Am I Saved?

By Bradford Smith

Do you know Him?

 

Millions of people warm the seats of the church, falsely convinced of a non-existent salvation, destined to one dear the most dreadful words, "Depart from me; I never knew you." Still, others languish in doubt and uncertainty, paralyzed by the fear of losing that which was bestowed upon them, their salvation.

 

Bradford Smith leads the reader on a comprehensive walk through the book of 1 John with the same intentions as the Apostle John, "that you may know that you have eternal life," for there is nothing more important than the eternal destiny of your soul, and no more important question.

 

Are you saved?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Olivia Kimbrell Press
• Release date: Sep 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781681902203

Book preview

Introduction

The Most Important Message Ever

Guilty.

Your guilt spells doom, and you know it. The dread in your heart swells each morning as that day draws near. Solemn footsteps echo down the cold concrete hallway, reverberating throughout your dank cell.

It’s time.

You’re guilty. It’s undeniable, and it’s serious. You know the judge as a stern and solemn man, committed to justice. For years you flaunted your hatred of him and the law. For maybe the thousandth time, your eyes fall upon the hastily scrawled sentiment across the bottom of your cell wall. Only God can judge me. Time to find out if that’s true. They’ve come for you.

You hear it first—the din of shouting, a crowd. Rough hands shove you through a door, jerking you to a halt. Your mind struggles to comprehend the almost unimaginable spectacle.

It’s a courtroom, but like none you’ve ever seen. The Judge, striking and unbelievable, glares down from his Great White Seat, fire in his eyes. As you watch, he peruses the pages of an ancient book. To his right, one who you assume to be the prosecuting attorney has already launched into a fierce tirade, pummeling you with accusation after accusation.

Guilty. This one’s guilty!

Fierce applause.

A coward, a murderer.

A roar of approval.

Adulterer. Thief. Liar!

The din becomes overwhelming, consuming you. The prosecuting attorney stokes himself into a frenzy, veins ballooning from his neck, eyes bulging from their sockets, spit flying from his mouth.

"Guilty. Guilty. GUILTY!"

Your head hangs defeated. You can’t even look up at the Judge. It’s all true. Have mercy on me. I’m guilty, you quietly mumble as you softly beat your chest in anguish of impending doom. You brace for the verdict, preparing for the worst when you hear something shocking, amazing.

Not guilty.

How could this be? The law is clear and known. The penalty for violating the law is equally as clear as is your disdain for the law and your hatred of the Judge. How could he find you Not guilty? Something must be wrong. This must be a mistake.

No, he’s guilty! the attorney demands. Did you hear? Don’t you know what he’s done?! he implores incredulously.

Yes. Not guilty.

But!

I REBUKE YOU! the Judge thunders at the attorney. He motions toward you. I have plucked this one from the fire.

You feel hands upon your arms, gentle this time. They peel your filthy prison uniform from your shoulders. It falls to the floor. More gentle hands this time, a gleaming robe, soft against your skin, bright and pure to your eyes. More hands, a clean turban on your head.

From nowhere, the Judge whispers in your ear, his hand firmly on your arm. Solemnly, gently, Walk in my father’s way, keep my father’s charge, and you shall rule over my house, these courts, with me.

Just seconds before, you stood as a condemned man, but now…

Go, still solemn.

As the Judge turns away, you catch a glimpse of something that stops you cold. Deep lacerations crisscross the breadth of his back, still bleeding and oozing. His tattered and frayed robe sticks in places, matted to his shredded flesh. Briefly, faintly, you can actually hear drops of blood hit the floor. Bloody footprints chase him from the chambers.

That should’ve been for you, a voice whispers in your ear. A few minutes later, you find yourself sitting alone on the courthouse steps, a free man, reeling from all that has happened.

How then shall I live? you wonder to yourself.

