ASSURANCE OF SALVATION - 1 John 5:11-12

"And this is the testimony that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life, and He that has not the Son of God has not life." 1 John 5:11-12

My testimony - Charlie

I grew up in a family that did not attend church, but I had a grandmother who did. She would take me and my brother and two sisters to Sunday School each Sunday (if we were not gone on a fishing trip - which was every other Sunday). I learned about Jesus Christ, that He was born (that is why we have Christmas) and that He died on a cross and was brought back to life (that is why we have Easter).

Each summer, we would have Vacation Bible School. This was a fun time because we would make fun things (like crafts) and get Koolaid and cookies. At the end of one VBS when I was around 10 years old, at the closing ceremony the pastor began to talk about the need for salvation. I wasn't reallly paying much attention (playing connect the dots with my sister), but when we began to sing the closing invitational song, something began to happen in my heart. It was beating fast and I began to feel dirty inside because of the wrongs I had done.

When the pastor said who would like to come forward to have forgiveness and eternal life, my feet took me to the front and for some strange reason I was crying.

The pastor said "Son, do you want to be saved?" I replied yes.

He said, "Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and was raised again from the dead?" I thought it was a strange question because I thought everyone believed that. I said yes. He then began to pray with me to ask for forgiveness and eternal life. As we were praying, I stopped crying and felt real clean inside. It was a feeling I wanted to feel all the time.

Afterward, many people came by me and hugged me and said that I was now "saved" although I did not really know what "saved" meant at that time. But I did know that something happened inside me and later I found a verse in the Bible that seems to clarify what I felt.

Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD,

"Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."