Fire Insurance vs. Full Assurance

“The unsaved sinner loves a salvation from hell. The true Christian loves a salvation from sin. Everyone desires to be saved from the pit, but it is only a child of God who pants to be saved from every false way.” – C.H. Spurgeon

This is one of the deepest and most profound quotes I’ve heard from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the deservedly nicknamed “Prince of Preachers.”

As finite but eternal beings with a “shelf life” on earth of about 80 years, we desperately want to know where we will spend eternity. As much as I prefer hot weather to cold – hence our 2011 move from New Jersey to Florida – I don’t think I would be able to stand the scorching temperatures in the Lake of Fire. Thankfully, I repented of my sins and placed my faith and trust in Jesus Christ almost 50 years ago… and so, I will never experience the terrors and torment of hell.

But I want more…

I don’t just want to be saved and secure; I also want to live in perfect obedience to God and to be transformed and conformed into Christ’s image as much as possible this side of Glory. Just having my “fire insurance” doesn’t cut it for me. Instead, I want God’s purifying fires to burn off the dross of my old sinful self, leaving behind a depository of gold that will fill heaven’s coffers someday.

That refining process isn’t immediate nor is it enjoyable for the most part. However, it is both necessary and essential if I want God to use me as fully and effectively as possible before I am called home to heaven.

How about you, my friend? Is salvation from hell all you are interested in… or do you desire, crave, and yearn for something more? Sinless perfection is an impossibility on earth, but the striving for it is a noble and Christ-worthy goal.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President