Question from a Site Viewer
How can I know that I am saved?
Tim’s Answer
The apostle John wrote a little book in answer to your question, that we call 1 John in our Bible. John tells us that he wrote this book so that we may know that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
Jesus told us that if we place our trust in Him, we will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:14-16). The Apostle Paul tells us that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9-13).
Salvation is a gift given by God to those who trust Him to be their salvation. We cannot be saved by the good we do, but only by trusting that God is good and that He will save all who come to Him seeking His salvation. When the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas what he had to do to be saved, Paul and Silas responded: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31). Salvation is a free gift that God gives to all who trust Him for their salvation and seek to develop a personal relationship with Him through a close knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Those who seek Him will find Him. Those who believe (not a mere intellectual assent but a personal commitment or trust) are saved. The faith that saves is not mere emotional feeling or even emotional in nature for some, but it is a decision to trust.
John tells us in 1 John that if we walk in light, if we walk in love, if we listen to Spirit, if we practice righteousness and keep ourselves from idolatrous practices, if we live confessing our sins and keeping His word in our mind, then we know that we are saved. Paul tells us in Romans 8:16 that the Spirit of God bears witness within us that we are His children. If the Spirit is convicting us when we sin and teaching us about Jesus, then we are saved. If we have the Spirit, we are His.
Hebrews 12 tells us that if we are His children then we will be chastised by God. If we can sin and things do not go well with us, then His chastisement becomes a proof of our salvation.
There are many other evidences of salvation found in Scripture. Ultimately, all those who seek after God through His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will find eternal life. A life lived in personal conversation with God, a life growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, is a life blessed by God.
a servant,
tim