Can I be frank...
No, not Sinatra...well actually...
I struggle with the idea of salvation at times. My struggle comes in talking with people who have portrayed salvation in Jesus Christ as one of a few possibilities...
- You walked an aisle
- You prayed a prayer
- You were baptized
But can that truly be it? How many parents have assured me of the salvation of children who have rarely shown even the slightest hint of spiritual sensitivity? More than I can count, and each time my heart breaks for them.
As a Baptist the idea of eternal security is not only an important doctrine, but a biblical doctrine (John 10:28):
"I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." -Jesus
I guess the question becomes: How do we know someone has placed their lives in the hand of Jesus? Well, we can't really KNOW, because only God has access to a person's heart. However, the Bible says an unchanged life is an unsaved life. Not because we have to work hard to be saved, but we should WANT to work hard because we've been saved.
1 John 3:7-8 says there are two things we can practice: righteousness or sin. It does not say that performing one, on occasion, defines us. Instead we are told that our practices and repetitive habits indicate whether we have truly repented of the old life and entered in a new life through Jesus.
Agree with you that one's behavior is the outward evidence of inner saving faith. Believers are known by their fruit and obedience. Jn 10:28 is often taken out of context by failing to take into consideration the verse which immediately precedes it. Eternal life and the promise of not being snatched out of the Father's hand only applies to those sheep who listen and follow the shepherd (v.27). Conversely, those who habitually disobey have no such assurance. In fact those who practice sin are of the devil (1 Jn 3:8). We CAN KNOW whether we have eternal life as the Apostle Paul distinguishes the difference when he addressed the brethren in Rome: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom 8:13).
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