People I Know

Ryan and Amanda lived across the street, a young couple with a young daughter. Ryan—a young soldier with young soldier pay—unfortunately possessed young soldier judgment concerning finances. Why not buy a boat and an expensive new truck? They struggled. Ami and I invited them to church.

It did not take long. Our pastor proclaims the Gospel each week, and one Sunday, shortly after they started attending, they both went forward at the invitation seeking salvation. They both were baptized a few weeks later. They started attending church regularly, Sunday school, too. Amens and hallelujahs all around.

Then they missed a Sunday. No big deal. They missed another. Then two in a row. Then three. At some point, they stopped coming altogether; just kind of faded away. They moved a few weeks later, and we never heard from them again. Tragic.

There was Dalton, a troubled young man from a troubled family who kind of hung around the youth group. His mother brought him to me one day, in trouble with the law. With tears in his eyes, he told me of his sorrow, that he was ready to commit his life to Christ, to start living right, walking the straight-and-narrow. We talked a few more times, he confessed Christ and repented of his sins, and I baptized him one Sunday. The trouble eventually blew over, as it sometimes does, and Dalton drifted away, never to be heard from again. Also, tragic.

I will concede. I don’t know where they ended up. Perhaps they had genuine conversions, and after a season of falling away, they returned or will return to the Lord at some point in the future. Possible, just not likely, as we’ll see from the text.

So, I must ask, Do you know Him? Are you saved? They are the same question.

Maybe you found salvation as a child or youth, but you have since drifted. Maybe you were saved as a child and drifted for a while and then returned to the Lord. Maybe you are active in church—maybe highly active—but you sense that it’s mechanical, religious in nature. Maybe you grew cold in your walk. You were once on fire for the Lord, but over time, the cares of the world distracted you. You do not have time to mess with religion right now. Perhaps you doubt your standing before the Lord for any litany of reasons.

You picked this book up for a reason. Maybe someone handed it to you. Either way, allow me to reassure you of the utmost importance of your query.

Do you know Him? Are you saved?

I know of no more important questions than these. It is okay if you don’t know the answer, maybe even better.

Is This Really An Issue?

Early in His ministry, Jesus told this parable.

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

Mark 4:1-8

Jesus does not always explain His parables, but here He does.

And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word.’ (v.13-14)

The sower is the Christian, and sowing the word is the act of proclaiming the Gospel message. God commands the sower to sow the seed wherever he may, in whatever way he can, not choosing where the seed goes.

The Christian must open his mouth and proclaim the Gospel message. His life should validate the message, but you cannot sow without speaking.

Of the Path

Of the seed that lands on the path, Jesus says,

And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. (v.15)

The seed that lands on the path represents those with hearts hardened against the Gospel message. They do not care about it, and when the Gospel lands on their heart, it’s like a seed landing on a path that never finds purchase in the soil.

Inevitably, birds come and take it away, just like Satan does with the word that lands on a hardened heart.

Of the Rocky Ground

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. (v.16-17)

The seed finds immediate purchase. They receive the word with joy. Amen! The plant springs up quickly, and then it dies. At the first hint of trouble, whatever it may be, they fall away from the faith. They were never converted in the first place. Their faith bore no fruit, and they did not persevere. Tribulation revealed the false nature of their conversion.

Of the Thorns

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. (v.18-19)

Again, we observe the appearance of faith, but it likewise never yields fruit and does not persevere. Too many things—the cares of the world, the allure of the flesh, an infinitude of other matters—crowd out their faith, choking it to death, indicating that they never possessed genuine saving faith.

Of the Good Soil

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. (v.20)

Here, at last, we find genuine faith, faith that perseveres, faith that bears fruit.

Two Ends of the Spectrum

The tragedy of false conversion occupies one end of the spectrum of assurance. Here, the plant from the rocky soil looks just like the plant from the good soil. The plant choked by thorns also looks the same if you look past the thorns and thistles. Both plants wither and die. Scripture bears witness to legions of false converts possessing the illusion of