2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

When I left you yesterday I can imagine there are more than a few that might ask themselves, “Am I saved?” That is a fair question and I do not have an answer for you in particular, but I do have some general advice. This opening verse contains my answer to my salvation issues.

If I am in Christ and Christ is in me, then my assurance is found in the promises made by God to those who are manifested in His life. Even the understanding of those promises is a promise kept. One of those important promises is growth in Christ. While some promises have been instant some only occur through growth and that takes time. He gave me the patience to accept that and that too is a promise kept.

Recently I quote 2 Peter 1:2-9 which in part said “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature”. In this please focus on the word “might”. This is not a condition promise based on “if you will” but rather a deeper understanding that many of us will die before all those promises are fulfilled in this lifetime. Remember partaking of the bread of life is partaking in Christ. Just like any meal, you cannot eat everything offered in one sitting. You have to return to the banquet table often and that is up to you to do for the sake of your own personal growth.

I admit there were times that the change in me was so dramatic and pleasing that I became a little self-satisfied, stuffed if you must. My growth in Christ stopped just because of that feeling of being full, I could not take another bite. Luckily God dealt with me over self-satisfaction and I once again hungered and thirsted after righteousness.

But that is me. What about you?

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

If I asked around about what it takes to be saved, I would hazard to guess that I would get some foundational answers and some with a little more understanding added to the simple truth. Do you have to believe Jesus is God to be saved? Do you have to believe Jesus was sent of God to be saved? Do you have to know how to believe with your heart to be saved or is a mental acknowledgement sufficient?

I don’t like to ask questions upon which I do not already have an answer. In this one instance I find myself confessing without a doubt, I do not have the answer. Not for you anyway. I have an examined life experience that tells me that what I thought was true and sure in the past might have been fraught with error. Even my self-examination is flawed. Things might have been better for me than I remember, or worse. God only knows and that is the point.

God is the one who needs to be satisfied. Self-satisfaction is rooted in self. Many of us who witness to the lost seek signs of understanding, verbal at least, played out in changed behavior, and some confirmation that God is at work in those lives. Again that is self-satisfying. We like to know our efforts have not been in vain.

Do we really know what is in the hearts and minds of others? Not like God does, that’s for sure. Still we like to judge, not harshly, not unjustly, but we judge to see if anything else can or needs to be done.

Since only God saves, then His satisfaction is the only thing that counts.