How Am I Lost?
“What will keep a person from being saved?”
If you were asked this question you would have to answer something like this: “It would have to be a lack of belief, a lack of trust in Jesus because the Bible says, “… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …” - Acts 16:31 KJV
The Bible also says, “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:12 KJV
Notice that we are NOT lost because we have unintentionally believed a lie. Just because we have been taught and then have believed for years something that is not true doesn't mean that we will be lost. Look closely at this verse again. It’s when we learn the truth and choose to ignore it that we will be lost.
God Himself gave us His Holy Word. He put things in there that He wants us to know, things about Himself (mostly about His character but there certainly are other things), things about our past (history), and things about our future (prophecy). All of these things are important because the more we know about God the more we will love Him and will want to serve Him. These things help us to trust God more and more, and so knowing the truth is extremely important, but we are not saved by having a perfect knowledge of God, or of Jesus (who is God in the flesh, God living with us so that we can SEE what He is like). Our ignorance will not cause us to be lost, unless we choose to be ignorant.
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” - Acts 17:30 KJV
God doesn’t hold us responsible if there has never been a chance to know the truth. In fact, John 1:9 tells us that God has given to every person a light which is the knowledge of right and wrong. Romans 2:26-29 tells us that if a person who does not know the law or God, but naturally does the things that are in the law, God will judge that person according to what they know.
This is why there will be many people in heaven who have never even heard the name of Jesus. Those who lived before Jesus lived and didn’t know about the living God, or people who lived before the Gospel could reach them are good examples. These people will still be saved (by Jesus) because they listened to and obeyed the voice of God in their hearts. That is how the promise of Acts 4:12 will be fulfilled for all people. That verse says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Zechariah 13:6 tells us that there will be people who will come up to Jesus and ask Him where He got the nail prints in His hands and they will hear for the first time the gospel story. Jesus will tell them that He received the nail prints "in the house of His friends,"
Salvation is offered to all people because of what Jesus did on the cross, and it’s a gift! All anyone can do is accept this gift of salvation. (Remember, a gift is not earned. In fact, it’s not even a gift anymore if we earn it.) Again, salvation has been offered FREE to ALL people because of what Jesus did on the cross.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Romans 6:23 KJV
There is a story found in Mark 9 of a man who brought his son to Jesus to be healed. Verse 24 says, “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” The dad’s prayer to Jesus was answered immediately, and this is a prayer that we can pray too, and expect the same results. When we acknowledge our belief in Jesus and ask Him to make up the difference between our trust and our lack of trust, we can never be lost! It’s God’s promise to us! So, acknowledge your trust in Jesus, and ask Him to remove your lack of trust.
“Lord Jesus, I accept Your offer of eternal life for me! I believe and trust You! My trust may only be as big as a mustard seed right now, but please make up the difference between the trust that I have and the trust I need. Please give me TOTAL trust in You, lacking in nothing. Thank You Jesus, I praise You!”
This is my prayer, and I hope you make it yours.
Keep in mind that because we believe in, trust in and love Jesus, we will do whatever He asks us to do even if we don’t understand it. Let’s use an illustration to help us grasp this. Let’s pretend that I have 2 little children, a son and a daughter. I take them to the lake and out onto a fishing dock. I jump into the deep water and ask them if they trust me. They both assure me that they do, so I tell them to jump into my arms and I will catch them.
My daughter jumps, but my son is too afraid to jump. Which one really trusts me?
Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” - John 14:15