Being Confident

By Willa Johnson

“I just hope I’m good enough to get into heaven,” someone says. Sorry, but being good doesn’t cut it! No one is ever ‘good enough’ to get into heaven. The Bible is specific about who may enter God’s heavenly realm. You must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and accept Him as your Savior. There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

However, being ‘confident’ one has eternal life through Christ is an achievable condition. The Apostle John wrote: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.” I John 5:13 Every day we act with confidence and accept things around us. Before we sit in a chair, do we check it out to make sure it will hold us? Chairs have been known to break. Before we get into our cars do we first check all the tires to make sure they aren’t flat? A few times I wished I had. When we turn on a light switch, don’t we expect the room to light up? Think about all the actions we do every day without checking to make sure everything works as expected.

If a Christian is worried about his/her salvation, perhaps confidence is not directed to the proper person. The middle verse of the entire Bible states: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” Psalm 118:8 No matter what happens in our lives, the Lord has promised to help. Remember, we are not here to do our will but God’s will. So, how can we know God’s will?

In reading two books recently, one thing stood out. The ex-Muslim terrorist author, now a Christian, literally “thirsted” on knowing what the Bible taught. Another book told how Muslims are accepting Christ, especially within the Arab nations. Again, the new believers want a Bible to study. They want to know the difference between God and Allah. If anyone wants to know God’s will, what better place than His Word?

Two verses from the Sermon on the Mount give us the following promises: “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

We can be confident as we grow in the knowledge of God’s will and obey it.

Willa Johnson writes from Phoenix, Oregon. wjhat@ccountry.com