How do I
know I'm really Saved?
Maybe you're saying, "I know that I've prayed to
receive Christ, but I'm experiencing doubt as to
whether it was real and genuine." If this is you,
God's Word tells us that we can know that we have
eternal life (I John 5:13), and actually gives
several objective tests you can apply to your life
in order to know whether or not you are really
saved. Click here to learn more.
Having an assurance of salvation cannot be based
solely on the fact that we prayed a prayer, or were
baptized. The Bible gives us several tests we must
first apply to our lives to determine whether there
is evidence of God’s grace there. Paul goes so far
as to command us, “test yourselves to see if you are
in the faith; examine yourselves” (II Corinthians
13:5). Here are six tests straight from the
Scriptures you can start with. It is as our lives
pass the following six biblical tests that we can
gain the hope and assurance of salvation. But
remember, following these tests could never get
anyone saved. Rather, these tests give evidence that
you have already been saved:
1. Do
you love the Lord Jesus Christ?
Paul prays, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let
him be accursed. Maranatha” (I Corinthians 16:22).
To fulfill the first and greatest commandment, which
is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind”
(Matthew 22:37) means that our hearts are solely
devoted to Him. St. Augustine described this love
well when he wrote, “He loves Thee too little who
loves anything together with Thee, which he loves
not for Thy sake.” Everything in our lives should
exist for His glory; and every activity done should
be done out of love for Him.
This first test may sound simple, but it is actually
the only test. The other five tests determine
whether we pass this first one, or whether we’re
fooling ourselves when we sing, “I love you, Lord.”
2. Are
you actively guarding your soul from sin and the
world?
The Apostle Paul humbly acknowledged that he himself
could apostatize and prove himself to become a
castaway if he was not diligent in guarding his
heart from being drawn away with the world. “But I
buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly,
after I have preached to others, I myself should be
disqualified” (I Corinthians 9:27). I John tells us
plainly, “Do not love the world, nor the things that
are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15).
Guard your heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23),
because to gain the world is to forfeit your claim
to God.
3. Are
you free from all habitual sin?
I John 3:9 tells us that “no one who is born of God
practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and
he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” First
John teaches that as Christians, we may sin at
times, but that “if anyone sins, we have an advocate
with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (I John
2:1). We can confess our sins and know that He is
faithful and just to forgive us (I John 1:9).
However, it is clear that for one who claims to be a
Christian to remain in habitual sin, his faith is
vain. Just consider the black and white clarity with
which John distinguishes those who are true
believers from those who are lying hypocrites, “The
one who says, “I have come to know Him, “and does
not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth
is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him
the love of God has truly been perfected (I John
2:4-5).”
4. Are
you convicted when you sin?
As said previously, Christians are not perfect, and
there are times that we succumb to our old nature
and sin. The difference between a believer and one
who is lost is in how they respond to sin. A
believer possesses the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, and will inevitably be convicted with guilt
when he sins. Hebrews tells us that just as earthly
fathers discipline their children, the Holy Spirit
will discipline us when we sin. “For those whom the
Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son
whom He receives . . . But if you are without
discipline, of which all have become partakers, then
you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Hebrews
12:6, 8)
5. Do
you love your neighbor as yourself?
Our world is becoming more decadent and distant from
God; one of the most obvious indicators of this
godlessness is that the love of many has grown cold
(Matthew 24:12). The murder of unwanted children is
commonplace as over 46 million abortions have been
performed since Roe vs. Wade. This type of disregard
for human life should cause our society to be
repulsed. But instead, our society is only becoming
more callus as we are now considering seriously the
legality of euthanizing grown adults that are
unwanted or disabled.
Christians, however, have a strong warrant to
believe that every human life has dignity and is
worthy of respect because we believe that man is
created in the image of God. I John goes so far as
to say that if we do not love our brother, we cannot
call ourselves Christians, “Beloved, let us love one
another, for love is from God; and everyone who
loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does
not love does not know God, for God is love” (I John
4:7-8). Also, “anyone who does not practice
righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does
not love his brother” (I John 3:10).
It is not enough just to say we love our neighbor;
John tells us that if this love is not evidenced by
our hearts being moved to offer aid to those who are
in need, then what we call love isn’t love at all,
and our faith should be called into question. “But
whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his
brother in need and closes his heart against him,
how does the love of God abide in him” (I John
3:17).
6. Are
you persevering?
There are many passages in the New Testament that
warn us of false faith that fizzles before the
finish. But this kind of fickle faith wasn’t faith
from the first. I John tells us that if someone
claims to be a believer, and yet falls away, their
faith was false to begin with, “They went out from
us, but they were not really of us; for if they had
been of us, they would have remained with us; but
they went out, in order
that it might be shown that they all are not of us”
(I John 2:18-19).
God’s grace never fails. If what we possess is
genuine, it will persevere until the very end. This
is why Paul can speak with confidence to the
Philippians, “Being confident of this very thing,
that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”
(Philippians 1:6). Your assurance should grow day by
day as you continue by God’s grace to persevere.
Hebrews tells us that our full assurance will
culminate in the end, when we have remained faithful
to
our Lord, “For we have become partakers of Christ,
if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm
until the end” (Hebrews 3:14). If God’s grace has
made its residence in your life, you will persevere
because it is no longer you who lives, but Christ
who lives in you (Galatians 2:20)
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