Are you saved?
2 Corinthians 13 : 5
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.
I wanted to share this verse with you today, because I want you to know that you can know that you are without a doubt saved. The current US population is 328 million people. According to polling data, 75% of that number claim to be Christian. That is incredible! That means 246 million Americans claim to be Christian? Now, how many of you believe that? How do so many people think they are Christians?
There are many who have not truly accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts, and listen, there are many church members that fall into that category. Sure, there might have been some kind of experience. You might have walked the aisle and have shaken the preacher’s hand. You may have even been baptized, but can you pinpoint a time when you asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to enter your heart?
If you cannot pinpoint a time when you did that, you are not saved. In the verse I shared above, do you know that was part of a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to church members at the Church of Corinth? Paul tells them and is telling you to examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith. In other words, Paul is telling you and me to check to see if we are truly saved.
God wants you to be sure of your salvation. He wants you to be saved. He does not want you to spend eternity in Hell. Someone has said if the greatest single joy in all the world is getting saved, the second greatest joy is knowing that you are saved.
Is such a knowledge possible?
I am not writing about remembering the exact date, but I am writing about remembering a specific time when you asked Jesus into your heart, and if you cannot do that, it does not matter how long you have gone to church, you are lost without hope.
Did you know God does not want you to think you are saved? Did you know God does not want you to hope you are saved? Did you know God wants you to know for a certainty that you are saved? And the Bible tells us how we can be certain.
I would like to share the three most important words or phrases in the Bible in terms of knowing whether or not you are saved.
( 1 ) KNOW
God wants you to know about your salvation. Why is it that you have doubt? I know there are some reading this that have doubts about their salvation. So, why do you have doubts?
John 16 : 8
8 And when He (THE HOLY SPIRIT) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Many times, doubts arise because it is the Holy Spirit convicting you that you are not saved. He is convicting you of your sin. You are sitting in a church thinking it is the Devil putting doubts in your mind about your salvation. In reality, it is the Holy Spirit convicting you of the need to ask Jesus into your heart. The Bible repeatedly says that God wants us to know we are saved.
1 John 2 : 5
5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
1 John 4 : 13
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
CH Spurgeon, that famed preacher from yesteryear said this:
“I am so sure about my salvation that I could grab a grapevine, swing over the flames of Hell, look the Devil right in the eyes, and sing Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!” AMEN!!!!!!
Do you know that about your salvation? You can!!!!! God wants you to know that kind of assurance.
( 2 ) WRITTEN
We know we are saved because it is written in the Word of God.
1 John 5 : 13
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life,
I can have confidence in my salvation because it is written in God’s Word. AMEN!!!!!
2 Peter 1 : 16
16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Peter is saying we did not get together in some Snap Chat group and make all this stuff up. We were eyewitnesses, and we wrote by the guidance of the Holy Spirit what we saw. Peter is saying we were there on the Mount of Transfiguration when God the Father said this is my beloved Son. We were part of the 500 witnesses that saw Jesus after His Resurrection.
Dear friend, I am not saved because I feel like Jesus was resurrected. I am saved because I know what is written in the Word about the Resurrection.
I am saved because the word says this:
Romans 10 : 9-11,13
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Have you done that? Have you called upon the name of the Lord?
Peter said it is the written Word that is the bedrock of our faith, and listen dear friend, the Word is more concrete than a fuzzy feeling. I know I am saved because of what is written in the Word. AMEN!!!
( 3 ) BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD
You must believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus is the object of your belief. You must believe He died for you. Listen, our belief in anything is only as strong as the object we believe in. RIGHT OR WRONG?
It is not the quantity or quality of belief or faith you have; it is the object of your faith or belief that makes a difference. You must have faith or believe in the right object. There are so many that have their faith in the wrong thing. You might have your faith in church membership. You might have faith in baptism. You might have faith in good works. You are sincere in your faith, but you have faith in the wrong object. If you want to be saved, the object of your faith must be Jesus Christ.
You hear this a lot today. All religions are the same. All religions worship the same god. What is a name? Everyone worships the same god, so it does not matter what name you call god.
Everything is summed up in a name!!!!! All gods are not the God. Muslims do not worship the same God I do. Allah is the god of the Koran, but Jehovah is the God of the Universe. Allah is imaginary. Jehovah is real. Allah has no sons. Jehovah has one son, and His name is Jesus Christ, the Savior of all humanity.
Acts 4 : 12
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
You must believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to be saved, and if you have not placed believed on Him, you are lost and are headed to a Devil’s Hell.
Dear friend, you can know if you are saved if you believe in Jesus Christ because it is written in God’s Word.