Can someone lost think he is saved?
Have you ever been driving down the freeway on a beautiful day and enjoying yourself when suddenly you notice flashing red and blue lights behind you? Your first thought might be, “Oh no! Was I speeding?” You glance down and, sure enough, you’re going 15 miles-an-hour over the speed limit. What would the highway patrol officer say to you if you told him, “But I didn’t mean to speed!” or “I thought I was going the speed limit!”
The fact is—you still broke the law.
Likewise, Jesus warns us that some people might think they are going down the road to heaven, enjoying themselves, and minding their own business. But what they think does not change God’s expectations. Christ said you can know that you are on the path to eternal life if you are seeking to do “the will of My Father in heaven.” Truth is not shaped by our feelings or hopes. It stands solid, regardless of what we might think. So how do we know we are doing God’s will?
We know we are going in the right direction when there is an intimate connection between ourselves and the Lord. It’s more than just doing the “right” things. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ” (Matthew 7:22). These are all good things, but there is something more that goes deeper than outward actions.
Jesus explains to outward doers of the law, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (v. 23). When we try to carry out God’s law without a changed heart, the actions are worthless. It shows that we are not really doing God’s will because our motives have not changed. People who have the assurance of salvation live lives of service motivated by unselfish love. This is the will of the Father in heaven.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21
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