According to National polls, 80% of American’s claim the religion of Christianity, and yet the Bible is clear that the ones that find the path to Heaven are ‘few.’ It is the story of the wide and narrow gates found in my favorite book of the Bible, Matthew.
Now don’t you think, that if 80% of people REALLY WERE Christian, the world would be so much better? If 80% were truly saved, then Christianity would be POPULAR. Woah, what an idea! Instead, Christians are persecuted daily for their faith. Yes, even here in America.
I’m going to challenge your thinking today. I’m going to propose the idea that 80% of America is NOT Christian. The signs are there. I’m going to propose that the Bible is right…
When i was 8 years old, I accepted Jesus into my heart and got baptized. I grew up thinking that if i died today, I’d go to be with the Lord.
Was I saved? Absolutely not.
Because being a Christian is more than just saying a prayer, reading some bible verses and being baptized. You have to really mean it. And I didn’t. I did it to make my mom happy. She didn’t seem to like me, and I desperately wanted her to.
You see, when you come to Christ, you come on His terms, not your own.
Sadly, if I would have died before I truly gave my life to the Lord four years ago, I would have been wrong. Don’t be wrong, okay? Many are fooled just like I was, but the Bible is true, and it says FEW find the path. This doesn’t really match up with 80%. Few is not the majority.
Below are a few questions to consider that act as a self-test to know for sure if you’re saved or not:
1. Do you have a hunger for God’s Word?
2. Do you WANT to obey Him?
3. Do your good works prove your heart’s attitude?
4. When you sin, does it upset you?
5. Have you given up everything and everyone in your life to God? That was a biggie for me. Hard to do apart from Christ and yet its our responsibility to give up everything for Him. Take up our cross and follow Him.
6. Do you long for Heaven or do you hope to be around here for a while?
7. Do you feel the Holy Spirit working inside of you? Training you daily to be more and more like Jesus Christ?
8. Do you love to be around fellow believers?
9. Has your life radically changed since becoming a Christian or do you still blend in with the world pretty easily?
10. Have you been persecuted? If you’re Christian, the Bible says you will be. The only variable is the level of degree of persecution.
11. Do you find this excitement in yourself to tell everyone about Jesus?
12. Are you willing to put God ahead of yourself?
While this list isn’t an exclusive yes or no list, do this your saved, don’t do it, you’re not saved; it CAN be used as a guideline to reveal our hearts to ourselves. We are so easily fooled, and we so desperately want to believe the best in ourselves and others. But does our lives, the things we do every day, match up to the Word of God? No one else can know your heart except you and God, and the Bible, for very good reasons, asks us to continually be searching our own hearts for hidden sinning.
Another great resource to read through (this was the booklet I read that made me realize I wasn’t saved like I thought I was all my life is Examine Yourself). You can find that blog post there and read it for free! It’s fantastic and will really help you know if you are saved or not!!!
This post hits home to me more than you know. Not only do I regret not coming to faith in Christ sooner in my life, but I also see it in my kids. As of right now, they DON’T have those qualities and they are not saved, which is sad.
Which side are YOU on? Do you have peace? Are you 100% SURE that if you died today, God would let you into Heaven?
If you’re looking for MORE content to read, there’s a fantastic book I highly recommend: Saved Without A Doubt by John MacArthur. It’ll go into the topic a lot more as well and is a great book to read!
