What it Means to Persevere in your Christian Walk

After my two part series on blog posts (and YouTube and Podcast episodes) on salvation, I have received several questions surrounding this topic.

The questions are all similar to this. “How do I know I am persevering in my walk with Christ? Or how do I know I was actually saved?”

So today’s blog post will answer those questions. If you haven’t read my other posts about salvation, I suggest you do that first. They both go deeper into salvation than I will discuss here. Or you can always catch my YouTube series or Podcasts where ever you listen.

Your salvation is secure

The first thing we need to recognize, is that our salvation is secure. If you are truly saved, then according to Ephesians 1:13-14, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

What the Holy Spirit seals, can’t be undone. This is beautiful news for us! (I go into more Scripture surrounding this topic here.)

So if you are truly saved, then you can NOT be lost. You can’t lose your salvation.

With that being said, how do we approach the scenario when people who lived like Christians for awhile, but then seemingly walk away from the faith?

1 John 2:19 answers this question.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

They went out. Why? Because they were not of us (speaking of Believers).

If they had been with us (truly saved) they would have stayed with us or persevered.

But they went out. Why? So that it would be plain to all that they did not belong to us.

This is actually reassuring. John is recognizing a problem during his time – almost 2,000 years ago – that we still have today. And he gives an answer to why this is.

Another thing to note is this…

Claiming to be a Christian doesn’t make you a Christian

This sounds pretty simple, but I think it’s often overlooked.

Just because someone calls themselves a Christian, doesn’t mean they are one.

I have four boys and all of them at one point claimed to be Spider-Man. They wore the suit (looked the part), climbed up our door frames (acted the part), and even repeated phrases Spider-Man would say.

This analogy isn’t complete, but I think you get the idea.

Jesus addresses this in Matthew 7:21-23.

Not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Even though they “cast out demons, prophesied, and did mighty works” in Jesus name, it didn’t seal their salvation.

Our salvation is based on the finished work of Christ, not our works.

One thing these two examples show us is that it is important to examine our faith.

We need to examine our faith

2 Corinthians 13:5 is a verse I come to often.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

We are to examine ourselves. This has the idea of looking closely at our hearts, motives, and thoughts.

But we don’t just examine, we test ourselves.

Think about when you go to buy a car. First, you examine it. Look closely for dents, damages, or anything else.

But then, what do you do? You take it for a test drive. Does it actually run? Does the AC work? Can it handle acceleration or does it makes noises?

We need to both examine and test our salvation.

Growing in godliness

In 2 Peter 1:1-11, Peter is encouraging Believers to grow in godliness.

This isn’t merely doing good moral deeds. Peter lists out virtues that we should be growing in.

These can’t be done on our own. It is the Holy Spirit who does this work in us.

I recommend that you go read the entire chapter and sit in the text to help examine your own spirit.

What do I do with “rebellion” in my past?

The question I have been asked often, is something like, “I was saved as a teen, but then had a rebellious streak and now I don’t know if I need to be saved or if I have been the whole time.”

The short answer to this question is “there is not a black and white answer.”

However, we DO know that Scripture cannot contradict itself. So if God says we can’t lose our salvation, then we know it’s true.

Hebrews 12 comes to mind when I think about this answer.

Here, the author of Hebrews tells us that God disciplines His children. Even once we are saved, we still wrestle with sin.

Because God is good Father, he disciplines those who belong to Him.

In my own life, I remember a time early in my marriage, that I was making a terrible decision. I was sinning in secret (or so I thought).

The Lord brought the sin to light and I couldn’t hide it anymore. It brought conviction and repentance. Even as hard as that season was, I remember feeling comforted that God disciplined me.

Yes, it was painful, but it gave me assurance that I belonged to Him.

In Conclusion

The final summary for this, is if you are truly saved – if you belong to God – you WILL persevere to the end. What God begins, He sustains, and brings to completion. 

But it is wise for us to acknowledge our bend towards sin and to continually ask the Lord to lead us and help us to put it to death. 

We should be growing in our love for Christ.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are some questions to ask yourself if you’re wrestling with your salvation:

Do I desire the Lord?

Am I able to sin without care? Am I making a PRACTICE of sinning, as John puts it?

Am I repenting?

Am I growing in Christ?

A good way to view our salvation is by looking at our current heart. Is there fruit in my life? Am I growing in godliness?

This shouldn’t be another burden or checklist we add to our shoulders, but we should be thinking of these in a sober minded way.

Pray. ALWAYS. Keep reading Scripture. 1 John is great letter to read if you’re wrestling with this.

Be plugged into a local church. I am all for online ministries and learning that way, but that should NEVER replace personal relationship with a local body of believers.

This is where you serve, confess, and learn as you grow “from one degree of glory to the next.”

To wrap up, if this topic is still a little fuzzy, don’t be discouraged. The Holy Spirit will reveal truth to you as He sees fit. Keep praying!

To God be the glory.

See y’all around,

Shai