Have you ever wrestled with the nagging question, “Have I done enough to be saved?” Or perhaps you’ve wondered if your efforts, your faithfulness, or your religious performance are sufficient to secure eternal life. Let me speak plainly: this kind of uncertainty is not from God, and it is not what the Scriptures teach. The gospel does not leave you in suspense or subject you to a lifetime of anxious striving. The assurance of salvation is not a distant hope, but a present certainty—rooted in the finished work of Jesus Christ, not in your own efforts.
Salvation: God’s Free Gift, Not Your Wage
The foundation of the gospel is this: salvation is a free gift from God. It is not a wage earned by your labor, nor a reward for your religious diligence. God does not barter eternal life in exchange for your confession, your baptism, or your ongoing faithfulness. He offers it freely, through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. “For 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).
To add your own works—your obedience, your rituals, your perseverance—as a condition for salvation is to reject the sufficiency of Christ’s cross. It is to say, in effect, that His blood was not enough, and that your contribution is needed to finish what He started. This is not humility; it is unbelief. And the inevitable fruit of such thinking is uncertainty, fear, and a conscience that is never at rest.
You Can Know—Not Guess—That You Have Eternal Life
God has not left you to grope in the dark, hoping that you might one day be found worthy. The apostle John writes with unmistakable clarity:
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)
This is not a tentative hope or a 99% probability. It is knowledge—certainty—anchored in the objective work of Christ. If you have believed the gospel, you have eternal life. Not because you feel it, not because you see it, but because God has promised it, and He cannot lie.
The Fatal Error of Works-Based Assurance
Let us be clear: to trust in your own works, your confession, your baptism, or your faithfulness as the basis for assurance is to forfeit assurance altogether. The moment you make your performance the ground of your confidence, you have placed yourself under a system that cannot save and cannot give peace. You will always wonder, “Have I done enough? Am I faithful enough? Did I confess enough?” The answer will always be “no,” because the law was never given to justify, but to expose your need for Christ.
If you accept the error that salvation depends—even in part—on your works, you lose everything that Christ accomplished for you. You lose the certainty of sonship, the joy of inheritance, and the rest that comes from a cleansed conscience. You trade the promise of God for the treadmill of self-examination and the terror of never knowing where you stand. This is not a secondary issue; it is the difference between life and death, between gospel and law, between rest and perpetual striving.
The True Place of Spiritual Disciplines
Do not misunderstand: baptism, confession, and faithfulness are good and profitable for spiritual growth and obedience. But they are the fruit of salvation, not the root. They are the evidence of life, not the means by which life is obtained. To confuse the two is to undermine the very covenant God has established in Christ—a covenant in which He does all, and you simply receive.
The Call: Believe and Rest
If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, the invitation is before you now. Believe that His death and resurrection are enough—that He has done all, and that eternal life is His gift to you. If you have already believed, then stand firm in your assurance. Rejoice, not in your own faithfulness, but in His. Your salvation is as secure as the promise of God and the blood of His Son. Nothing can take it from you.
Do not settle for a gospel that leaves you uncertain, anxious, or striving for what God has already freely given. The simple truth is this: assurance is found in Christ alone, by faith alone, apart from works. Anything less is not the gospel—it is bondage.
If you have questions or need clarity, do not hesitate to ask. The good news of Jesus Christ is meant to bring you into the full assurance of faith, the joy of sonship, and the unshakeable confidence that comes only from Him.
