I once had a cordial discussion with a friend from a denomination different from my own. We were discussing how we knew we were saved. She confidently asserted that she did this activity and that activity. Every religious check box had been marked complete. I told her that I believed differently. While I understand that good works are a result of my salvation, they don’t make me saved. When I see God work in me and through me, it further assures me I belong to him. My salvation is based on the work of Christ on the cross – not by anything I’ve done.
Well, my friend did not get it. It just seemed more concrete to her to have this objective standard of works than simply by faith. So, I asked, “How do you know you done enough?” After a long silence she said, “I don’t know.” I do know because I know God has already accepted what Jesus has done. The resurrection proved that.
So, on what do we depend? How well we perform religion? How good we are? How much I give? How often I go to church? Or, we can depend upon God’s claim: We are saved by his lavish grace (Eph. 2:8-9) and held there by his love (Rom. 8:38-39). This does not grant us a blank check to live anyway we want, but I can rest on Jesus’ perfect fulfillment rather than my own imperfect attempts.
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