DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE SAVED?
DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE 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.
The current US population is 328 million people. According to polling data, 75% of that number claims to be Christians. That is incredible! That means 246 million Americans claim to be Christians. Now, how many of you believe that? I am going to tell you that I do not believe it. With what is going on in our nation, there are not 246 million born-again believers in America.
But that brings up an interesting question. How do so many people think they are Christians? Listen to me carefully, 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 you might 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?
Paul tells the Corinthians, and he is telling you to examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith. In other words, Paul is telling you to check your salvation.
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. 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? God wants you to know you are saved, but can you know for sure? The Bible says we can.
Hebrews 10: 22
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
2 Peter 1: 10
10Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
The very best verse for you to know if you are going to Heaven one day is found in First John.
1 John 5: 13
13These 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, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Can I share with you five words or phrases in regard to knowing if you are saved?
( 1 ) KNOW
In our culture, if you say you know something with absolute certainty, you are thought to be proud or arrogant. Our society says you cannot know anything with absolute certainty. For me to say, I know I am going to Heaven, in the eyes of society, seems prideful, but in the context of what we are talking about, God wants you to know about your salvation.
Why is it that you have doubt? Listen, I know there are some that have doubts about their salvation, so why do you have doubts?
John 16: 8
8 And when He 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. When we profess to be saved, to be a Christian, to be a new person, but we continue to live like that old self it is going to create doubt, and as Paul wrote, you need to examine yourself.
Some may profess to be a Christian but hold onto a sin as hard as possible. That person professes to be a Christian, but that person is holding onto his or her disobedience. That person sits in a church thinking it is the Devil putting doubts in his or her mind about his or her salvation. When in reality, it is the Holy Spirit convicting of the need to ask Jesus into you’re his or her heart. You cannot hold onto your profession and your disobedience very long. You cannot serve two masters.
Matthew 6: 24
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
When you try to serve both your profession and your disobedience, you will eventually give up one of the two. You cannot hold onto both. Another reason you may not know you are saved is because you have a man-centered view of salvation. A man-centered view of salvation plays out like this:
“Well, I think I am going to become a Christian today. I am going to reach up and grab God today.” Dear friend, salvation is not us reaching for God. Salvation is God reaching for us, and listen to this, when He grabs you, He never lets go of you.
John 10: 28
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Amen!!!! When God grabs you, when you trust Jesus, no one is going to be able to take you out of His hand. 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
Do you remember the song, HE LIVES?
“You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart.”
It is truly a great song, but really? If someone asked you the best irrefutable evidence that Jesus died and was buried and rose again on the 3rd day and lives through us, is a warm fuzzy chorus.
“He lives within my heart.” What if the fuzzy feeling disappears? I for one am glad my salvation does not depend on how I feel. There are days I just do not feel saved especially when Hope, my wife, makes me mad. AMEN!!! Our salvation does not depend on a feeling. It depends on the fact that is written in the Word of God. That is what John is saying in our verse.
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, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
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. (1 Corinthians 15 : 3 – 8)
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. Dear friend, the church has led many people astray teaching about emotions and feelings. I know I am saved because of what is written in the Word. AMEN!!!
( 3 ) BELIEVE
“These things I have written unto you that believe….”
Is that what 1 John 5: 13 said? There is an inseparable link between salvation and belief.
Acts 16: 31
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
John 3: 16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
You cannot separate belief and salvation. We know we have to believe, but what does believe mean? Listen to me, believe is the crucial word. What does it mean to believe? Quite frankly, this is where most people who think they are saved get it wrong. You might think believe means to agree with a certain number of facts about Jesus Christ.
Believing in Jesus is not like believing in Abraham Lincoln. How many of you believe that Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States? Believing factual data about Jesus Christ is not what the Bible means when it says to believe. You see, you might have been led to believe that to believe is just believing certain facts about Jesus. Yes, your logic goes, I believe Jesus was the Son of God. Yes, you believe He died on the Cross for the sins of the World. You even believe Jesus rose again on the 3rd day. You can believe in the plan of salvation, but it is not the plan of salvation that saves; it is the man of salvation that saves.
