Have you ever felt doubtful of your relationship with Christ? Did you feel like your doubt was due to your inability to properly obey God or God’s inability or lack of love towards you?

It is spiritually healthy for every person to inquire whether he or she is pleasing to God or not. Our doubt can motivate us to carefully investigate the word of God. The only way to know with certainty if we are right with God is to look into the Bible (the word of God) and believe and obey what God says on how to be forgiven of sins and have eternal life. If we discover that we are not in a right relationship with God, then we will need to accept God’s way of forgiveness revealed in his word. When we understand what God wants us to do and obey it, then we will enjoy peace and assurance. Our insecurities and doubts are remedied by believing and obeying what God says in his word.

Several things can lead us to doubt our relationship with God. Perhaps we know that we have not yet made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ. If so, we can be certain that we are not in a saving relationship with God. Jesus said that “no one knows the Father except the Son” (Matthew 16:27) and that “no one can come to God except through me” (John 14:6). He also said that “if we die in our sins, where he is, we cannot come” (John 8:21-24). Perhaps we thought we were right with God until we read the Bible or heard someone talk about what the Bible says and then realized that we had not obeyed what we read or heard. Perhaps something has happened to us in our life like a failure, financial problems, a relationship breakdown, a sickness, a death or other traumatic events that caused us to doubt or question our relationship with God. Perhaps the realization that we are sinful, weak and inadequate causes us to wonder if God loves and cares for us. Perhaps our sins weigh so heavily on our minds that we feel utterly worthless and unlovable, even by God.

One very important thing to remember is that the salvation and relationship that God offers depends on the power of the sacrifice of Jesus. Yes, we must choose to accept the sacrifice of Jesus for our life, that is known as “obeying the Gospel.” But God never forces people to follow Him. God’s ability to save me and love me depends on His grace – or good will – and Jesus’ work. The Apostle Paul begins to explain this in Romans 3:21-24.

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”