Christian Concepts

Bringing your Potential to Light

Matt Pavlik

God Desires You To Be Secure

God Desires You To Be Secure

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Reading time: 4 minutes

What would it take for you to feel secure? Would money do it? Health? Fame? What about possessing the certainty of God’s promises to you? That is my most valuable possession. How about you?

What assurances of eternal life do you have? Believers possess full assurance of salvation, gain complete joy because of salvation, and can abide in Christ.

The way to be saved is by believing that Jesus is the Christ. If you have persistent doubts about your salvation, you’re probably not saved. But if you’ve made this declaration and you know in your heart it is true, by faith, then you have been born of God.

Whether you are a believer or not will greatly influence how you interpret and understand the Bible. To the degree you doubt whether you are saved, you increase the chance that you’ll interpret the Bible incorrectly. That’s because only believers have the Holy Spirit and the only way to understand the Bible is through the Spirit. You won’t be able to put your confidence in the words of truth if you can’t even know for sure that you are saved.

Believing Confirms You Can Feel Secure

1 John says clearly that once you cross over to being a believer, you can know with confidence that you have eternal life. Several verses in chapter 5 drive home that you can feel secure.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

1 John 5:1, 13, 14, 18 ESV

When you are confident in Jesus, you believe He will listen to you when you pray. If you are born of God then:

  1. You won’t keep on sinning.
  2. God will protect you (and keep you from continuing to sin).
  3. The evil one can’t snatch you away from God’s hand (John 10:28-29).

Joy Results When You Feel Secure

John, even earlier in Chapter 1, provides a formula for having complete joy: to have fellowship with the Father and the Son. Jesus is the life made manifest, the eternal life. To know Jesus is to secure life for all eternity (John 17:3).

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

1 John 1:1-4 ESV

Abiding Keeps You Secure

1 John 3:6 makes it clear that those who keep on sinning (with a hardness of heart and without repenting) never had salvation. If you have any doubts also consider verses 5:1 and 5:13.

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

1 John 3:6 ESV

The entrance into the Christian life is all or nothing. Only believers will be with Christ forever. This will keep some people out of the kingdom of God. However, it also means that once you are in, you will remain in, because God is the one who has the power to keep you secure.

If there is a way to lose salvation, the only way would be not believing and trusting in Jesus Christ. God promises you eternal life as long as you keep in your heart the gospel message which you heard when you became a Christian (see 1 John 2:24-25). This should be the very thing we as believers are eager to do.

Read more about eternal security.
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Holy Spirit Guarantees Your Inheritance

Holy Spirit Guarantees Your Inheritance

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Reading time: 3 minutes

God desires that you feel secure with Him. He accomplishes this through His Holy Spirit, given to you when you are born spiritually. Once you are saved, He accepts responsibility for you and is able to keep you from falling away (Jude 1:24).

Holy Spirit Seals You

God gives the believer His Holy Spirit. As soon as you believe, God seals you with His Holy Spirit so you can feel secure. You become a genuine believer by hearing the word of truth, which is the gospel, and believing the truth.

God personally guarantees your inheritance until you receive it. If God is the guarantor, there be no doubt that He will keep His promise. God is the giver of good gifts. He is not one to revoke His gift (James 1:17, Matthew 7:7-11). This makes sense, doesn’t it? God is not someone who plays games with us. Once He chooses and calls you, He doesn’t change His mind (Romans 11:29).

A genuine believer can know he or she is eternally secure because of Ephesians 1:14.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

—Ephesians 1:11-14

Holy Spirit Intercedes for You

God is master and we are His followers. As a follower, you don’t need to know as much as God knows. You can’t know as much as God.

Since you are weaker than God, this places you in a position of dependence. Believers relate to God through faith and trust.

You don’t always know what needs to happen or what you should pray for. God makes up the difference by intervening in the best way possible. He knows us completely. Therefore, He cannot miss a necessary detail. He has life figured out. He has you covered.

In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God’s people.

Romans 8:26-27 CEV

Holy Spirit Guides You

When people are blind, they especially need someone to direct their steps. Chances are, you are not blind, but even so, you cannot see everything.

