Are we being saved?

When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, did the 3000 people who got 'saved' come into a full salvation at that time? Essentially what happened was that they became convicted that they had crucified their Messiah, and then they repented. God accepted them as such, and added them to the church. Then He continued to teach them through the apostles (Ac.2:41,42). Just think of it. They knew hardly anything more about who Jesus really was, what He taught, why He died and what that had to do with the forgiveness of their sins. The apostles themselves were discovering these truths from the Holy Spirit, and even they did not have a New Testament Bible with them. But as people got to understand more and more, they also began to get saved more and more, from their ignorance and their wrong understanding about God and themselves, followed by changes in the way they lived from day to day.

Isn't this happening even now? Maybe some have just experienced a miraculous answer to their prayer, and they come to 'believe' in Jesus. But that is not meant to stay there. They can now learn more, and the more truth they get to know, the more opportunity they have to be set free from their old ways and to become more like Jesus (Jn.8:32). But some Christians have a wrong idea that once they come to Jesus, He will do everything for them. Some also imagine that 'accepting Jesus' is like paying an insurance premium to assure us a place in heaven. The result is that apart from attending church, they continue to live like everyone else in the world, following their desires, seeking to enjoy themselves, only coming back to Jesus when they have problems.

How are we ourselves doing in this matter? Is our heart set on things above as our highest priority and not on the things of this life (Co.3:2)? How much does 'following Jesus' practically mould the way we live? Are we daily learning to apply in real life the truths we keep learning from God's word (Php.2:12,13)?

This kind of change will come only as we know the truth about God and ourselves. It is when we understand that God suffered the death of His Son because only that could pay for our sins, that we begin to see the sinfulness of our sins. It is then that we fall in love with this God. It is then that we decide that we will live the rest of our life for Him, doing His will, serving Him in whatever way He calls us to, telling others about this Saviour, etc.

Now we can see what damage it does for people who do not study God's word, and in churches where such truths are not being made clear in teaching as well as in practice. Surveys show that most Christians these days have not read the whole Bible even once. On the top of this, there are many false teachings going around in the media which people swallow because of lack of better understanding.

There are also those who are unwilling to make any changes even after they see the truth, for various reasons! We need to examine ourselves.