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Scripture Reading: John 1:12-13; 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; 1 John 5:10-13; 3:14; Rom. 8:15; 2 Cor. 5:17
Our Savior, the Lord Jesus, has accomplished everything related to our salvation. It is very easy for a person to be saved; he needs only to believe and receive. The Lord’s salvation is like a rich feast; it can be received by coming forward to eat, drink, and enjoy.
Man’s concepts concerning salvation, however, are very different from God’s way of salvation. In order for the Lord Jesus to accomplish salvation, He had to be incarnated as a man. The glorious Lord in heaven became a lowly man on earth, and He set aside His position as God. The Bible also says that though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor (2 Cor. 8:9). He passed through thirty-three and a half years of human living on the earth, experiencing all the hardships of human life. Then He suffered man’s persecution and God’s judgment on the cross (Mark 15:25, 34; Isa. 53:10). He gave up His body and shed His precious blood. He was buried, and He entered into Hades (1 Pet. 3:18-19). After three days and three nights He resurrected from the dead, ascended to the heavens, and completed the accomplishment of God’s plan (Acts 5:30-31). In resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit to be our real and living Savior (1 Cor. 15:45). In order to accomplish salvation He went through many steps; this matter is too great and too rich.
Even though the accomplishment of God’s salvation was not easy, it is easy to receive His salvation. Man needs only to believe in order to receive this salvation. God requires nothing more of us because He has already accomplished everything for us. We can obtain salvation simply by receiving it. There is no constraint of time or limitation in space related to receiving salvation. Regardless of place, time, or person, those who receive the Lord Jesus receive God’s salvation; this is the way of salvation that God has ordained.
However, man’s concepts are completely contrary to God’s way. Even though we know that God’s salvation is received by faith, we still have many concepts about God’s requirement for receiving salvation. These concepts create additional conditions for salvation, which, in turn, hinder many people from receiving the Lord; hence, we need to consider some of them. As spiritual physicians, we have encountered various types of people who have heard the gospel. For example, I recently visited a brother who believed in Jesus. During my visit I asked, “Have you believed in Jesus?” He replied, “I have believed.” Then I asked him whether he had the assurance that he was saved. He hesitated and said, “I have believed, but I still do not pray enough.” His response showed that he had a concept that prayer was related to salvation. Rather than arguing with him, I opened the Bible and read John 3:36, which says, “He who believes into the Son has eternal life.” Then I asked, “Are you a believer?” He acknowledged that he was a believer. After he said this, I asked him, “If you are a believer, do you have eternal life?” To my surprise he again spoke of his lack of prayer. This shows how difficult it was for him to drop his concept. At this point I said, “Your Bible must be different from mine because, according to your understanding, it says, ‘He who believes into the Son and prays much has eternal life.’” He quickly opened his Bible to see whether it was different, but, of course, he could not find his thought in the Bible. After spending more time with him, he dropped his concept.
As a further example, I once met a lady who attended gospel meetings at a stadium for a period of five to six days. At the end of this time I asked her, “Have you believed in Jesus?” She said, “After hearing the gospel, I felt very good, but I am still not so zealous.” Thus, I had to deal with her concept about the need to be zealous. I told her that the Bible does not say, “He who believes and is zealous has eternal life.” It helped her to know that the Bible says only, “He who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47). Between believes and eternal life, there is no further requirement for things such as prayer and zealousness.
I also have encountered some who say that they have believed but do not have the assurance of salvation because they are not faithful in their tithing. One person even said that he believed in the Lord Jesus but that he was not assured of his salvation because he did not have much money to give to the Lord. He said, “I do not have much money to donate. I go to weekly services, but I have not given any money, because my income is limited, and I am in debt. If the Lord has pity on me and allows me to make more money, I will donate some money.” In his concept there was a relationship between tithing and the assurance of salvation. He had a concept that only those who believed and donated money had eternal life. He had the thought that, in addition to believing, donations were needed in order to have eternal life.
When a married woman was asked whether she believed in the Lord, she said, “Yes,” but when she was asked whether she was saved, she began to cry, saying, “I lost my temper this morning.” Her tears indicated that her concept of salvation involved both believing and not losing her temper. The concept that something in addition to believing is needed for salvation can also include the matter of Bible knowledge. A college professor once told me that even though he believed from his heart and prayed, he had not read through the Bible once. Then he said, “Since I still do not understand the Bible, I am not yet saved.” According to his concept, reading the Bible came after believing but before eternal life.
In response to those who have a concept about reading the Bible, I sometimes say, “If you have to wait until you understand the Bible in order to be saved, who can be saved?” I have believed in the Lord for nearly thirty years, and I read the Bible every day. However, the more I read, the more I do not understand. Who can say that they understand the Bible completely? If we have to wait until we thoroughly understand the Bible in order to be saved, there is no possibility of anyone’s being saved and having eternal life.
