Knowing You’re Secure in Christ

I stared at the notecard in my hands, unsure how to answer the question on it: “Are you a Christian?” The options were “Yes,” “No,” and “I’m not sure.” After contemplating my options, I checked the box beside “I’m not sure.”

Halfway through that week at camp, my camp counselor approached me and asked if we could talk. I was 15 at the time, so much of that conversation is a blur. I do remember he shared the Gospel and prayed with me. But nothing he said or did made my doubts go away.

Since that experience at camp, God has taught me invaluable lessons about my faith—and my doubts. I now realize that I should’ve checked the “Yes” box on the notecard because I became a Christian when I was four years old. But I was so unsure about my salvation status because my perspective on it was far too self-focused. For example, I wanted to know if I had said the right words when I accepted Christ. Another question was if my life was producing enough spiritual fruit.

I made the gospel too much about myself and ended up overcomplicating it. The beauty of the gospel is its simplicity! Young children, older adults, and every generation in between can understand and embrace it.

In Mark 10:14–15, Jesus commends childlike faith. Unfortunately, maintaining childlike faith is often difficult. One of the reasons is because the enemy wants us to doubt our salvation. Sometimes, we believe the lie that we’re not truly children of God—even though we’ve accepted His gift of eternal life. This can make our desire to share our faith fade or vanish. To have victory over lies like this, we must stand firm in our faith and resist the temptation to doubt the truth. The Word of God presents a clear outline of what salvation is and how to obtain it. Once we ask Him to save us, we belong to Him.

As we study the truths of Scripture, we live with confidence. We can know our salvation is secure in Christ and we can help others find the same assurance.

Application Questions:

• What is one Scripture verse or passage you can memorize so that you can recite it when you’re tempted to waver in your faith?
• How can you encourage someone else who might be struggling with doubts about their faith?

Prayer:

"Dear God, help me have confidence in my salvation, knowing it’s a gift from You that I can never lose. Give me strength to fight the lies of the enemy when he tempts me to doubt that I’m Your child. Thank You that all my concerns and fears will vanish when I meet You face to face one day. Amen."

Grace McCready
Tennessee, USA
Jesus Film Project

These past ten days have focused on Build—growing stronger in our walk with Jesus. Tomorrow we begin the final section, Send, where we’ll explore how God can use us to make a difference in the world.