Sources: Table Talk Magazine, Ligonier.org, Grace to you

Today’s devotional focuses on John 15:6.

John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

What does this mean? Can one lose their salvation if there is enough sin in their life? How are we to live before a holy God and how can we know that we are surely saved? What are the marks of a Christian? These are all good questions. Questions that I once had when I was beginning my spiritual walk.

Can one lose their salvation?

The short answer is no. If one is a child of God, he will always be saved. John 3:16, and Romans 10:9 emphasize belief and salvation. However, Mark 1:15 and others stress the importance of belief accompanied by repentance.

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 10:9

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Mark 1:15

¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Maybe you believe you are saved but are in a season of sin. If this is you, you need to repent and live out your identity in Christ. Pray, cut off sin, renew your mind, and put on Christ. Our love for God is evidenced by obeying His commands. And it cyclical. Loving God yields obedience which produces fruit and the unique joy of doing what we are called to do from a transformed heart.

Test Yourselves

2 Corinthians 13:5

⁵ Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

Do you have spiritual fruit? Love, joy, peace, kindness,  gentleness, self control? This doesn’t mean that you need all of these to be saved. However, Christians should be producing fruit and growing in the faith. As we live out the commands of God Coram Deo, the Spirit testifies that we are in the faith.

The Spirit gives us assurance of salvation

1 John 3:23

²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Romans 8:16

¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

But what does it mean to live Coram Deo? It means that we are living day to day in the face of God. We are always aware of his presence, acting with integrity; consistency in all situations. Whether people are watching us, or not watching us, we are the same person. We have a conviction that God is always watching (Psalm:139). He is omnipresent, being everywhere. We do things unto the Lord, for His glory, with the right heart motivation. With a vantage point toward eternity. It’s a life lived with established conviction, founded and held captive by the Word of God.

What can we gather from all of this? Believers can’t lose their salvation. As we produce fruit enabled by the spirit, the spirit will testify to our assurance of salvation as evidence of our faith. Our love for God propels us toward obedience. We live out this life Coram Deo. Before the face of God, with integrity in all situations. As we live Coram Deo, we will be authenticating the message that saved us in the first place. The Gospel that transforms lives. The Gospel that transformed our heart and enables us to be a salt and light in the world.