By Lamont H. Fuchs, Ed.D.
Scripture references: Acts 2:21, Psalm 107: 10-15
Questions often remain in people’s minds about Salvation and whether they have it or others have it. It is usually based upon the judgment of others when a living testimony fails in the eyes of the beholder and judge.
Our calling is to love, preach, teach, glorify, praise, and walk in the Spirit like our example in Christ Jesus. We are not the judge. We are to look to our own Salvation.
You do not know. You cannot see the soul or the Spirit indwelling in a person, young or old, good or bad. The best we can do is become fruit inspectors. Does the person who says they are saved show the “Fruit of the Spirit”? That is tenuous itself. We all work on our Salvation and our sanctification. Have you ever seen a convert who gave their life to Jesus and, from day one, is changed, as the Bible says, into a new creature? The old person is gone, and a new life is born. Then again, others struggle to break old habits and fight with sin every day, with faith that they will be able to win again tomorrow. Some fail and then fight to get back. How often have you seen people fresh out of drug addiction clinics go back within days, weeks, months, or years after treatment? Total failures, and I am confident God loves them.
The question of this devotion remains the same. Are you saved? We need not judge whether others are. We can bask in their light when it shines and help lift others from the ditch when they fall, but we will never know who is saved and who is not on this side of heaven. To think like that is judging others as you feel and not as God thinks. He sees the soul; He tests our spirit; He dwells in those He chooses. His ways are far above ours.
First and foremost, we should get credit for nothing. There is nothing we can do to earn Salvation. We only accept it. Jesus paid it all. He paid for our Salvation, then He gave it to us to accept. We can do nothing to lose our Salvation once He has sealed us with His Spirit. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and we can do nothing to make God love us less. When we consider how high God’s love is, it is beyond our understanding. We do not know what all God’s love is, and we will never know until we meet our Lord. It is a mystery of God and will remain one.
I know that God loves us; God loved us even when we were lost, and our lives were chained down in sin. He loved us so much that He gave His only son to save us. Simple yet so complex. He will never leave us or forsake us.
Lord, my God and Father, thank You for Your love, forgiveness, and grace You have given me. I ask today, I never take for granted that I know who is saved by Your grace, that it might be a sin for me to judge another, or worse, that I might assume someone who needs Salvation hasn’t attained it yet. Remind me, Lord, what You have called us to do, and leave the real battle up to You. Inspire me and give me the strength to be bold and speak Your Gospel. Amen.