Since you see less clearly than God, you must depend upon Him. You must walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). This means moving forward in confidence that God is on your side, God is protecting you, and God is preserving you.

In the physical world, salt is a preservative. In the spiritual realm, truth is a preservative. Without the truth, you decay and die. The truth strengthens your resolve to face all that you must endure in this life.

The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn’t speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen.

John 16:13 CEV

Consider all these words and may the peace of God rest upon you now and forever.

This post is part of a series on eternal security. You can read the introductory post: eternal security means full assurance of salvation.
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Eternal Security Means Full Assurance Of Salvation

Eternal Security Means Full Assurance Of Salvation

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Reading time: 3 minutes

All born-again Christians have eternal security: a full assurance of their salvation. Jesus guaranteed this when He paid for our sins once for all time (Hebrews 10:12).

A promise of security that is temporary or conditional wouldn’t provide assurance. But worse, it would be fraudulent. The reasons to worship or trust God would be limited. Security is an emotional need that God fulfills through His care for us. Fortunately for us, God is fully capable of meeting our need for assurance:

The name of the Lord is a strong fortress;
    the godly run to him and are safe.

Proverbs 18:10 NLT

Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.

Psalm 23:4 NLT

Psalm 23 ends with David’s conviction that he will live forever:

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 23:6 NLT

Assurance is Possible Because Salvation is Freedom

When interpreting the Bible, it is important to look broadly (across many scriptures) and narrowly (in the immediate context of a verse). Also, everything written has an intended audience. The Bible has two main audiences: the Christian and the non-Christian.

The question of eternal security is a positional one. The Christian should approach the Bible as someone who is already saved and interpret every verse from this perspective. The true believer has complete freedom and no condemnation (Galatians 5:1,13; Romans 8:1). As a Christian, you can: Interpret The Bible With Your Christian Identity. The non-Christian should feel condemnation for their sin and the need for the Savior.

Can we agree on what is required to become a Christian? All of us should be able to evaluate whether or not we are saved at the present moment. If you can’t assert that you are saved right now, then that is a different problem: you then must consider if you are saved at all.

Assurance is Possible Because Salvation is a Gift

The process of gaining salvation requires putting your faith (actively believing) in Christ’s work on your behalf. You can’t provide any “work.” All that is required is your faithful belief. Salvation is a gift. Gifts are received not earned as Paul makes clear:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

If someone can lose their salvation, there must be an equally clear procedure of how that happens. I suppose someone could return the gift, but there isn’t any reason why a true believer would want to do that. Only someone who hasn’t already received the gift can refuse the gift.

Assurance is Possible Because Salvation is Rest

If you can lose salvation by not working hard enough at it, then this would make salvation a trap: it’s easy to step in, but once you’re in, you have to work increasingly harder to stay in, otherwise, you’ll be kicked out. But then is it easy or hard to get back in again? Besides being confusing, this seems to go against the Gospel message and many Bible passages that grace, not works, saves you.

Consider Jesus’s words about coming to Him for rest:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

—Matthew 11:28-30

Salvation is not gained by working harder to avoid sin. That would be self-effort to keep salvation. Jesus is saying that salvation is the process of finding rest for your soul.

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Does Our All Powerful God Need Us?

Does Our All Powerful God Need Us?

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God created us, so does that mean He needs us? If He doesn’t need us, why would He create us? To answer these questions fully, we must first clearly understand who God is.

God Does Not Need Us Absolutely

God does not need us in an absolute sense because He is God almighty—eternally self-sufficient. He isn’t deficient because He is lonely. All members of the Trinity provide perfect fellowship. His joy of existing — any aspect of His well-being — does not depend on us. Therefore, God doesn’t need anyone for any reason.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

Acts 17:24-25 ESV

Jesus’s baptism highlights the love shared between Father, Son, and Spirit.

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:16-17 ESV

God is eternal. He doesn’t need anything from what He has created including humans. He lives in perfect fellowship. While this is clearly stated in the Bible, evil powers are always at work to discredit God’s truth. The enemy can weaponize God’s self-sufficiency in an attempt to make us dull, despondent, and defeated. The devil might communicate: You don’t matter to God; you’re on your own. He doesn’t need you. He’d be better off without you. All of these misrepresent God and even move on to malign God’s character.

