Do You Know That You Are Saved?

The Word of God states very clearly that a person can know that they are saved. For example the Apostle John states:

"These things I have written to you who believe in the Name of the Son of
God, so that you may know that you have eternal life" -1John 5:13 NASB (bold added)

John is writing his little epistle so that believers can know how to know that they have eternal life. What I desire to do in this message is to go through just some of what John said about how we can know that we have eternal life.

First I want to examine who John was talking to. John was not talking to everyone in the church, nor was John talking to every person who has prayed a prayer, walked a church isle, or shook a preachers hand. John was talking to those "who believe in the Name of the Son of God". This is a very important statement that I think we often over look. John is not talking about something we did back there in the past. O, no. Rather John is talking about a present tense reality. That important phrase can, and probably should, be translated "to the ones believing in the Name of the Son of God". Notice that it is written to those who are currently believing in the Name of the Son of God. That is the first, and probably most important, way to know that you have eternal life. That you are currently believing in the Name of the Son of God. If you are not currently believing in His Name you can have no assurance of your salvation since it is likely that you are not truly saved.

Now I want to turn to some things that John states will be true of you if you are truly saved.

1. You Will Walk In The Light.

Notice what John says,

"If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" -1John 1:7-8

Those who claim to be saved, yet who are walking in darkness, are liars. If a person has a relationship with Jesus Christ they will walk in the light just as Jesus Himself is in the light. The result of this will be that they will be aware of sins in their life, they will confess those sins, and they will recieve forgiveness of those sins through the blood of Jesus (1Jn 1:8-10). A true believer is one who confesses his/her sins from the Lord. A false believer can sin, sin, and sin somemore with very little awareness of their sin. Why? Because they are not in the light.

2. You Will Obey Christ

Notice what John says,

"By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 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. By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked" -1John 2:3-6

If you know Christ, if you have a relationship with Christ, if you are saved, you will obey Christ. Jesus Himself said that "if anyone loves Me he will keep My Word" (Jn 14:23) and that His sheep follow Him (Jn 10:27). You want to know if you are truly saved or not? Take a look at your daily walk. Do you obey Christ? Do you walk in the same manner as Christ walked? If the answer is generally no, then you need to make sure that you are truly saved. The Word of God is clear that if you do not obey Christ then any claim you have to salvation is a lie.

Someone will say well that sounds like works salvation to me. That person misunderstands. These verses are talking about the results of true salvation. Notice that John said "by this we know that we have come to know Him". In other words this is how we know that we have been saved. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It cannot be earned, nor can a person be saved through right living. However once a person is saved that person will begin to obey Christ.

Someone else may say that what I am promoting is perfectionism, or sinlessness. Again, that is a misunderstanding. These verses are talking about a person's walk or lifestyle. Sure we all sin at times, even Paul the Apostle admitted to that (Rom 7:14-25). God, in His grace, has a plan for believers who sin. What is that plan? That they will confess that sin and they will be forgiven (1Jn 1:9, 2:1-2).

3. You Will Love Your Brother

Notice what John said,

"The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes." -1John 2:9-11

Here John is saying that if you are truly saved, if you are really in the light, you will love your brother. If you are a hateful person then you need to realize that you are most likely in darkness (ie..lost).

John repeats these points several times in his epistle.

"For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" -1John 3:11-15 (bold added)

"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." -1John 4:7-8

This is very clear teaching. If you are truly saved you will be a loving person. You will love your brother and, more technically, you will love "the brethren". That is you will love people in general but you will also love your fellow Christian. Do you avoid other Christians? Do you find yourself hating people? If you answer "yes" to either of those questions you may need to re-examine your salvation. The Word of God is clear if you are born of God you will love your brother.

4. You Will Practice Righteousness.

Notice what John said,

"Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 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. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious; anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother" -1John 3:4-10 (bold added)

That is about as clear as it gets. If you are living in sin you are not saved, you are a child of the devil. If you are believer you may still sin but you will not practice sin because you are a child of God.

So, which are you? A child of God or a child of the devil?

Go through the books of 1John, 2John, and 3John and look at the various "tests" that are given. If you are truly saved you will make an "A" on those tests, if you are not truly saved, the good news is that the final has not yet come. You still have a chance. Repent of your sin, now, and go running to Jesus. Come to Jesus!! Come to Jesus!!

 

The great Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon talked alot about this issue. There is a quote of his from "All of Grace" that I have on my desk wall. The quote, which at one time was in my signature, states...

"Justification without sanctification would be no salvation at all.
It would call the leper clean and leave him to die of his diesease;
it would forgive the rebellion and allow the rebel to remain an enemy to his king...
Remember that the Lord Jesus came to take away sin in three ways.
He came to remove the penalty of sin,
the power of sin,
and last, the presence of sin"

For more information on this very important subject I would highly recommend the following works...

The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur
The Gospel According to The Apostles by John MacArthur
Hard to Believe by John MacArthur
Hell's Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort
The Assurance of Salvation By Martin Lloyd-Jones**
The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards

Most, if not all, of these books can be purchased from amazon.com or christianbooks.com.

**Book proved hard to find on amazon so I linked to it. For the rest just do a general search for the title.

 

Got it, thanks :thumbs: .

I am suffering from tired eyes tonight. Got home from church about an hour and a half ago (about a thirty minute drive). So it is possible there are more typos in the text. If so please point them out. Thanks.