9 months ago

Entertainment matthew 7:21-23 believed salvation calvinism reformed theology saved eternal life security osas Bibleline

Our listener asks, “Hey Pastor Jesse! Just bought some of your
gospel tracts and look forward to handing
those out, best presentation of the Gospel
I’ve heard. I had a question around Matthew
7:21-23. I know that the will of the Father is
to believe on the Son, and that these
passages point out that those who trust in
their works for salvation are told to depart
from Christ. We also know about bearing fruit, and that
God has ordained good works that we should
walk in them (Eph. 2:10). I’ve trusted in Christ
alone for Salvation for about a year now, and
I’ve notice as I’ve grown as a Christian that I’ve
changed. I act different, I preach the Gospel,
and my friends and family have also
mentioned that I’ve changed for the better. But whenever I do a good work out of a desire
to be obedient, I get paranoid that I am in fact
doing that work to ‘prove to myself’ that I’m
a ‘true’ believer, and I fear that I run the risk of
looking at the good things that I do out of a
desire to please Christ as evidence that I’m
really saved as opposed to solely looking at the
cross for evidence that I’m really saved. How do I continue to do good works without
this paranoid feeling that I’m just doing these
good works to prove that I’m saved, and not
solely out of love for Christ? Either my own paranoia or Satan keeps telling
me ‘you haven’t REALLY believed, you’re just
doing this good work to prove you’re saved,
you’re just like the people in Matthew 7:21-23.’ I know that my works are as filthy rags to God
and that it is my faith alone in Christ alone that
justifies me and pleases God, but I still struggle
with this paranoid feeling that I’m still looking
at some of my works for reassurance. How can
I appreciate and acknowledge the growth and
change the Holy Spirit has caused in my life
without somehow looking to those things as
evidence that I’m saved? How can I be SURE that I’m not trusting in any
of my works and solely trusting in the finished
work of Christ? Thanks and God Bless!”
- Coleman