How do You Know You are Saved

[manichunter]

Is your Salvation real?
How do you know you are saved from death, hell, and the grave; and, you have been spiritually born again into a spiritual kingdom of God? What is the proof that your salvation is real and legitimate?

Do you recognize anything here that proves you are saved? Which would apply to you?
1.I was born to Christians parents.
2.I attend a Christian church.
3.I believe in Jesus.
4.I was baptized.
5.I have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that spoke and speaks to me.


Mt 7:21-23 - 21 "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
According to this Scripture, one can be deceived about the legitimacy of their salvation.


2Co 13:5 - Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified.
According this Scripture, we are required to know beyond any reasonable doubt that our salvation is genuine. It will be too late to get before Jesus in judgment and say I thought I was.


Php 2:12 - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
According to this Scripture, we are to be aggressive and cautious in the walk of and living in our salvation.

I was saved in Aug 1991 by the Holy Spirit telling me that Jesus was indeed the living Word of God that came in the manner of flesh, but was the God. I was a convert from Islamic practices and thoughts that believed that Jesus is the Word of God. However, they say he is still simply a man and not God.

I was invited to a home Bible study and the topic was the plan of salvation. I was invited by a Christian friend who promised me that a lot of girls would be there and that we would go out on the town afterwards to play. During the course of instruction, the Holy Spirit took me to John 1:1 and broke it down in the Greek; and, the rest is spiritual history.........

I clearly remember the Holy Spirit asking me from an inaudible voice within my inner man, “Who do you say Jesus is.†I responded without audibility speaking, “God.†Then the Spirit asked me what I was going to do about this revelation of who Jesus was. I simply said He is my God and Savior, and then I received Him without telling anyone else until I got home. I immediately went home from this Bible Study called my girlfriend, told her I got saved, and that I was breaking up with her because I did not want a girlfriend anymore to get in between Jesus and me. LOL This is my witness of salvation and spiritual birth into the Kingdom of God.

 

[cyberjosh]

I remember once about two years ago, when I went to a youth gathering at another Church, that a man there shaking hands as people went into the sanctuary rather bluntly, abruptly, and boldly asked me this question ("How do you know that you are saved?"), and I must admit it caught me a bit off guard. Not in that I couldn't explain why I beleived I was saved, but that the question seemed so unexpected that it would be one of the first things he would ask me aside from asking my name (and sadly that is not a very common question), so partly taken aback I said, "Excuse me?" as if to hear him more correctly, and he repeated the question, and finally my heart kicked my head into gear and I said with full conviction, "Because the Spirit testifies with my spirit that I am a son of God!". The man heartily agreed with such testimony and said amen.

But that short encounter really made me think afterward, about how to properly reply to such a question, and my reply upon further evaluation seemed strikingly adequate, even though I had never premeditated or thought of such a reply. But the evidence of the Spirit working in our lives is a very clear evidence of our adoption as children of God. Another evidence which we can tell the difference of our conversion and salvation almost immediately from is the sudden love that you will have for the brethren once you are saved. My Dad said that was one of the first things that he noticed that changed about himself after he was saved, that those who were once just other "people going to Church" were now brothers and sisters in Christ which he suddenly felt love for in Christ. Almost the entire message of 1 John affirms this very truth, of the inseperable relationship to loving God and loving others.

Just my 2 cents.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Rick W]

How do I know I am saved?
Jesus promised me and I believe Him. I may not be ever-faithful but He is.
I know I can't rely on myself but Him? You bet.

 

[waitinontheLamb]

How do I know I am saved?
Jesus promised me and I believe Him. I may not be ever-faithful but He is.
I know I can't rely on myself but Him? You bet.

Amen!

The promises of Jesus are sure. I need nothing more then His Word to know of salvation. It is in and through Him alone. He said He will save and I trust Him implicitly.

Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to the cross I cling.

 

[freeway]

How do I know my saved... I believe in Jesus, born of a virgin, died for all mankind's sins, was resurrected on the third day. and is coming back to get us..
anything beyond this that requires me doing something (other than believing ) fall in the good works category and we all know what God says about our good works.........................filthy rags. 8-)

 

[mutzrein]

How do I know I am saved?
Jesus promised me and I believe Him. I may not be ever-faithful but He is.
I know I can't rely on myself but Him? You bet.

Amen!

