I do not ever remember a time in which I did not believe in God. Raised in a Christian home, I frequently attended church, and routinely heard sermons about Jesus. However, it was not until older, when at a youth camp, that I accepted Jesus as my Savior. He was no longer just Someone I heard about; He became Someone I knew. Since then, I have never doubted my salvation.
Many believers in Christ do struggle with an assurance. They accepted Him through faith alone, and not by trying to earn grace. They repented of their sins, and then received His forgiveness. They confessed that Jesus is Lord, and fully believe that God raised Him from the dead. Without a doubt, the evidence points to salvation. Yet, many still have lingering doubts, and it need not be so.
I heard it said once that when saved, you will know it in your knower. You will just know. One need not doubt, because when saved there are definitive signs that follow, and all are clearly laid out in Scripture. Here’s how you can know:
1. God’s Spirit will bear witness with yours.
Our spirit is the first witness, where we take God at His word. We trust that after receiving Him, by His power we have become sons of God. He then confirms this by bearing witness with ours, filling us with the desire and right to call Him Father. Abba Father wells up within.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:16
2. God’s voice will whisper and you will know it is Him.
God’s sheep know their Shepherd by His voice. Just as we recognize the voice of a loved one on the other end of the phone, without even glancing as to who it is by caller ID, followers of Christ know their Savior’s voice.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27
3. God’s characteristics will become evident in your life.
Followers of Christ follow Him. When saved, we will still stumble into sin, but no longer desire to do so. Pleasing God becomes more desirous than yielding to our flesh. By the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we increasingly become more like Him.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46
4. God’s love will fill your heart and then spread to others.
Since God is love, He gives us the capacity to know real love. Since forgiven much, we love much. After receiving His love, even while we were yet sinners, it makes us want to love Him more, and then share it with others.
“For everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7
God wants His true children to have a peace in knowing they belong to Him. We can be certain of our salvation. We can know.
Do you know that you belong to Christ? If not, you can do so right now. Cry out to Him in sincerity for forgiveness of your sins, and make Him Lord of your life.
About Sue Nash
Anything God asks Sue to write, she writes. His words, which she shares on heavenlyraindrops.wordpress.com, seem to fall like raindrops from heaven into her heart; by sharing what He inspires, she hopes to bless and encourage others. She is a wife, mother and part time nurse, but more than anything else is a child of the King.
Sue, I love this reminder to be assured that we are His in Jesus! Thanks for sharing from your heart that walks with Him 🙂
heidiviars Thanks Heidi. Blessings back.
We are in agreement that salvation is a free gift from God, received in faith by the sinner, creating belief and repentance. What I am asking you to consider is the PURPOSE of Christian baptism. Is the purpose of baptism really only as an act of obedience/public profession of faith? If so, why doesn’t the Bible, in clear language, state as such?
Why is the term “born again” used only three times in the KJV Bible but the word “baptism” or one of it’s variants (to baptize) is used over 100 times in the NT? Why are there so many passages of Scripture that if read in their simple, plain, literal interpretation state that God forgives/washes away sins in baptism? Did God really have that much difficulty explaining the exact purpose of baptism? Did God allow every translator of the Bible into every language on earth to mistranslate Acts 2: 38 and other baptism passages? If baptism is simply the after-thought that most evangelicals make it out to be, why did Jesus, his disciples, the Apostles Paul and Peter make such a big deal about it?
Is baptism really a work of man as Baptists and evangelicals claim…or is baptism a work of God?
Lastly, there is no historical evidence found anywhere on planet earth, including areas never under the control of the Catholic Church or the Roman Empire, in which ANY Christian in the first approximately 800 years of Christianity believed that baptism is simply and only an act of OUR obedience/OUR public profession of faith. All evidence from this time period points to early Christians, from the very disciples of the Apostles such as Polycarp onward, believed that baptism means much, much more.
I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to the Truth of the Gospel and re-read the Bible without your denominational biases.
God bless!
Gary
http://www.lutherwasnotbornagain.com/
Q: On what should we base our assurance of salvation? I know the Word and the promises of the Gospel are our rock, but how do we distinguish between real faith and mere intellectual assent? I ask this because many evangelicals make me nervous when they say that if one has doubts about one’s salvation, one is probably not saved, because the Holy Spirit is supposed to provide inner assurance. (I guess this ties in to the whole Pietist problem.) But in the face of emotional ups and downs, moral failings, intellectual doubts, and confusion over doctrine, how can one know if one truly has faith in Christ?
A: Lutherans believe that faith is created and strengthened not by looking inside of one’s self (to one’s own faith and/or doubts) but by looking outside of one’s self (to God’s Word and promises in Christ). Therefore, assurance of salvation is to be sought by looking to God’s Word and promises in Christ (which create and strengthen the faith through which one is saved), not by looking inward at the strength or weakness of one’s own faith (which creates either pride and false assurance or doubt and lack of assurance). Anxiety regarding doubts, strength of faith and certainty of salvation are signs of faith (however weak it may be), not signs of unbelief, since the unbeliever has no concern or anxiety about doubts, faith or salvation. If you would like to study this issue further, I would recommend Martin Chemnitz’s book on Justification available from Concordia Publishing House (800-325-3040, stock no. 15-2186).