A brother who was a doctor once met an elderly woman in the hospital. This brother was very zealous, and he was burdened that she believe in the Lord. He asked her whether she had ever heard the gospel, and she responded with a smile that she believed in Jesus. When he asked her how long she had believed in Jesus, she said that she had been a believer for many years and even prayed to Jesus every day. However, when he asked her about the assurance of her salvation, she frowned and said, “I believe in Jesus, and I pray to Him every day, but I do not know whether I am saved. I must wait until I die and see Jesus. If He approves of Me, then I will know that I have eternal life. If He does not approve, I will not have eternal life.”
In response to her word, the brother asked her to recite John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” Then he asked, “Have you believed in Jesus?” She said, “I have believed.” Then he asked further, “Do you have eternal life?” She said, “I do not know. I must wait until I die and go to be with the Lord, and if He approves of me, then He will give me eternal life. If He does not approve of me, He will reject me.” Even though she had believed in Jesus for many years, was zealous, prayed frequently, and could recite Bible verses, she still had no assurance of her salvation. When this brother heard her response, he turned to the Lord for a way to help her. Then he asked her to recite John 3:16 again and again. She recited the verse until her irritation was evident. Then the brother said, “You have recited your version of John 3:16 incorrectly.” She was astonished by his word and asked, “How can I be wrong? I have recited it since I was a little girl. If I am wrong, you should recite it for me.” Based on her request, the brother said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him must wait until he dies and goes to meet the Lord Jesus to know whether he has eternal life.” She angrily replied, “John 3:16 is not that long.” Then the brother asked, “Then how long is it?” She replied, “John 3:16 only says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.’” Then the brother immediately asked, “Have you believed?” She said, “I have believed.” When he then asked her whether she had eternal life, she could not repeat her concept about waiting because it did not correspond to John 3:16. Then she immediately realized that those who believe into Him have eternal life. Many people have similar concepts. Even though they say that they have believed, they also speak of not having a firm faith, of not being able to meet regularly, of not being able to pray, or of having a difficult time dropping their old habits. Even if we spoke for many days, we could not exhaust all such concepts.
The key to salvation is believing. When we believe, we are saved. There are no further requirements, such as not playing mah-jongg or not drinking alcohol. Neither do we have to control our temper after we believe in order to have the assurance of our salvation. If this were true, no one would be able to be saved. When it comes to our salvation, the key is to not add anything after the word believe. The simple way is the best way — believe. When we add additional requirements, such as not watching movies or not drinking alcohol, the devil, who is very subtle, will use this concept to cause us to question our salvation, and this will hinder us from praising and thanking the Lord for His salvation. Even when we speak of just believing in the Lord, the devil can come to bother us, saying, “What if your faith is not firm? What if your faith cannot endure?” Even though we have believed, the devil has many ways to shut our mouth and cause us to doubt our salvation.
Confessing that we are saved is a critical matter. We must hold fast to the word in the Bible that we are saved as soon as we believe. If we go to a movie, we should repent, but then we must say, “Thank the Lord, I am saved.” If we say this, the movie will be under our feet. This is an amazing thing. Even though the devil reminds us of our old habits of drinking alcohol and playing mah-jongg, we need to say to the devil, “Even if you put all the alcohol in the world in front of me, I have believed in Jesus, and I am saved.” If we confess this with boldness, alcohol and mah-jongg will be under our feet. This acknowledgment, this living faith, this living confession, connects us to the Lord. When an electrician comes to install an electrical lamp, he simply puts the electric bulb into the socket of the lamp; once it is connected to the electrical source, the lamp shines immediately. The only thing that matters is the connection.
We have heard the gospel and have believed in the Lord. Nothing more is needed. Even though Satan does not want to let us go, we have been connected to the Lord. We should not allow the devil to distract us with matters in the past or in the future. All these matters are in the Lord’s hands. Since we have believed in the Lord, we are saved. If the Word says that we are saved, we also should say, “I am saved, and I am in Christ.” This simple confession is quite powerful. There is nothing simpler than receiving the Lord’s salvation. When we believe, we have eternal life: he who believes has eternal life.
We know that we have eternal life when we believe because of the words in the Bible. The Bible speaks very clearly about this. When we believe, our sins are forgiven (John 3:18). When we believe, we are purified by God (Heb. 1:3). When we believe, we are justified by God (Rom. 3:24-25). When we believe, we are regenerated (John 3:6). When we believe, we have eternal life (5:24). When we believe, we are saved (Mark 16:16). When we believe, we become children of God (John 1:12). Believing solves all our problems before God. This is not a matter of our feeling; it is altogether a matter of God’s Word. According to the Bible, once we believe, we are forgiven, we are purified, we are justified, we are regenerated, we have eternal life, and we become children of God.
The purchase of a piece of land is always based on a contract. If we have a contract, we have the assurance that the land is ours. A contract is a covenant, and the Bible speaks of covenants. The Bible is God’s covenant with us. God has given His salvation to us, and His contract, His covenant, is the Bible. This covenant clearly states that in His Son, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14). If a person believes in the Lord but does not know whether his sins have been forgiven, we need to show him the words of God’s covenant. If he does not believe God’s covenant, he makes God a liar (1 John 5:10).
