I have always promoted the position that we can be sure of our salvation.  We should have 100% confidence in the fact that if we, as Christians, died today, our ultimate end would be a home in heaven.  This is what hope fundamentally is—desire and confident expectation.

Having said that, we need to consider the basis of our confidence and what it should be.  It is possible to be over-confident in our salvation, but only if we get the basis of it wrong.  When it comes to our salvation, two things should make us sure about it—God’s grace and God’s Word.

The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace, but what does that mean?  It means that God has provided some things that we have not deserved; things we could not provide for ourselves, so that we could be reconciled to Him and be saved.  What is it that God has provided?  There are several things, actually, but most of them lead to the same thing—the precious blood of Jesus.

When we obeyed the gospel, including being baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21), the blood of Christ washed away our sins.  That baptism is a part of God’s plan of salvation was known to all first-century Christians.  It is why Ananias told Paul to arise and be baptized.

Acts 22:16 (ESV)
¹⁶ And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

It was not the water that would wash away Saul’s sins; it was the blood of Christ that he would figuratively contact when he was baptized.  Even Paul realized this, for he later said that it was baptism that allowed him to walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:3-4).

The blood of Christ does not stop working in our lives the moment we come out of the water of baptism.  It cleanses us when we sin anew as Christians, as long as we repent and ask God for forgiveness (Acts 8:22).  This is the connection between the blood of Christ and our confidence in salvation.   Our confidence is based on the soul-cleansing blood of Christ.  How can we be sure that when we sin, God will forgive us when we repent and pray?  The Word of God tells us so.

1 John 1:7-9 (ESV)
⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is a blessing reserved for those of us in Christ.  Whenever we sin, we know that when we repent and confess to God, the blood of Christ will cleanse us once again.  Thus, we do not have to live sinless lives to maintain our fellowship with God.  We do not have to be perfect, but we do have to walk in the light by living by the Word of God.  As long as we do this, our confidence does not have to go away, even under the worst circumstances of life, for our blessed assurance is based on God’s grace rather than the righteous requirements of the law.

How, then, might one be over-confident in his salvation?  It is when the basis of his confidence is the work that he does in the flesh instead of the grace of God.  If you think you can save yourself by your good works, you are overconfident in your salvation.  While works of faith play a part in our justification and ultimate salvation, apart from the power of our Lord’s blood, they are useless.   Our confidence must be based on what God has done, not what we are doing.  It may seem harmless to put too much confidence in ourselves when it comes to salvation, but the truth is that confidence usually turns to doubt when we finally realize that we are not good enough.  Let us be like Paul.  He knew where to place his confidence when it came to salvation.

Philippians 3:3 (ESV)
³ For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.