The promises of Jesus are sure. I need nothing more then His Word to know of salvation. It is in and through Him alone. He said He will save and I trust Him implicitly.

Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to the cross I cling.

Have you ever wondered how the early believers 'knew' they were saved - since they didn't have the 'Word' as we know it?

 

[Rick W]

Abraham's faith comes to mind.

Hebrews really zeros in on faith.

Even in the OT God made His promises. So again, believing those promises is the key.

 

[mutzrein]

Abraham's faith comes to mind.

Hebrews really zeros in on faith.

Even in the OT God made His promises. So again, believing those promises is the key.

But your reference is still scripture. If you didn't have it (scripture), how would you KNOW you were saved?

 

[Imagican]

Mutz,

I don't 'know' that anyone can KNOW that they are 'saved'. One can certainly train themselves to 'believe' in life everafter, but how one could KNOW is beyond me. For to KNOW would be to be able to place oneself in the judgement seat of God. And to even 'act' like one KNOWS would be to fill oneself with 'self righteousness'.

I believe that we have been told to serve with 'fear and trembling'. And indication that we are to 'run the race' but that there is no way that 'WE' are able to determine our OWN judgement.

Let me ask this: At the time that Peter denied Christ THREE times, do you believe that Peter at this point and time KNEW He was to be granted life eternal? Upon hearing the cock crow, what do you think was going through Peter's mind? Assurance of Salvation? I wonder............

Blessings,

MEC

 

[Rick W]

Have you ever wondered how the early believers 'knew' they were saved - since they didn't have the 'Word' as we know it?

Abraham's faith comes to mind.

Hebrews really zeros in on faith.

Even in the OT God made His promises. So again, believing those promises is the key.

But your reference is still scripture. If you didn't have it (scripture), how would you KNOW you were saved?

Of course it's still scripture. You asked about "early believers" and I sure wasn't there at the time.

I wasn't the least bit interested in scripture when I was saved. Sure, I heard of Jesus as a kid and here and there but I really didn't care much at all about it. It wasn't until AFTER I was saved that I had a strong desire to read the bible. I knew something wonderful had happened, I knew my sins were forgiven and I knew Christ had done this wonderful thing. After that I had a serious desire to know more about Him.
I can guarantee you I knew I was saved from my sins the moment it occurred. I didn't know the mechanics, the doctrines or the details but I absolutely knew I had been forgiven.
Trying to explain that at that time was next to impossible unless one had experienced it already. So through the desire to learn of Him I found I could indeed explain it. Through the Promise I can now testify that my salvation is secured, I can now testify why I knew deep down that I was saved.

Had you asked me this question soon after I was saved I wouldn't have been able to tell you even though I knew. But now I know why I can say so. So I do.

Do you know you are saved?

 

[mutzrein]

Have you ever wondered how the early believers 'knew' they were saved - since they didn't have the 'Word' as we know it?

Abraham's faith comes to mind.

Hebrews really zeros in on faith.

Even in the OT God made His promises. So again, believing those promises is the key.

But your reference is still scripture. If you didn't have it (scripture), how would you KNOW you were saved?

Of course it's still scripture. You asked about "early believers" and I sure wasn't there at the time.

I wasn't the least bit interested in scripture when I was saved. Me neither. Sure, I heard of Jesus as a kid and here and there but I really didn't care much at all about it. Me too. It wasn't until AFTER I was saved that I had a strong desire to read the bible. Ditto. I knew something wonderful had happened, I knew my sins were forgiven and I knew Christ had done this wonderful thing. Yep - me too again. After that I had a serious desire to know more about Him. As did I.
I can guarantee you I knew I was saved from my sins the moment it occurred. Right on. I didn't know the mechanics, the doctrines or the details but I absolutely knew I had been forgiven. Hallelujah!
Trying to explain that at that time was next to impossible unless one had experienced it already. I can vouch for that too. So through the desire to learn of Him I found I could indeed explain it. Can't argue with that. Through the Promise I can now testify that my salvation is secured, I can now testify why I knew deep down that I was saved. Nor that.

Had you asked me this question soon after I was saved I wouldn't have been able to tell you even though I knew. But now I know why I can say so. So I do. Praise God!

Do you know you are saved? Sure do!

 

[dadof10]

2Co 13:5 - Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified.
According this Scripture, we are required to know beyond any reasonable doubt that our salvation is genuine. It will be too late to get before Jesus in judgment and say I thought I was.