Dear friend, there is a big difference between believing about and believing in. To believe in the Bible in the original Greek means to depend upon, to trust in, to cling to, and to put your whole weight upon.
Listen to me very closely. It is only when you come to the point in your life by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and you kneel before a Holy God and say:
“God, I know I am a sinner. I know I deserve your punishment. I realize I cannot save myself, but I am believing, trusting, clinging to what Jesus did for me. He took the punishment I deserve. I believe, I trust in that alone to save me when I die.”
Ladies and gentlemen, that is what believe means. Sure, knowing the facts about Jesus is important, but those facts will not save you. Only believing in Jesus as described in the Bible will save you. The moment you believe like that you have eternal life.
Do you want a perfect biblical example? There were two thieves crucified with Jesus. One of the thieves did not have time to learn the facts about Jesus. He only had time to trust Him.
Luke 23: 42-43
42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
“These things I have written unto you that believe.” AMEN!!!
( 4 ) BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD
To believe requires an object to believe in. You must believe, as I described it, in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus must be the object of your belief. You must believe He died for you. Our belief in anything is only as strong as the object we believe in. RIGHT OR WRONG?
For example, I have never taken a flying lesson, but I know I can fly a plane. Who wants to be on my inaugural flight? You might believe I can do it, but you would be believing in an ability that I may or may not have. 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. You believe in Jesus, as the Son of God, and listen to me, the Son of God has a name, and that name is Jesus Christ.
( 5 ) ETERNAL LIFE
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, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Do you have eternal life? If you wait until you die to know if you have eternal life, you have waited too long. You are going to live forever. I am going to live forever in Heaven, and if you are not saved, you are going to live in Hell forever. Did you know that the majority of the people on this planet will die and go to Hell? Jesus tells us that.
Matthew 7: 13-14
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Everyone will live forever, but that is not what eternal life is all about. Eternal life is not about the length of life. It is about the quality of life. It is about the quality of life you experience the moment you are saved. Do you know what eternal life is? Eternal life is having a hunger for the Word of God. Eternal life means a peace in your spirit no matter what is happening around you. Eternal life means contentment regardless of your bank account. Eternal life means a willingness to forgive those that have wronged you.
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.
Paul is not saying examine your knowledge of the Bible. Paul is talking about examining your heart. Listen, I believe in the assurance of salvation, and I believe in the eternal security of the believer, but that only applies if you are a believer. I think there are some who have been lulled into a sense of comfort by the Devil over the eternal security of the believer.
Dear friend, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you right now that you are not saved do not let the Devil convince you that you are secure. The Devil will convince you that the experience you had when you were a child was the real thing and that you have eternal security when in your heart you know you are not saved. Paul tells us to examine ourselves. Dear friend, the last thing I would ever want is for you to die and go to Hell. I would just about do anything for that not to happen. John 3: 16 tells us that God does not want anyone to perish without being saved.
When you die, it will be too late to discover the reality of these things I have written in this blog. Church member do not let your pride send you to Hell. You may have convinced your wife you are saved. You may have convinced your husband you are saved. You may have convinced your parents you are saved. You may have convinced your friends you are saved, but dear friend, God knows the truth.
Do not be embarrassed. God wants to grab you by the hand and take you to the altar, and once God grabs you by the hand, all of your doubts will go by the wayside.
You may have everyone fooled but God. Listen, facing eternity without absolute certainty is a risk no sane person should take. You can have eternal life all you need to do is call upon the Lord and you will be saved. You do not have to be a Bible scholar; you just have to believe in the God of the Bible and call on the name of Jesus, and you will be saved.
Dear friend, you can know if you are saved. If you are not sure, I will be glad to share what it means to be saved with you. Just leave me a brief message with your question and contact information in the comments section, and I will reach out to you. You can also email me any question at jclendenin37@yahoo.com