Recent statistics indicate there are approximately two billion Christians worldwide. But you have to wonder how many of those people say they are Christians because they believe there’s a God, grew up with parents who professed faith in Christ, attend church regularly, or once repeated the sinner’s prayer.
Undoubtedly the sincere claims people make are sometimes far from reality. As chilling as that thought may be, there are countless well-meaning people who believe they’re saved, but they aren’t. Could you or someone you know be one of them? How do you know your faith is built on a solid foundation? Or is that something you can ever know this side of eternity? – John MacArthur – He goes on to state in this 2-part series, “Examine Yourself“:
Don’t tell me you are a Christian because five years ago you walked an aisle. Don’t tell me you are a Christian because once you signed a card. Don’t try to tell God you’re a Christian because you went forward in a meeting, you went into a prayer room, you talked to a counselor, and don’t tell yourself you’re a Christian because some counselor told you you were a Christian, because he didn’t know, either. The worst thing you can do to somebody is to talk to them about Christ, and when they’ve prayed a prayer, and verbally invited Christ into their life, then to sit there and assure them they’re really saved, because you don’t have any idea whether they are.
That’s the Holy Spirit’s work. He’s the one who grants assurance. And He grants it by the inward testimony – Romans 8 – and by the outer exhibit of works that prove it, because faith without works is what? It’s dead. You know, one of the legacies that we’ve had from the kind of evangelism that has gone on in our country is that we believe salvation is attached to a decision. But the assurance of salvation has nothing to do with the decision in the past. It has to do with what’s going on in the present.
Determine for yourself whether you are a Christian. John MacArthur shows you how to assess your spiritual condition in Examine Yourself.