While God is able to carry on and enact His will without us, He chooses not to.

God Needs Us Relatively

God created us because He is love and wants to share Himself with others. He chooses to need us by partnering with us. He has taken our shame, self-pity, and self-deprecation away by making us His sons and daughters. He has given us His Holy Spirit to teach us all things and love us with the same love the Trinity shares.

Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:5 ESV

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 14:26 ESV

Until you see yourself as worthwhile, you’ll underestimate your significance and limit your contribution to God’s kingdom. You must throw off your worthlessness and fully embrace the reality and identity God has for you.

God has a specific purpose for your existence. You’re a unique creation, so your active participation is essential. He chose to make you a vital part of His plans, part of the body of Christ. In the reality that God has created, each of us is irreplaceable. He desires fellowship with us and wants to see us thrive. In this sense, God needs us. If none of us were to rise up to do His bidding, He could make the rocks cry out, but that’s not going to happen. God made us to praise Him and praise Him we will.

God has great plans for you, but you can’t accomplish anything apart from God. We need God’s strength and determination to work in and through us, just as Jesus relied on His Father throughout His life. When we participate by faith, God empowers us. Instead of passively waiting for God to topple the giants in your life, consider that He may be calling you to fight, as David did, with the strength of God’s Spirit within you.

Since God has committed to partnering with us to the very end, don’t hesitate to step out in faith to discover who you are and to seek to advance God’s kingdom.

Learn more about worshipping God with Joy.
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Last Updated 20250316

Worship God With Genuine Joy

Worship God With Genuine Joy

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Does God seem distant to you? Does worship feel like an obligation? Maybe you are missing a genuine experience of God.

Are you struggling to believe God cares? Do you like yourself? Wait. What does liking yourself have to do with God? God assumes that you will care for yourself. But He commands that you love others (Him and your neighbor).

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-40 NLT

How to Worship God Authentically

Loving God with everything you have is the same as worship. Authentic worship will only happen as we understand and experience God.

God is at His fullest potential. He can’t get any better than He already is. Instead of this meaning He is frequently bored, He lives with maximum enjoyment. That’s right. Part of what it means to be God is that He lives with a constant euphoria (a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness). Because we are made in God’s image, God intends us to reach our full potential and experience euphoria. Enthusiasm is similar to euphoria; it means to be full of God.

When we are full of God, we can’t help but worship Him. We worship because He is worthy. However, there is more to worship than how awesome God is. Consider the scene in heaven from Revelation 4:

Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

Revelation 4:9-11 NLT

Revelation 5 continues with Jesus being the only one worthy to open the scroll and the elders falling down in worship. If we only consider this scene superficially, we might observe that worship seems robotic. Who wants to fall down and worship every few minutes, repeating this for eternity? Wouldn’t that get old? It might if we ignore how we can experience God.

On earth today there are many distractions and distortions which prevent us from seeing God clearly. In heaven, these barriers will be gone. We will see and experience God as He is, at least to the limit of our capacity. God made us to appreciate who He is. Encountering God produces an intense, joyful response. The worship is spontaneous, genuine, never forced. The difference might be compared to seeing electricity power a light bulb and feeling electricity surge through your body.

How to Love Yourself When You Don’t Feel Worthy

God expects that people will care for themselves. Despite this being a simple truth, most people struggle to genuinely feel good about who they are. This is a problem because when you’re negative on what God made, how can you be positive about God? When you can’t see God as positive, you can’t believe He’s got your best interest in mind.

If you want to feel close to God, you must feel positive about yourself. If you don’t like yourself, then the you you don’t like is probably not the real you God has in mind. Your identity is who God says you are, while your self-image is who you think you are. When you get the two mixed up, you can’t like yourself.

Not liking yourself is ultimately the inability to see yourself as God sees you. Putting this all together, if you want to be closer to God, you need to see what He sees. Who does God see when He looks at you? Spend time thanking God for how He made you. Ask Him to help you see yourself through His eyes. Then you will know the joy of genuine worship.

Learn more about identity and self-worth.
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Last updated 2024/11/17