One of the ways that Satan attacks us is through doubt. He can get you to doubt your salvation, your usefulness, your abilities, and your future. Part of the problem, even with that one statement, is that the word your is used too much. One of the ways that we set ourselves up for failure is when our focus is on us.

The all-sufficiency of Christ teaches us that He is enough in every situation. It’s not about your salvation or your usefulness, it is all about Christ and His security and His power. This reason alone teaches us why the Lordship of Christ is so essential for you as a believer. The world would have us to believe that Christ’s Lordship is a negative thing, but when you understand the all-sufficiency of Christ and His provision, Lordship becomes an incredible blessing.

We all have doubts of some kind or another. In salvation, we need to distinguish and know whether or not we are followers of Christ. I gave a number of lists for ways to determine the difference between a false conversion and a questioning doubt. Look over these lists (they are not original with me but drawn from a variety of sources). Make sure that you are a follower of Christ – by repenting of your sin and trusting in Christ alone as Savior and Lord – then look for the transformation that He will bring to your life.

Satan’s Attack Causing Doubt

1. Reminds you of your past

2. Tells you why you can’t be saved – if you were saved, you wouldn’t have done this.

3. Attacks the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice – Jesus can save others but He can’t save you.

4. Causes doubt because you question your ability to be saved.

God Causing Questions of a False Conversion

1. You justify salvation by saying: I have to be saved because I grew up in a Christian home, I walked an aisle, I got baptized, I work, I serve, I am a good person, I’ve gone to church all of my life, I’ve always been a Christian.

2. God brings dissatisfaction with your standing with Him.

3. You demonstrate the evidences of a false conversion: your joy does not last (you become a critic of the church); you are preoccupied with the world (you are more concerned with the clothes in your closet than being clothed with Christ’s character); Christ does not reproduce His character in you (your attitudes are more like the world than like Christ).

4. God shows that there is no fruit in your life: no fruit of repentance (Matt 3:7-8); no fruit of good works (Col 1:10); no fruit of worship and praise (Heb 13:15); no fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23); no fruit of righteousness (Phil 1:9-11).

The Evidence of Fruit in Your Life

1. Fruit of repentance (Matt 3:7-8) 7 When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the place of his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance.

2. Fruit of good works (Col 1:10) 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.

3. Fruit of worship and praise (Heb 13:15) 15 Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.

4. Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

5. Fruit of righteousness (Phil 1:9-11). 9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Questions from 1 John to Ask Regarding Genuine Faith 1 John 5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

1. Do you enjoy having fellowship with Christ and His redeemed people? (1 John 1:3)

2. Would people say you walk in the light, or walk in the darkness? (1 John 1:6-7)

3. Do you admit and confess your sin? (1 John 1:8)

4. Are you obedient to God's Word? (1 John 2:3-5)

5. Does your life indicate you love God rather than the world? (1 John 2:15)

6. Is your life characterized by "doing what is right"? (1 John 2:29)

7. Do you seek to maintain a pure life? (1 John 3:3)

8. Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your life? (1 John 3:5-6) [Note: this idea refers to not continuing in sin as a way of life, not a total absence of sin].

9. Do you demonstrate love for other Christians? (1 John 3:14)

10. Do you "walk the walk," versus just "talking the talk"? (1 John 3:18-19)

11. Do you maintain a clear conscience? (1 John 3:21)

12. Do you experience victory in your Christian walk? (1 John 5:4)

Jesus wants us to serve Him in the security of His All-Sufficiency. He is enough!!