Quoting the Lord Jesus, the Apostle John
wrote, "Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock; if anyone
hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to
him." (Revelation 3:20) Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self
(the Bible calls this ‘repentance’), and trusting Christ to come into our lives
to forgive all our sins (past, present and even future) and to make us the kind
of people He wants us to be. However, just to agree intellectually that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not
enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Christ by
faith as an act of the will.
If you have sincerely asked Jesus to
forgive your sins and come into your life, you have His promise in Revelation
3:20 that He will come in and be your friend so you can know Him personally.
Would He mislead you? You have it on His authority, the trustworthiness of God
Himself, and His Word that God has answered your prayer.
The Bible promises eternal life
to all who receive Christ. Again, the Apostle John wrote, “And
this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in
His Son.12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life.13 These things I have written to you who believe in the
name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life,
and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of
God” (1 John 5:11-13).
If you are a Christian, then thank
God that Christ is in your life. Christ says in Hebrews 13:5, "I will
never leave you nor forsake you.” In the original
Greek language, that verse is more accurately translated, "I will never,
no, not ever leave you or forsake you." It is a triple, emphatic negative.
You can know based on His promises that Christ lives in you and that you have
eternal life, from the very moment you invite Him in. He will not deceive you.
He is totally, wonderfully good and trustworthy!
A key to knowing you can have assurance
of salvation is your obedience (1 John 2:3,4: "And by this … " Are
you willing to submit to Christ’s Lordship in your life, and change in areas
that God points out in His word and through His Spirit that are wrong? Are you
willing to obey what God says regardless of your fears or the consequences?
Moreover, the Apostle John wrote that the key ingredient to all of this of that
our motivation should be love of God (1 John 5:2,3).
The summary question remains, "Will
you trust Him to save you when He promised He would if you asked sincerely and
choose to follow Him in obedience?"