LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Monday 28th March 2022
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
Scripture Reading: 1 John 2
I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 1 John 2:12
The Apostle John was one of the last Apostles of Christ to die. He was very concerned about preserving the authenticity of the Christian faith. His letters were very passionate. He spoke lovingly and strongly to the Christians about the essence of the faith.
John, an old man at the time he was writing, addressed the Christians as ‘little children’. He did not use the term to belittle his readers or show that they were not mature. Rather John called them ‘little children’ to show how they were to relate to God. Just as children need assurance from their father, John assures us that our Father God has forgiven us of our sins.
Our first experience when we make our commitment to Jesus is to have our sins forgiven. This is purely an act of God’s mercy towards us by which He freely and fully releases us from the guilt of our sins.
As Christians, we need to rest in the assurance that when we ask the Lord to forgive us of our sins, He does forgive us. That is something we need to settle in order to joyfully live for the Lord. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus paid for our sins. He bore the punishment that was due us so that we can receive God’s grace of salvation. We must live our lives with the full assurance that God has forgiven us.
God forgives us for His own sake. That means He forgives our sins by Himself and for Himself. In the same way as He created us by Himself and for Himself, so does He forgive us. We do not merit forgiveness. We did nothing that qualified us to be forgiven. He chose to forgive us as His prerogative.
The Christian life rests on what Christ did for us through His death and resurrection. We find rest and assurance when we settle it in our hearts that God has fully accepted us as His children through Christ Jesus.
Prayer. Heavenly Father, I am fully assured that you have forgiven me of my sins. Thank you for making me your child. In Jesus’ name, Amen.