We should never forget that the Bible is a covenant. There is even an old and a new covenant. The old covenant is related to the Jews; the new covenant is related to all the believers in Christ. If we have believed in the Lord Jesus, God’s new covenant has been established with us. According to God’s new covenant, those who believe into His Son have been forgiven of their sins (Col. 1:14), they have been justified (Rom. 3:24-25), they have received eternal life (John 5:24), and they have been born of Him (1:12-13). When people ask us whether or not we have eternal life, it may seem humble and polite to say, “I do not dare say that I have eternal life,” but if we say this, we are actually making God a liar. Our politeness and humility are worthless. When people ask us whether or not we have believed in the Lord and have eternal life, we should boldly and simply confess, “Praise the Lord, I have eternal life.”
We know that we have eternal life because the covenant that God has established with us says, “Truly I say to you, Until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one serif shall by no means pass away from the law until all come to pass” (Matt. 5:18). God said this in His covenant, the Bible, and God cannot violate His covenant. We have believed, and our sins are forgiven. We have believed, and we are saved. We have believed, and we are regenerated. We have believed, and we have God’s life. We have believed, and we are children of God. This is our assurance.
Furthermore, those who believe in Jesus not only have the Bible in their hands but also the Holy Spirit within them. The Bible is a mysterious book, but the Holy Spirit is even more mysterious. Although the Holy Spirit is invisible and intangible, the Holy Spirit is a reality. As soon as we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters into us. Even though we may be confused in our mind, we still have a clear sense of the Holy Spirit being in us.
Someone who has believed in the Lord may say, “I do not have much feeling that I am saved.” If we ask him to pray with us, he may begin by praying, “Lord, You are my Savior” and continue by praying, “O Father!” As he calls upon the Lord, an inner sweetness rises up in his being. As he turns to the Father, he even feels like the prodigal son returning to his father in Luke 15. He feels so sweet, and his tears will start to fall. The more he cries, the more joyful he is within; the more he cries, the more he calls on God as his Father. The Bible says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13; Acts 2:21). Without God’s life, who would call God his Father? Who would casually call any person his father if he was not born of that person? This is why it is difficult for men to call their wife’s father “dad,” but it is easy to call their own father “dad.” We call God our Father when we pray, because we are His sons. “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father!” (Gal. 4:6). It is very sweet when we call, “Abba, Father.”
Before I believed in Jesus, I was quite annoyed whenever I heard the name Jesus. If someone was opposing Jesus, I would immediately stand with him. Even though I knew many pastors and preachers, I still stood on the side of those who opposed Jesus. After I was saved, I could no longer stand with those who were opposing Jesus. In fact, inwardly, I was standing with Jesus. Knowing whether we have truly believed in Jesus is not merely a matter of mental confirmation. Rather, our inward sense tells us that we are in Christ and standing on His side. If our relatives say, “This Jesus cannot be believed,” there will be an immediate reaction of disagreement within us. This is what it means to stand on the side of Jesus. Whoever stands with Jesus in this way has believed in Jesus and has been joined to Jesus because the Spirit of Jesus has entered into him.
I once met an elderly man who believed in Jesus very devoutly and prayed to the Lord frequently. However, he dared not say that he was saved, because he had not been taught the truth of salvation clearly. He thought that since God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, he should not be bold to say that he was saved. He was willing to wait until he died in order to find out. Although his mind was confused, his spirit was very clear. The Holy Spirit was in him, and he had the peace that comes from being saved. He even knew that he would be with the Lord when he died. Nevertheless, he was unwilling to say that he was saved.
We need to forget these concepts in our mind. The Holy Spirit in our spirit testifies that we are children of God. We have the Bible in our hands and the Holy Spirit in our spirit. These two witnesses, one within and the other without, are the assurance of our salvation (Rom. 10:13; 8:16). Because we are saved, we do not need to ask about the future. Our future is in God’s hands.
Today we are in Christ. Since we are saved and have been joined to the Lord, we are in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). This is like being a passenger in a boat. Even though the ocean is deep and vast, we can sleep peacefully because we are in the boat. Therefore, we should loudly sing, “Now I’m already in Christ; / I have left Adam’s realm; / All old things have become new, / Earthly became heav’nly! / Praise the Lord, here I can enjoy grace, / Fully tasting life and peace! / Praise the Lord, I am in the Lord now!” (hymn #229 in the Chinese hymnal). Hallelujah! We are in the “boat,” in Christ. This is so precious. We are not in ourselves or in Adam; we are in God. Today we have the Bible in our hands and the Holy Spirit in our spirit. God is in us, and we are in Christ; this is sufficient. We should boldly proclaim, “Hallelujah! I am saved, I have the life of God, and God is in me!”
