Dave Chanski

The doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints is a most helpful doctrine in that it assures every child of God that he will be securely kept in Christ’s hand and finally saved from every danger and every foe. As Jesus said, “Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). But the doctrine has another side. It has wisely been called the doctrine of Perseverance, emphasizing not only that Christ preserves every sheep of His, but that every true sheep perseveres in His way until the end. Thus this doctrine calls forth a very important question. That question is, “Are you a Christian?” That is, are you persevering in the way? Are you one of those sheep that Christ is preserving and protecting until that final day when He folds them all safely in His kingdom?

This is a good question for us to ask. It is a good question for you to answer. Some people do not think that this a good question to ask at all—at least not to people who have confessed faith in Jesus. When I was a young Christian, I went to a church which told new converts to never ever doubt that they were truly Christ’s sheep. Immediately upon professing faith in Christ, they were turned to 1 John 5:13, which says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” The new believers were then told, “See? You must never doubt or even question that you are saved.”

Paul was wiser than to treat professing Christians in this way. He wrote to the church at Corinth, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5). There are many thousands, perhaps millions, who sit in church services week after week in our country who never put this all important question to themselves. (There are thousands more professing Christians who don’t even go to church!) They presume that they are true Christians because they were born into a Christian family or were baptized or confirmed or prayed a sinner’s prayer or go to church. They never question whether they are Christians. Are you one of them? Are you a Christian?

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