Is Your Salvation Insured or Assured?

I’m quickly approaching my 65th birthday, and those of you who are already there know that you are inundated daily with offers of supplemental insurance.  As I’ve been looking into this deeper, it’s obvious that Medicare doesn’t cover everything, hence an additional policy or policies are necessary to supplement what is lacking.  As with any insurance, be it homeowners, car, or health you get what you pay for, or at least that’s what we put our faith in. Beware, the cold hard facts are detailed in the very fine print.  For example, if you exceed the number of claims because of floods, fire, or natural disaster, your insurance company will more than likely terminate you.  Same thing goes for health insurance. Hello, isn’t that why you’ve paid in all those high premiums, so that you can call on the insurance to save you from financial ruin?  You can’t own a home or car without insurance, so you keep paying, keep adding on more items to be covered, and all the time living with the fear that it won’t be sufficient.

Of course you know I’m going somewhere spiritually with this line of thought, so please stay with me.  I’d like to pose this question to you today, is your salvation insured or assured?  Theologians have many “answers” concerning this query, and people have fretted about it for ages.  So, what’s the difference between the two?  The church is divided into two major camps on this vital topic, and I like to refer to them as Insured and Assured.

 The insured folks will tell you that our salvation is contingent upon us paying “premiums“ for the rest of our natural lives.  These include; adhering closely to church/religious doctrines, doing good works, keeping far from sin, in general following what is written in your policy. Those are all noble pursuits, but read the fine print, this policy can be revoked, if you miss a payment, so to speak.  Your salvation, and the promise of going to Heaven, is never assured, unless you keep paying. Sadly, you never know when you are paid in full, or if you have attained enough points to be accepted.  I have a friend, who goes to church almost every day, yet is constantly concerned with this issue, "Have I done enough, and am I good enough for God?" he laments.

Ok, let’s look at the assured group.  These people believe that Christ died for them, and all mankind, once, and paid our premium for eternity.  There is no doubt in their minds of their salvation, and future destination, they are assured. That’s too simple, you say, all I have to do is have faith in what Christ did to be saved, there has to be more to it.   My “insured” friend complains to me about this very thing, so bear with me.  Merely saying, “I believe in Christ”, isn’t complete salvation, but it’s the place we all begin.  Belief must be combined with repentance, obedience and faith to fully be assured of God’s grace.  Grace can never be purchased through religion or works, please be assured, it is freely given.  Certainly we should desire to be with fellow believers in a church, and acts of service will naturally follow as we grow in our salvation.  Can the policy ever be revoked?  I believe it can, but only if one willfully turns from God, and even then He will do everything to keep us from making that terrible decision.

So, let me ask you again, are you insured or assured?  “Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” Romans 3:27.  Please, be Assured, there is nothing we can add, or premium to pay, He paid it all.