Am I
Saved?
My Personal Journey!
Ian A. Fair
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In 1958 I
was building a new home in my hometown, Pietermaritzburg, Republic
of South Africa. My wife, June, and I had purchased a building
plot in a new subdivision. With the help of my
father-in-law we were building the house ourselves. We learned that
an American Missionary had purchased the new house next to the one
we were building. We did not know what faith he held, only
that he was shortly to move into our community. When he finally
moved into his new home all we could determine was that he was
young, and had two children! Our British South African
conservative background struggled with our inquisitive interest in
what he was doing in South Africa, and in particular,
Pietermaritzburg! We felt that in time we would be formally
introduced!
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One late afternoon
toward evening, our new neighbor climbed up onto the roof of our new
house where I was laying tiles on the roof. He introduced
himself as Tex Williams and began passing the tiles on to me.
After a brief interval he asked me what church I attended. The
question did not surprise me. It was the kind of question I
imagined he would ask. I told him the church we attended.
He asked why I attended that church! I thought the question
somewhat strange, and replied "Well, that is the church my parents
attended and where I have grown up." His response sort of set
me back! "Do you think that is a good enough reason?"
I replied somewhat indignantly that I thought it was! He
dropped the discussion right there. We parted company a few
minutes later on friendly terms, but with my thoughts somewhat
troubled! Was my reason not good enough?
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The next day
as I was working on the roof I was again joined by my new neighbor.
This time I thought I would get the upper hand! I asked him what
church he attended. He told me. Expecting some traditional
answer like mine of the day before, I asked him why he attended that
church! His answer not only challenged me, but also disturbed me.
He responded "Because that is the church I read about in my New
Testament!" We discussed this in some detail, and what I learned
that day was that traditional religion may be OK, but one should have
better reasons for faith than family and tradition, no matter how good
family and tradition may be. I learned that Jesus expected each
person to make their own decisions, and that I could not be saved by the
decisions of my parents and their faith, or the faith of my church, no
matter how good that may be. |
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first time, I was seriously challenged to look at my faith which I had
for all my life taken form granted. I had been raised in a good
family, been taken to church as a child, and in many respects lived a
good Christian moral life. But I had never been challenged to
examine my faith in the light of God's Word and the message of Jesus!
I began to realize that I could not be saved on the grounds of my
parents faith or traditional religion. I needed to hear for myself
the call of Jesus and respond to that call myself. I began to ask
myself whether my faith really was a biblical faith or whether it was
perhaps a traditional faith. I was challenged to rethink what it
meant to really believe in Jesus and what God was doing though him.
I was being challenged to re-examine what it meant to really trust in
God and his Son, Jesus, and the message of salvation I heard from them.
I must mention, that I had good God fearing parents who were later like
myself, challenged to rethink their faith and relationship with Jesus
and His Word.
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I found some urgency in
asking myself, "Do I really believe in Jesus? Do I really
trust him? Have I been trusting Jesus or perhaps my parents
and my traditional religion?"
This brought me to the
ultimate question I needed to ask myself!
"Am I really in a
saved relationship with Jesus?"
"Am I saved?"
"Have I really been united with Jesus, or simply united with
my church?
"Is he really the Lord and
King over my life?"
Favor me some
impertinence at this point! May I challenge you to ask
yourself the same questions I needed to ask myself in 1958?
"Is Jesus really
the Lord of your life?"
"Is your
faith a traditional or personal faith, or is it truly a
biblical faith?
"Is you faith the outgrowth of responding to the saving message and
call of God through Jesus?"
"Are you saved?"
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If you are interested in
exploring these questions from a biblical rather than a traditional
perspective, Please contact me by
clicking here.
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