I think you are stretching this verse to say what it really doesn't. Where does Scripture say we are to "know beyond any reasonable doubt that our salvation is genuine"? I think it is presumptuous.

I think you can know without a doubt which Master you serve, but as far as being saved from "death, hell, and the grave; and, you have been spiritually born again into a spiritual kingdom of God", I don't think we are supposed to know, let alone commanded to.

 

[mutzrein]

Mutz,

I don't 'know' that anyone can KNOW that they are 'saved'. One can certainly train themselves to 'believe' in life everafter, but how one could KNOW is beyond me. For to KNOW would be to be able to place oneself in the judgement seat of God. And to even 'act' like one KNOWS would be to fill oneself with 'self righteousness'.

I believe that we have been told to serve with 'fear and trembling'. And indication that we are to 'run the race' but that there is no way that 'WE' are able to determine our OWN judgement.

Let me ask this: At the time that Peter denied Christ THREE times, do you believe that Peter at this point and time KNEW He was to be granted life eternal? Upon hearing the cock crow, what do you think was going through Peter's mind? Assurance of Salvation? I wonder............

Blessings,

MEC

Alright let me clarify what I mean when I use the word ‘saved’ in the context of this thread. It’s the same clarification I seek when a person asks ‘are you a christian’? Because one has to make sure that you are both speaking about he same thing huh.

My thinking here is that the word ‘saved’ can be equated to being ‘born again’. If this is so, then naturally I would have to go to the next step and ask, what does it mean to be born again? And of course this is a minefield. So lets not go there for the moment. Let’s just accept that the term ‘saved’ equates to being born again. Can we do that?

If we can, then I can unequivocally say that I am saved. I have been born again by the Spirit of God. I am not born again because I have read it in a book, or because I have said the sinners’ prayer or even because I have been baptised . . .

I know I have been born again because my spirit bears witness with the spirit of God that gave me birth. From the moment I was born again when I was alone in my bedroom in 1980, until today, there has been no doubt at all within me that I was on that day transformed from death to life. None whatsoever.

Have I trained myself to believe it? No!
Have I filled myself with self-righteousness? No!
I am astounded that one such as yourself could even think that. After everything that I have shared on these forums I have never EVER even intimated that being ‘saved’ is anything but ENTIRELY a work of God. I have done nothing to deserve it, nothing to invoke it and done nothing even to accept it - because I know that it is something that can only ever be a work of God’s grace. ENTIRELY God’s grace. It has nothing to do with me, and MEC I believe that you cannot or will not accept this unless and until the notion of you exercising your will to be ‘saved’ is dispelled.

My righteousness is – and can only ever be - in and through Christ from beginning to end. ASTOUNDING that anyone can think otherwise!

MEC – Running the race is a completely different issue to being ‘qualified’ for entry into it. The race is eternal life. The qualification for entry into the race is the gift of God. Self-righteousness can only ever come about if you believe that your entry qualification for the race, or status within it, is attributed (even in the slightest) to human effort.

Regarding Peter. What was going through his mind when the cock crowed? I can’t tell you that but I can say this. As one who was chosen by Christ to have revealed unto him the secrets of the kingdom of God, and as one who had revealed unto him by God, who Christ was, the words that came out of his mouth pierced his heart to the point of absolute contrition.

To this point, only Christ had been born of the Spirit. The disciples had no idea what it meant to have the Spirit that was presently with them, dwelling within them – let alone even know that it would happen and the implications of it. There was no assurance of ‘salvation’ or even lack of it because Jesus had not died.

Peter was as the prodigal son, who even though he had ‘sinned’ against his father, sought forgiveness in his sorrow and was granted it in full measure according to the richness of God’s love and grace shown to his children.

And blessings to you too my friend

 

[one_lost_coin]

The initial question was "Is your salvation real?" and the answers have seemed to me to have become an answer to the very different question of "Are you saved?".

"Is your salvation real?" Yes, salvation is real and available to all.

to the question "Are you saved?"
As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13).

 

[Rick W]

I don't place myself in the judgment seat of God. Christ didn't say believe on me and you might be saved.
There's an outpouring of mercy from God, not judgment, through his Son Jesus Christ. Where is there mention of judgment in Hebrews 8?
I can surely understand why those who put their faith in works wouldn't know for sure since they believe it depends on themselves. A works-centered belief demands a condition be met.

Question:
If I repeat a sin am I still forgiven or not?

