3 Truths from Romans 10:9-10, 13

If you are a believer and follower of Jesus, our enemy the devil, along with the angels who were deceived and followed him that we now know as demons – are constantly throwing things in our way in attempt to eat away at our assurance of salvation. To start out this morning, I would like to be so bold as to discuss 5 common things that give us False Assurance that can kill your soul.

Q: How do you know you’re a Christian?

For some of us, we don’t even think we can know.

Statistically speaking, most people who say they are a Christian will admit in surveys, or even in conversation, that they don’t even believe you can know.

“So are you a Christian?” The usual answer is, “I think so.”

“But do you know you’re going to go to Heaven when you die?” – Q: What do you think the answer usually is?

“No – I don’t know that I’m going to Heaven – nobody knows that; God will decide whether I go to Heaven or hell when I die.”

If you believe like that, you’ve gotta’ be miserable living every day of your life without the assurance or the confidence that your sins are forgiven and that Jesus lives in you!

Q: How do you think God is going to arbitrarily decide who goes?

“I just hope that my good deeds tip the scale, and that I’ve got a few more Good Deeds than Bad Deeds.”

That’s a horrible way to live! God doesn’t want you to live like that!

You could never be good enough to get into Heaven. Jesus was good for you. Jesus was perfect when you were imperfect. Jesus did not sin. When we sin, we deserve to die and to pay the penalty for our sin, but God loved us so much that He sent His only son into the world so that Jesus could die and shed His blood so that we don’t have to! And if you put your faith in that, you can know!

I’m going to show you a verse that some of you know very well, but this is a verse that blows peoples’ minds today because some people don’t even know that this verse is in the Bible!

This verse was recorded by Jesus’ closest disciple among the 12, one of Jesus’ best friends, and the last disciple to die according to church tradition, John. God had him write these things down for us, you and me…

1 John 5:13 – “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

God wants you to have confidence in your salvation! It’s really confidence in Him, and He wants you to know that you’re going to go to be with Him when you die! And just as important as that, God wants you to know Jesus now! He is your Lord now! He is your best friend now! He is your savior now! He will never leave you nor forsake you now! He will not abandon you now! I get a relationship with Jesus now! And I get an eternal relationship with Jesus forever!

You can know that! You cannot, however, based on your good works, not based on what you’ve done, not based on these five common misconceptions I’m about to share with you.

Here’s what most people think makes them a Christian. When asked, “Are you a Christian?”, people will typically respond in one of these five ways. Maybe one of these is you. Many don’t have a confidence in their salvation. You hope so; you think so; you guess so; you wish so. But today in the next few minutes you’re going to know so by the grace of God! Here’s what a lot of people say when asked, “Are you a Christian?”

#1 – “I’m a good person”

Don’t hate the messenger – I love y’all – and no, you’re not. We all have “flurries” of goodness. We have moments of goodness, when the weather’s just right, and the humidity is low, and you got eight hours of sleep, and you’ve had coffee, and your clothes fit right, and your hair cooperated (for some of us). You might have a really good day, and you might have a moment or two of goodness, but you’re not good. Youth and children, just think back to the last time your parents or grand-parents told you to do something you were already supposed to have done! Parents and grandparents, just think back to the last time you told your kids or grand-kids to do something they were already supposed to have done! There it is.

By the way, if being a good person made you a Christian, how good would you have to be? We’ve talked about that together in here before!

You’d have to be perfect! You’re not perfect. Neither am I – far from it!

#2 – “I was raised in a Christian family”

It’s good to be raised in a Christian family; that means you’ve got a Christian Heritage. But that does not mean you are a Christian.

People in India who are Hindu believe that if you’re born in a Hindu family, you are a Hindu.

People from Muslim countries who worship Allah and are Muslims believe that if you’re born into a Muslim family with Muslim parents, you are born a Muslim.

I want to make sure that we are clear about this: The Christian faith does not teach that about Christianity! We are not born a Christian because you’re born in a Christian family. We are born to flawed sinners; we must be re-born into the Christian faith. That’s what Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus, “Unless a man is born again, he can’t even see the kingdom of God.” You are not born okay the first time! It’s just not true. You are not born okay. I’m not born okay. We are born dead in our sin. And until Jesus’ message of Good News, the Gospel, convicts you of your sin, and you repent of your sin and are born again, you are not a Christian. Being raised in a Christian family is great, but that is not what makes you a Christian.

#3 – “I love everyone”

Do you really?!

First of all, I can’t say I love everyone because I don’t even know everyone! There are 8 ½ billion people on planet Earth! I’ve met a couple hundred thousand, or maybe even a million of us over the years, but I don’t know everybody, much less love everybody. Second of all, I can’t love everybody unless the love of Jesus lives in me. And if loving everybody made you a Christian, what happens when you meet somebody you don’t, won’t, or can’t immediately love? What happens when somebody who you used to love hurts you, and now you don’t love them anymore, or you’re mad at them, or you kind of still love them, but you also kind of don’t? Bottom Line: You can’t love others more until you love Jesus first and most!

But, loving everybody is not what makes us a Christian. It’s a fruit of the spirit – a by-product; it’s evidence that you’re a Christian, but it’s downstream from becoming a Christian.

#4 – “I was baptized”

This is the one I hear the most. Baptism is good. It’s important. It is an act of obedience. But baptism is a symbol. It is not salvation.

Catholics do it one way; Methodists do it another way; Baptists do it yet another way; Pentecostals and charismatics do it a certain way; other religions even have purification rights that are similar to baptism. But the waters of baptism don’t wash away your sins – the shed blood of Jesus does that! Getting baptized is also downstream from getting saved, another by-product. And I’m glad if you were baptized. But unless it happened after you became a Christian, it really doesn’t mean or symbolize much of anything.

#5 –“I go to church”

Okay, well, I gotta’ confess – I’ve been going to church since I was born, and some of the meanest people I’ve ever met in my life go to church, including myself sometimes. And if going to church is what makes you a Christian, then what’s the attendance policy? Does God keep attendance, does He take role? How much do you gotta’ go to church: Once a week? Twice a year? Every time the doors are open? How many are you allowed to miss?

Going to church is important, but it’s not what makes you a Christian.

Q: So how can you know then?

I just want to show you what the Bible says, which really is Good News, that we can do!

The scriptures give us three simple truths to knowing that you’re a Christian. They are so simple, and they come straight from the book of Romans chapter 10.

Paul originally addressed this book to a small group of believers in Rome who were meeting in homes under the shadow of the Roman Empire, where the Caesars (Julius, Augustus, Nero, Vespasian, Dometian) would command people to declare, “Caesar is Lord”.

The Caesars believed that they were “King of Kings, Lord of lords, Caesar of Caesars”! They would demand people worship them as if they were a God. Paul writes to the church in Rome saying that there is only one Lord, and it isn’t Caesar! And in Romans chapter 10, verses 9, 10, and 13 we see the three ways that you can know you’re a born-again, heaven-destined follower of Jesus!

God gives us these verses to remove confusion, manipulation, and emotionalism. For me personally, I’ve committed what time I have left in this life to helping people know for sure that they are a believer who loves Jesus, who belongs ...

How Do You Know?

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