1. Because these people cannot pin-point the date of their conversion.
Do you remember when you were converted? This is the point when you realise you were a lost sinner and you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and asked for forgiveness as you repented of your sins. Many of us find it difficult to pin-point a date. Some of us may remember the day we prayed the sinner’s prayer. But we looked back and realized that we were unsure of our decision to accept Christ. Some believe because there was some pressure from friends or family members. Some believe because they were curious with Christianity. Others have ulterior motive in accepting Christ. They turned to Christianity because they want healing for their sickness, or solution to their financial hardship, or family troubles. We should not have ulterior motives in accepting Christ as Lord and Saviour. The only motive we should have is first recognising ourselves as lost sinners and needing the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on Calvary’s cross for the sins of humanity to save us, and there is NONE other who can do so!
Is remembering the date very important to our salvation? It does not make us more saved. However it helps us to appreciate what the Lord has done for us on that day when we trust in Christ as Saviour. The crux of the matter is: do I believe in Jesus now? Do I accept the fact that His death on the cross is for the salvation of my soul?
2. Because they are still struggling with sin in their lives.
These people think that once they have accepted Jesus, they are completely freed of sin. Christ saved us from our sin and made us new men. We have a different attitude towards sin. We now call sin as sin. In the past we may think that white lie is not sin. But today we realized that half truth is sin in God’s sight. Then we are afraid to sin because we fear God.
However, when we become Christians, we are not free from the nature of sin in us. Paul experienced the entanglement of the two natures in him. In Romans 7: 14 – 25, he says that we are all in the flesh while on earth. We have the tendency to do wrong and sin against God and man. God is grieved with our sinning and it breaks our fellowship with God. How can we be restored to an intimate fellowship with Him? The Bible says that we need to confess our sin. 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
As a Christian, we are still liable to sin from time to time because we are not completely free from the “law (nature) of sin”! We can still come to the Lord Jesus at His throne of grace to ask forgiveness from our sins until we are totally free of all sin in the presence of God – for no one can appear before God if he or she is still tarnished from sin.
When we acknowledge our sin and confess it to God. He is merciful and just to forgive us our sins. We must always exercise this means of grace to remain in fellowship with Him.
3 Because these people lack faith in the redemptive work of Jesus.
These people cannot believe in the sufficiency of God’s grace in salvation. They lack understanding in the word of God. What is our assurance of salvation? It is only the Word of God that gives the assurance of salvation. We must believe in the promises of God. God’s Word says:
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3: 16)
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