 

[one_lost_coin]

I don't place myself in the judgment seat of God. Christ didn't say believe on me and you might be saved.
There's an outpouring of mercy from God, not judgment, through his Son Jesus Christ. Where is there mention of judgment in Hebrews 8?
I can surely understand why those who put their faith in works wouldn't know for sure since they believe it depends on themselves. A works-centered belief demands a condition be met.

Question:
If I repeat a sin am I still forgiven or not?

I am not sure what you are replying to and I am not sure what you are getting at but even though there is no judgment mentioned in Hebrews 8, there is mention in Hebrews 9 and 10 which is a continuation of the train of thought going on in Hebrews 8. But again I am not sure if my bringing that up means anything just thought it should be pointed out.

If you repeat a sin and you ask for Gods forgiveness again you will be forgiven again. If for some reason we stop being repentant for any of the sins we commit whether habitual or not and no longer seek to make ourselves right with God by His Grace we also can't expect to be forgiven for the sins we committed. We are to pick up our crosses daily and follow Him to the end of our earthly lives and into the fullness of His presence.

 

[dadof10]

A works-centered belief demands a condition be met.

A condition like "accepting Jesus as personal Lord and Savior"? Would you consider that a "work"?

Question:
If I repeat a sin am I still forgiven or not?

Do you ask for forgiveness with forethought of repeating it? Do you ask for forgiveness at all?Could you elaborate?

 

[Drew]

I don't place myself in the judgment seat of God. Christ didn't say believe on me and you might be saved.

True. But even though many ignore it, we need to grapple with this from Romans 2:

5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God "will give to each person according to what he has done."[ 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism. 12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous

This text poses a big challenge. It clearly describes a judgement at which all human beings are present. If the church is excused from this judgement, then we have to say that Paul says, no less than three times, that people will indeed be justified at this judgement while meaning that the number of such people will be zero. So that position cannot be sustained.

And it clearly describes a judgement according to works. And yet we also have this from Paul:

6But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or 'Who will descend into the deep?'[c]" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,"[d] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The solution to this seeming dilemna is not to ignore Romans 2, or invent unworkable arguments that amount to saying "Paul really does not mean what he says in Romans 2".

Instead, the solution is to take Paul seriously in both places and admit to mysterious fact that those who place faith in Jesus Christ in the present are indeed assured of a favourable "works" judgement in the future (as per Romans 2).

How can this be? Through the gift of the Holy Spririt, given by faith, which transforms us into people who will satisfy the Romans 2 judgement.

Watch what people will do with Romans 2.

 

[mutzrein]

I don't place myself in the judgment seat of God. Christ didn't say believe on me and you might be saved.
There's an outpouring of mercy from God, not judgment, through his Son Jesus Christ. Where is there mention of judgment in Hebrews 8?
I can surely understand why those who put their faith in works wouldn't know for sure since they believe it depends on themselves. A works-centered belief demands a condition be met.

Question:
If I repeat a sin am I still forgiven or not?

70 times 7 at least. God's grace and forgiveness goes on and on and on and on . . .

It is not limited by the number of times we sin but by an attitude of the heart which denies the all encompassing faithfulness of our God to provide what He has promised.

 

[Rick W]

Absolutely
You hit the nail on the head. That's what I was looking for.

I'm either forgiven or not. Right now, today, this moment for all sin. The old man is buried with Christ, the new man risen in His resurrection. If I'm not forgiven then I'm not the new man I supposed I was.
One must keep this in mind when reading other scripture, that I am indeed a new man. One cannot read other scripture as a prerequisite to dying with Him then sharing in His resurrection. That's putting the cart before the horse. For to do so means by my failure in some way I must be recreated all over again. I am a new creation or I'm not. And Christ died once and for all. I cannot crucify Him over and over again. The old man died and cannot live again. The old man is not resurrected over and over. The new man is born, made a new creation, once and for all.

Works-centered beliefs would have us bound to our failure rather than to Christ's success.

I know I'm a new creation for I knew well the old. The spirit opens one's eyes to the old condition in bared honesty and brutal clarity. I've denied the old self in who I am today, every day. I know I'm a new creation and by that simple fact I know I am saved.

He promised. And His promises are true. He's merciful and His mercy is eternal. He is faithful and His faithfulness is unwavering. And I am a new creation by who He is and in Him is my salvation, not by me.