THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

III SUNDAY OF LENT - Luke 13:1-9

Can we be sure of salvation and are we already saved? There are so many people asking this question. And many of them feel assured of salvation because they believe and they accepted Jesus as their saviour. To the Corinthians, St. Paul wrote: “The man who thinks he is safe must be careful that he does not fall.” (1 Cor 10:12). We may fall and lose our way to salvation. We were called and chosen, and we said “yes” to God’s call. Thus we entered the path to salvation; however, we haven’t arrived yet and we may lose the way. And, according to Paul, the people of Israel are an example of that: 

“They were all baptised into Moses in this cloud and in this sea; all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they all drank from the spiritual rock that followed them as they went, and that rock was Christ. In spite of this, most of them failed to please God and their corpses littered the desert.” (1 Cor 10:2-5).

Salvation is not something we can achieve by our effort, no matter how much we strive. Salvation is always a gift bestowed on us by God, who loves us, having decided in his merciful love to call us to share in his glory. However, this gift must be accepted with thanksgiving. To God’s love, we must reciprocate with love. This love is shown through obedience and faithfulness. If we turn our backs on God and abandon the path of righteousness, then we will end up lost in despair. God has called us and we must accept his call and show forth our love to Him in our daily existence. We are on the road to salvation and may the Lord, in his great mercy, grant us his Spirit so that we may reach our destination and find the welcoming arms of Jesus Christ. We must produce fruits of justice, mercy and love. The Lord gives us extra time as he did to the fig tree. However, in the end, if the tree doesn’t produce any fruits, it will be cut down.

Meanwhile, we are called to repentance and conversion. Let us turn our hearts to God that he may cleanse us of our sins and make us holy according to His holiness.