In our recent mission trip to Kenya, our team spent an entire morning of disciple-making training exploring the eternal implications and practical application of the assurance of salvation. For a new believer, confidence in one’s salvation is crucial to consistent spiritual growth, and a disciple maker needs to be trained to give this assurance to their disciples.

Easter, of course, embodies the message of hope and the assurance of salvation for those who trust in the Lord. Although all of our Christian holidays are beautiful reminders of God’s love, none of them would not exist without Easter. Christmas celebrates the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah, who took on flesh and lived without sin. Palm Sunday highlights Jesus’ Lordship as both the Son of God and the Son of Man. Good Friday recognizes God’s profound sacrifice in restoring fellowship with His children. But it is Easter Sunday that brings everything to its culmination of hope. Through His sinless life, sacrifice on the cross, and resurrection from the dead, Jesus fulfilled every aspect of the covenant we had broken. Easter presents an opportunity to reflect on the high cost that secured our salvation. Once saved, always saved, if truly saved. If you are genuinely saved, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and held secure in God’s hand (John 10:29). Confidence in this promise is not found in yourself, your exemplary works, your genealogy, or your heritage. This great assurance of salvation is in Jesus’ completed work and God’s very nature and character.

In Kenya, we spent considerable time training 60+ African DMDs (disciple-making disciples) how to apply the vital truths of Romans 5:12-21, a text that compares two figures—Adam and Jesus. Paul reminds us that all humanity was born under Adam and inherited his sinful nature and condemnation (Romans 3:23). Sin and death entered the world through Adam. But grace and salvation are available through the last Adam, Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection secured redemption for His church. Every Easter serves as a proclamation of the availability of a new arrangement—a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). On Friday of the first Easter, the temple's foundation shook with an earthquake and the temple veil was torn. On Easter Sunday, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was found to be empty. Every Easter since—including from Beaumont, TX, to Malindi, Kenya—there has been a proclamation that Jesus Christ has defeated the power of sin and death. This victory ensures that those who trust in Jesus are forgiven and assured of their place in God’s eternal Kingdom.

Everything changed at the moment of Jesus’ resurrection. For this reason, Easter is not just a historical event. It is a continual invitation to live out the freedom and assurance of Christ’s supreme victory. Easter reminds us to shift our gaze from our inadequacies to God’s sovereignty. Your salvation is assured because you did not earn it, and you cannot lose it. Take time this Easter to reflect on the enormity of this great promise and celebrate the assurance of your salvation.