08/26/2026
Too good not to share from Brian Romero!
I want you to think about something with me. If salvation can be lost every time you fail badly enough, how would you ever know the exact moment you lost it? Which sin crossed the line? How many failures were too many? Was it the angry thought, the lie, the addiction, the season when you stopped praying, or the month you stopped going to church? And once you supposedly lost salvation, how would you know when you got it back? If your assurance depends on measuring your performance, you will never have assurance because there will always be something in your life you could examine and question.
This is exactly why I believe our assurance has to rest on Jesus rather than ourselves. Scripture says, “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14, ESV) Notice both parts of that verse. There is something Jesus has already accomplished, and there is also an ongoing process of growth. You are being sanctified, which means God is still working in your life, but the effectiveness of Christ’s sacrifice is not waiting for you to reach perfection. Jesus offered one sacrifice, and that sacrifice was enough.
If salvation depended on me maintaining a flawless Christian life, I would have to wake up every morning checking whether I was still saved. I would spend more time examining myself than looking at Jesus. Did I repent correctly? Was I sincere enough? Did I confess everything? Have I changed enough? But that kind of thinking makes my performance the foundation of my assurance. The gospel gives me a much better foundation. My confidence is not that I have perfectly held onto Jesus. My confidence is that Jesus has perfectly accomplished what was necessary to save me.
Jesus said, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:39, ESV) That gives me incredible assurance because Jesus places the responsibility for bringing His people safely home upon Himself. He doesn’t describe Himself as a Savior who rescues you and then waits to see whether you can remain rescued. He speaks as the One who intends to keep what the Father has entrusted to Him.
This doesn’t mean our choices don’t matter. Grace is never an excuse to destroy your life, hurt people, or ignore the Holy Spirit’s correction. Sin can damage relationships, destroy trust, create painful consequences, and take you places you were never meant to go. But consequences and condemnation are not the same thing. God can correct His children without disowning them. You can stumble and still belong to the Father. You can need serious correction without needing another cross.
And this is where I believe we need to distinguish between assurance and presumption. Assurance doesn’t say, “Nothing matters because I’m saved.” Assurance says, “Because I belong to Jesus, I don’t have to run away when I fail.” Grace gives you the security to come into the light, admit what happened, receive correction, make things right, and keep growing. Fear tells you every failure might have removed you from God’s family. Grace teaches you to deal honestly with failure from the security of being His.
John gives believers this remarkable statement: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13, ESV) He doesn’t say that you might possibly have eternal life depending on how tomorrow goes. He says you can know you have eternal life. Biblical assurance isn’t arrogance. It isn’t confidence in yourself. It is confidence in the Son of God. I don’t know I am saved because I trust my ability to perform perfectly. I know because I trust Jesus.
Jesus died once. Jesus rose once. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father. So I refuse to build my assurance on a moving target called my performance. If my best day cannot purchase salvation, my worst day cannot become more powerful than the blood that purchased me. I will continue growing, receiving correction, turning away from what harms me, and following Jesus, but I will do it from assurance rather than fear. My salvation began with Jesus, rests upon Jesus, and will ultimately be completed by Jesus. The question isn’t whether I can become good enough to keep myself saved. My confidence is in whether Jesus is good enough to save completely. And I believe He is.
