01. Introduction: The Agony of Not Being Sure

Introduction The Agony Of Not Being Sure

The misery of believing in a false gospel is really a misery like no other; in fact, it is pure agony. Our media is filled with sharp, well-meaning individuals who, without realizing, teach biblically flawed plans of salvation that are not even found in the bible. The ubiquity with which these accursed messages are currently flooding this world is unlike any other time in our history for one crucial reason: our enemy’s time grows short and he desires to keep as many people as possible from understanding the simplicity of Christ’s free gift of salvation. These flawed plans purport that sinners can reach heaven through their own merits, or by combinations of faith in Christ plus their own works and deeds. The purpose of this story is twofold: firstly, it is to help you to know beyond any doubt whatsoever the truth of what Christ says about the gift of salvation; secondly, it is to help arm you with the knowledge necessary for you to be able to detect what is perhaps the greatest weapon against mankind in the arsenal of our adversary: to con people into living the Christian lifestyle without ever being born again. With the aforementioned precepts firmly in mind, let us look at one man’s story. A man who was led by his college professors to believe there was no God at all reached out to Him one day in complete desperation. This man began praying to God in hopes that He would help him. He both listened to and watched today’s most popular Christian evangelists, trusting every word they spoke. Realizing his need to be born again, he followed the directives of these well-known pastors. The poor man asked Jesus into his heart, tried his best to turn from his sins, and he then crowned Christ as the Lord of his life. The man literally changed overnight. In the beginning, everything was perfect; in fact, it was all much more than he expected it to be. This man was getting prayers answered and he was getting returns on his tithes. This man began buying bibles for his friends, telling them about Christ, attending church, tithing, and even sending money to the pastors who had instructed him, but despite the visible changes in this man, he was not truly born again. Since the devil also has the power to do miracles, this man’s faith had unknowingly been intercepted by an all-too-common counterfeit version of the gospel.

Shortly afterward, he began doubting his salvation. He asked Christ to come into his heart again. The next three years witnessed this miserable man asking Christ into his heart literally thousands of times yet still he never had biblical assurance of his salvation.

What exactly happened to this man? God reached out to him with the true gospel in its superlative simplicity. He was saved eternally the instant that he trusted on Christ alone to save him. I know this because I am, in fact, that same man to whom I have been referring. Christ’s promise of eternal life is to everyone who believes His gospel message. He saves you forever the very instant you trust in Him.

Here is the gospel: God says that we are sinners and that no amount of good works or behavioral changes on our part could ever make us holy enough to enter heaven. God sent His Son to pay for all of our sins. Jesus paid for our crimes by dying on the cross for us all. His dead body was buried in a grave. On the third day, Jesus arose from the dead. The instant you believe this, He knows it and He saves you. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life”(John 6:47). The free gift is based solely upon your trust in what Jesus did for you and has nothing at all to do with what you do for Him. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).