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June 19 Daily Devotional

Are You Saved?

Peter G. Feenstra

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” Luke 13:23

Bible Reading

Luke 13:22–30

Devotional

Are you saved? We need to consider this question carefully so that we might honour God as we reflect on it. How can we be sure that we belong to Jesus Christ and are saved by His grace? Is our relationship with Christ secured by the fact that we exist? Can we claim Him as our Lord and Saviour just because we are born into a Christian family and go to church?

Salvation and freedom from guilt and punishment is a gift of God’s sovereign grace which He gives to His people and not to every person in the world. One day someone asked Jesus, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” (13:23) Jesus replied, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (13:24) Notice what the Lord does. He does not answer the question about the amount of people being saved. Rather, He directs this person’s attention to his own standing before the Lord. In effect Jesus is saying, “Don’t concern yourself with the number of those saved; rather, concern yourself with whether you will be saved.”

In Matthew 7:13–14 Jesus calls His disciples to “enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction...” Both the narrow and the broad gate suggest salvation is found on the other side; both roads point to God, to glory, to blessings and to salvation. But both roads do not actually go there because the one road has been constructed on divine accomplishments and the other on human achievements.

God’s election to salvation is made effective through the covenant and through the church. Yet we all know that not every member in the church will be saved. We do not enter through the narrow gate in groups or because of our ancestry and family background; as members of the body of Christ we are called to a personal relationship with Jesus. We cannot be saved unless we live by faith in the Lord Jesus. He is our only hope for the future. Faith is the only means by which we are bound to Christ and receive assurance that we are saved. Faith is necessary for those who are in the church and for those who, at this point, are not gathering with Christ’s people. Are you responding to the gospel message and living by faith?

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