Am I Really Saved? How Predestination Ends Performance Anxiety

Calvin argues that many Christians suffer from unnecessary anxiety about their salvation. They constantly ask themselves, “Am I truly saved? Have I committed a sin that could annul my salvation? Am I doing enough to merit God’s grace?” Predestination offers a comforting answer to these anguishes. If I am elected by God, my salvation does not depend on my performance, on my merit, or on my ability to hold myself firm. It depends on God’s sovereign and immutable will, which has already determined my salvation before the foundation of the world. This certainty, far from leading to antinomianism or to a neglect of moral life, produces exactly the opposite, a life of gratitude, of genuine desire to please God, and of spiritual growth. The believer who is truly secure in his salvation is not indifferent to morality. Rather, he is the one who most strongly desires to live in conformity with that gracious election. Another crucial pastoral implication is humility. If I am saved not because I am better, wiser, or more worthy than others, but exclusively through God’s sovereign grace that chose me, then there is no room for pride or for spiritual self-sufficiency.