Can I know what I truly believe?

This question troubles many sincere Christians and it deserves a careful, honest answer. It also reflects a genuine debate within Christianity, so we want to be straightforward about that.

Many Christians, and we are among them, look at passages like John 10:28-29 and Romans 8:38-39 and believe that salvation, once genuinely received, cannot be lost. God’s grip on his children is more secure than their grip on him. Jesus says of his sheep: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” If salvation could be lost, it would suggest our effort ultimately secures it. However, Scripture says it is God’s work and not ours.

Other sincere Christians believe certain passages warn that it is possible to fall away. These warnings should be taken seriously as there are many passages in the Bible with sobering cautions about drifting from the faith.

What virtually all Christians agree on is this: genuine saving faith produces a changed life. It isn’t a one-time transaction that makes no difference afterward. A person who has truly encountered Jesus will be changed. It will be imperfect and gradual but real. Ongoing, willful rejection of God is different from the ordinary struggles and failures every believer faces.

If you are worried about losing your salvation, that concern is itself a sign of genuine faith. Those who don’t care about God don’t worry about losing him. The very fact you are asking is reassuring and worth talking through with someone.

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
— John 10:28

“Neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
— Romans 8:38–39

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