7.05.2005 | "I am saved" wristband

Well, now you can show the world that you've been officially saved. You'll have the wristband to prove it. I happened to see one of these bands in a Christian bookstore, and it got me to thinking about election, and that eternally nagging question: how do we truly know we are saved?

My opinion is that we can not know in this life. We may believe we are saved; we may act accordingly, and, as is said, walk in the newness of our life in Christ. What of those of us, which is to say all of us, who stray from that narrow path? Well, we keep asking the Father for His forgiveness in the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:7-13). Our prayer is that we be forgiven.

But Lord, we sin each and every day, in manner small and manner great. How can we possibly be saved with all of this sin? I don't know. God knows. Perhaps the very fact that we keep seeking His forgiveness, and, it is to hoped, strive to repent of our sins, may show that we have been saved. We are told, by Jesus, that those who have been chosen will perservere:John 10:26-30:

"You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

"No one shall snatch them out of my hand." Not Satan. Certainly not you, yourself -- unless ye think you have greater power than God.

The wristband? Harmless enough. And who knows but that some sinner sees the wristband and opens their ears to hear the Good News. And, in God's good time, be truly saved.

| technorati tag | Christianity|