The Dangerous Lie of a False Sense of Security

I had a conversation with my sister yesterday that broke my heart.

My sister has been ministering to a woman and studying the Bible with her. This woman was getting ready to divorce her husband. They have four daughters. She doesn’t work; she homeschools her children. From the outside, it appears that she has many blessings in her life. Her husband works hard to provide for the family. Her primary complaint was that he doesn’t spend enough quality time with her.

As my sister has patiently and lovingly walked with her through the Scriptures, something came to light that shocked me. This woman had no idea what sin was.

Think about that for a moment. If you don’t understand sin, how can you understand your need for a Savior? If you don’t know that you are lost, why would you cry out to be saved? If you don’t understand that you have rebelled against a holy God, why would you understand the need to surrender your life to Him?

My sister had to begin at the beginning. She started teaching her what the Bible says about sin, righteousness, holiness, and our desperate need for God. Then the woman said something that reveals a problem I believe is much bigger than one woman. She said, “Well, my mother told me I got saved when I was fifteen.”

Perhaps she attended a youth group. Perhaps she heard a simplified version of the gospel. Perhaps she prayed a sinner’s prayer. Perhaps she was baptized. I don’t know exactly what happened when she was fifteen. And neither does my sister. But today, as a grown woman, she is discovering truths about sin and salvation that she apparently had never been taught. And her mother believes that if her daughter died, she would immediately go to heaven.

This is what concerns me. How many people sitting in churches today have been given a false sense of security about their eternal destiny? I am not writing this to condemn anyone. I am writing it because I believe the church has a responsibility to tell people the whole truth.

We have become very good at telling people how to feel saved. Raise your hand. Walk an aisle. Repeat this prayer. Get baptized. Come to church. Believe that Jesus died for you. And then we tell them, “You’re saved.”

But where is repentance? Where is surrender? Where is the recognition of sin? Where is the new birth? Where is the transforming work of the Holy Spirit?

Jesus did not tell Nicodemus, “Just agree with the facts about Me.” He told him:

"You must be born again."

Born again. Not merely informed. Not merely religious. Not merely forgiven in our minds because someone told us we were. Born of the Spirit of God. That is something supernatural.

The Bible tells us that we are all born into sin. Scripture says, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Isaiah tells us that even our righteousness is like filthy rags before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). That is not a popular message. But it is a necessary message.

Because until we understand the seriousness of sin, we will never understand the magnitude of grace. Until we understand that we are lost, we will never understand why we need a Savior. Until we understand that Jesus is not simply a religious figure who came to make our lives better, we will never understand that He came to save us from our sins and become Lord of our lives.

Knowing About Jesus Is Not the Same as Knowing Jesus

There is a dangerous assumption circulating throughout Christianity today: “If I believe the facts about Jesus, I am saved.”

But James tells us that even demons believe—and tremble (James 2:19). They know exactly who Jesus is. They know He is the Son of God. They know He has authority. They know the truth. But they do not surrender to Him as Lord.

Knowing about Jesus is not the same thing as surrendering to Jesus. You can know the Scriptures and not obey them. You can attend church and never surrender your life. You can be baptized and never be born again. You can pray a prayer and never repent. You can call yourself a Christian and never become a new creation. And perhaps most frightening of all, you can be completely sincere and still be sincerely mistaken.

Jesus gave us one of the most sobering warnings in all of Scripture in Matthew 7:21–23. He described people who would one day stand before Him believing they belonged to Him. They would point to their religious works and tell Him what they had done in His name. And Jesus would say: “I never knew you.”

Those words should cause every one of us to stop and examine our hearts. Not our neighbor’s heart. Not our spouse’s heart. Not our children’s hearts. Our own hearts.

What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

Being born again is not simply becoming a better version of yourself. It is not turning over a new leaf. It is not joining a church. It is not adopting Christian values. It is not merely believing that Jesus existed. It is not simply acknowledging that He died on the cross and rose again.

Being born again means that the Holy Spirit does a work in you that you cannot accomplish for yourself. You recognize your sin. You repent. You turn from your rebellion. You surrender your life to Jesus Christ as Lord. You receive the Holy Spirit. You become a new creation.

Your desires begin to change. Your priorities begin to change. Your relationship with sin begins to change. Your relationship with God begins to change.

You are not instantly perfect. We are all still growing. We still stumble. We still need grace every single day. But something has changed. You are no longer the person sitting on the throne of your life. Jesus is. That is the difference.

The Tragedy of False Security

One of the most dangerous things we can do to people is give them assurance when they have never truly surrendered to Christ. Why? Because once someone believes they are already safe, they see no reason to examine their heart.

They don’t repent because they don’t think they need to. They don’t seek holiness because they have been told their eternal destiny is already settled. They don’t surrender because they believe a decision they made years ago has taken care of everything. And all the while, they may be living completely apart from Christ.

I am not saying we should live in fear, constantly wondering whether God will reject us. Quite the opposite. I want people to have true assurance.

But true assurance is found in Christ—not in a memory of a prayer prayed at age fifteen. Not in a baptism certificate. Not in church membership. Not in what our parents told us. Not in simply agreeing with facts about Jesus. Our assurance must be rooted in a genuine relationship with the living God.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5:

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith."

That is not a message of condemnation. It is an invitation to honesty.

So I Ask You Today…

Don’t ask yourself only, “Did I pray the prayer?” Ask, “Have I been born again?” Don’t ask only, “Was I baptized?” Ask, “Am I a new creation?” Don’t ask only, “Do I believe in Jesus?” Ask, “Have I surrendered to Jesus?” Don’t ask only, “Did my mother tell me I was saved?” Ask, “Does my life belong to Christ?”

The gospel is not merely an invitation to believe facts about Jesus. It is a call to repentance. It is a call to surrender. It is a call to die to self and follow Christ. It is a call to become a new creation.

And here is the good news: We do not have to remain lost. We do not have to remain slaves to sin. We do not have to face eternal judgment. Jesus Christ came to save us. The cross is real. The resurrection is real. The forgiveness of God is real. The transforming power of the Holy Spirit is real. And the invitation is still open.

So don’t settle for a false sense of security. Don’t let someone else’s assurance become your assurance. Don’t assume that because you have been around Christianity, you belong to Christ. Come to Jesus. Repent. Surrender. Be born again. Because eternity is far too long to gamble on a salvation you have never truly experienced.

Don’t just know about Jesus. Surrender to Him.