If You're Doing this ONE Thing, You May Not Be Saved

many of you listening right now may sincerely believe you are Christians you believe with all your heart that when you die heaven will be your home you're convinced that eternity with Jesus awaits you you feel assured certain and confident in your salvation but here's the sobering reality it is entirely possible to be convinced assured and confident of Salvation And yet have no right to be this may be the most critical message I'll ever share because dear brothers and sisters one of the biggest problems in the church today is the issue of false Assurance it's the

reason why so many professing Christians will hear Jesus say those terrible words I never knew you depart from me they had Assurance but it was built on Sand not on Christ right now as you listen I urge you to search your heart and ask yourself is my Assurance in Christ or is it somewhere else because the truth is many people sitting in church pews singing worship songs and even reading their bibles are doing this one thing that may prevent them from entering the Kingdom of Heaven that one thing looking to themselves or to anything other

than Jesus Christ for salvation if you're doing that you may not be saved think deeply about this you can feel close to God you can be passionate about Worship You Can Be knowledgeable about scripture and still be lost if your Hope Is Not In Christ Alone assurance that is based on anything other than Christ is a false assurance and a false Assurance is a dangerous place to be because it blinds you to the truth and makes you feel secure when you're truly in Peril you might be convinced you're on the path to heaven but that

conviction means nothing if it's not grounded in Jesus let's begin with one of the most common reasons people have false Assurance self-righteousness this might sound familiar to some of you you've done good things you've helped people you've lived a clean life and you've stayed out of trouble perhaps you think I'm a good person God would certainly let me into heaven but if you believe you are good enough for God then you have fallen into one of the oldest lies in human history Lucifer himself in his pride thought he could exalt himself above God in the

same way self-righteousness elevates us in our own eyes to a place where we no longer see our need for the Cross of Christ it deceives us into thinking we don't need saving because we think we're already good good the Bible warns us in Isaiah 646 that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags even our best Deeds are tainted by sin and unworthy before a holy God but self-righteousness blinds us to this truth it leads us to believe that we have earned or deserve our salvation and I tell you with all urgency if you're looking

to your own goodness your own moral track record for your security you are not saved Jesus alone is the way the truth and the life your righteousness is like a shadow before the Blazing Glory of his Holiness we cannot enter God's kingdom by our own Merit because our righteousness can never match the Holiness of God there are others who look not just to their own moral goodness but to their good works they think that their good deeds will suff somehow tip the scales in their favor but listen carefully God does not operate on a Balan

system Heaven is not earned by Good Works outweighing bad ones Ephesians 2: 8 and9 declares for it is by Grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast our best works are powerless to save us we might donate help the needy or volunteer and while these things may be evidence of a changed heart they are not what saves us if you trust in your works you are leaning on a weak and fragile Foundation salvation is not about

what you have done but about what Christ has done on the cross only his sacrifice can cleanse us from our sins if you are looking to your good works for Assurance then you have every reason to tremble because they are not nothing in comparison to the Saving Grace of Christ Good Deeds cannot cover sin they are a natural result of our faith but not the root of it another common false Assurance comes from church affiliation some people believe their church membership or their particular denomination is the pathway to Salvation they think that only their church

has the truth and if others do not belong to it they cannot be saved but this is a dangerous path this kind of thinking has shifted the focus away from Christ and placed it onto an institution and while the church is a place for Fellowship teaching and worship it cannot save you only Jesus saves when we make the church our security we Elevate an Earthly institution above the Savior God was there long before your church was formed long before your denomination existed the Lord has been drawing people to himself for centuries without without the help

of human labels it is Jesus alone who said in John 14:6 I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me if you find yourself looking to your church rather than to Christ then you have been deceived salvation is about knowing Jesus not about being part of a certain group there are also those who cling to tradition and religious rituals thinking these will save them baptism communion confirmation these are wonderful practices but they are symbols that point to Christ they are not Christ himself performing religious rituals is

not a substitute for a relationship with Jesus Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 15: 8 and9 saying these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me they wor ship me in vain their teachings are merely human rules just like the Pharisees we can go through the motions of religion and still miss the heart of the Gospel if you are relying on rituals and traditions to save you know this without a genuine faith in Christ they are as empty as Idols we must have Christ Living in us not merely practices around

us salvation is a relation ship not a routine the Pharisees practiced all kinds of rituals yet were far from God don't let religious Customs give you a false sense of security they must reflect a true faith in Jesus another trap is placing your faith in emotional experiences perhaps you had a powerful moment at an altar call or you experienced a deep emotional response during worship these moments can be beautiful but they are not salvation an emotional response is not the same as saving Faith many have walked away from such experiences unchanged because they were moved

in the moment but never surrendered their lives to Christ Jesus spoke of people like this in the parable of the sewer in Matthew 13 where some seeds fall on Rocky ground these people receive the word with joy but it does not take root in them and they fall away when challenges arise true salvation is not just an emotional high it's a transformed life rooted in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ if your Assurance is based on an emotional experience it may be time to examine whether Christ truly has your heart some believe they are saved

because they grew up in a Christian home or because their parents were faithful Believers but Salvation cannot be inherited John 1 : 12 and 13 tells us yet to all who did receive him to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent but born of God your parents' Faith does not save you your family background does not save you salvation is a personal decision an individual surrender to Christ Family Faith can lay a foundation but it cannot carry you to heaven some people

are convinced they are saved because they have knowledge of God the Bible or Christian doctrine but knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing him even the demons know who Jesus is and they tremble knowledge alone cannot save us it's a relationship with Jesus Christ that saves intellectual knowledge without a heart transformation is meaningless you can know the Bible backward and forward but if you don't know Jesus personally your knowledge is in vain you must have a relationship with him not just knowledge about him at the heart of Salvation is the cross of Jesus

Christ brothers and sisters this is what is most precious the sacrifice of Jesus on that cross he bore the penalty of our sins so that we would not have to face the wrath of God it's not our works our goodness our church our rituals or our emotions that save us it's his blood alone we are saved because Jesus who was sinless became sin for us so that we might be made righteous before God only the cross has the power to save for it is where Jesus took our sin and guilt upon himself in John 3:16

we read 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 eternal life is a gift that comes through faith in Jesus Christ Alone Ephesians 2: 8 and9 reminds us again that salvation is by grace through faith not by anything we can boast of but purely by God's mercy this is the only true foundation of Our Hope Christ's finished work on the cross so I ask you again to examine yourself are you looking to anything other than Jesus Christ for

your salvation have you fallen into the Trap of self-righteousness Good Works Church affiliation religious rituals emotional experiences Family Heritage or knowledge none of these things can save you only Jesus saves there is no other path no other way and no other door Jesus is not one of many ways he is the only way Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 13 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 this is not about causing fear but

rather about urging you to be sure that your foundation is Christ and nothing else eternity is too important to leave to chance or false Assurance friends if you're doing this one thing looking to yourself or anything other than Jesus for salvation you may not be saved let today be the day that you lay aside every false Assurance every false confidence and place your trust solely in Christ he is the only way no one else and nothing else can save repent believe in the gospel and let the cross of Jesus be the anchor of your soul

for only through him can we find eternal life