David Diga Hernandez - How to Know for SURE That You are Saved

Jesus will give you His eternal life in exchange for your temporary one. Here’s the problem: when we view it from a religious mindset, I can sense a strong anointing on this right now. When we approach it from a religious perspective, we think that it’s up to us to do enough good to save ourselves. There are so many problems with this. Number one: if someone actually believes that their good works save them, and then they believe that they’re saved, they are trusting in their own good works and are not truly saved; they are self-righteous and full of pride. This is why there will be many, as Matthew 7 tells us, who come to Him and say, «Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name?» The Bible says in one translation they will come strutting up to Him with confidence, then be stunned when He says, «I never knew you.» Stunned! And then, I love that same translation, which says, «All you did was use Me to make yourselves important.» What we do is we wear Christianity like it’s a nice decoration, like a little something we added into our culture to teach the kids good morals. It’s something we do around the family table: we pray because it’s a nice idea. They use Christianity like it’s culture, like it’s a decoration in their life, rather than a total trust in what Jesus did on the cross. The Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10: «God saved you by His grace when you believed. You can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.»

Here’s how you know if you’re living in a religious mindset: if you’re constantly worried that you’ve made a mistake that’s going to finally cost you your salvation, you believe in a works-based gospel. Why? Because then you believe that it not only was you who saved you, but it is you who is keeping you saved. Think about this, guys. Now, should we live righteous lives? Of course! But this is why the gospel is such good news. The Bible says this in Romans chapter 10, verses 9 through 10: «That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.» Wait a minute! Wait a minute! This is where people get really paranoid because they say, «You can’t tell them that because if you tell them that, then they’re going to go on sinning.» I beg to differ! If someone truly comes to salvation and puts their trust in Jesus, He is going to transform their nature and give them new desires.

So, watch this now. If you heard that in order to be saved there’s this list of rules that you have to keep, yes, you ought to live a holy life. Yes, you ought to do good. Yes, you ought to obey God’s commandments. Yes, you ought to base your life on Scripture. You know this is what I teach. But I’m now talking to someone in this room and someone watching who cannot or will not come to the Lord because you believe that when you do, it’s going to depend upon your own strength. I’m here to tell you that He said, «I’ll take your hard, stony heart and I’ll give you a heart of flesh.» He said, «I’ll take your old nature and I’ll give you a new one.» You will not be an old creation trying to develop a new mindset. For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. That’s the miracle of salvation: that by turning to Him and saying, «I trust You, I’m turning from my sin and I’m turning to You now,» I believe in what You said.

Because it’s your soul now we’re talking about, it takes a lot. I mean, think about how very few people you trust with your kids, how very few people you trust with your car, and how even fewer people you trust with your cell phone. We’re talking about your soul. I would say to Jesus, «I have one soul. I’m going to die one time, and eternity is a long, long time. But I’m going to trust You with my soul. I’m banking on the fact that You are who You say You are. I’m going to believe that You really did pay the full price for my sins. I’m going to believe that You really did do what needed to be done on the cross.» Jesus didn’t say, «Take it from here.» He said, «It is finished.»

So, when we come to this place of humbling ourselves, we come to Jesus and say, «Okay, I’m a sinner. I know that the punishment for my sin is eternal death, damnation, hell, and it’s right that You do that. I’m not going to argue with it. I’m not going to philosophize about how a loving God could do this.» It’s because He is loving that He judges evil. Okay, I’m not going to try to get philosophical; I accept it. I humble myself. I’m a sinner, and I deserve that punishment. You’re a good, gracious God who has offered me a free gift of salvation, and all I have to do to receive it is believe. Imagine that!