If you have moments of doubt, that does not mean you have lost your salvation. It simply means you have questions you need to work through. Take them to Jesus. Trust me, Jesus is okay with that. Don’t allow anyone else, especially Satan, to tell you otherwise.
GOD’S TRUTH: Matthew 24:35; 1 John 2:1-2; 5:13; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 3:16; 5:24; 6:37, 44; 10:27-29; 20:31; 1 Peter 1:3-4; Titus 3:4-7; 1 John 3:1-3; 4:13-16; 5:11-13; Colossians 1:12-14; 1 Corinthians 2:5; Romans 8:1, 16-17, 28-39
- “GOD CAN’T LOVE ME WHEN I SIN” God’s love for us is the most important thing we have, so of course Satan attacks it all he can. We are all susceptible to this lie. Because we don’t love ourselves when we sin, it’s easy to assume God doesn’t love us either. But the truth is that God loved us before salvation, when we were immersed in sin and didn’t care (Romans 5:8) so why wouldn’t he love us now when we do want to live for Him, even though we often fail? God loved you when you were a sinner at your absolute worst. He showed you this love by sending Christ to die for you. You put your trust in Christ for salvation and trust His Word and its assurance.
GOD’S TRUTH: John 15:9; Ephesians 3:17-19; 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 3:5; 1 John 3:16; 4:7-10, 19; Jude 21
- “GOD FORGAVE ME TOO MANY TIMES” Some feel God has a limited amount of forgiveness and when He has to forgive us too often He gives up on us. That’s how we can be with others, or even ourselves, but God isn’t that way. In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asks Jesus how many times one should forgive their brother. Peter thought he was being generous by saying seven because, at that time, there was a teaching that said three strikes and you are out. Jesus destroyed Peter’s idea by saying not seven times, but seventy times seven. What he was saying is you should never run out of forgiveness for your brother who sins against you. Jesus not only said this, He lived it. That’s why a reservoir of forgiveness is always available for you when you come to Jesus in repentance. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
GOD’S TRUTH: 2 Chronicles 7:14; Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 1:18; 55:6-7; 1 John 1:6-9; Psalm 19:12; 32:1-5; 103; 139:23-24; Isaiah 1:18; 43:25; Romans 4:7-8; Hebrews 8:12; 1 John 2:12
- “I HAVE TO EARN MY WAY BACK BY GOOD BEHAVIOR” Another lie Satan likes to use is to get you to believe that if you have sinned, then you have to earn your way back into God’s favor. Your sin caused you to lose God’s favor, now you need to get it back. You must do something to get him to love you again. We sometimes think that before we confess our sin, we have to show God we are really repentant and sorry so we make ourselves suffer before we ask for forgiveness. Not only is this a lie, it doesn’t work. There is nothing you can ever do to win God’s favor or make him love you more. And there’s nothing you can do to make Him love you any less. If you fall into this trap, it will cause you to move into works-based salvation, and works-based salvation doesn’t work. You have been saved by God’s grace, and everything that happens after that happens by His grace as well. If you couldn’t earn your salvation to begin with, what makes you think you can earn it back? The simple answer is you can’t, so stop trying to. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
GOD’S TRUTH: Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:12-13; Titus 3:5; Romans 11:6; 1 Corinthians 4:7
Satan is a liar and deceiver (John 8:44). Some of the most dangerous lies are about out salvation. Don’t fall for any of them. Salvation is all from God, nothing from us. Accept it, rejoice in it, never doubt it for when you do you doubt God.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. – Jude 1:23-24
Have you had a time in your past when you doubted your salvation? How did you overcome it?
What would you tell a friend who was doubting their salvation?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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