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How do you know you are saved?
- Thread starter ElenaP
- Start date
That's kinda sad brother. Dnt you read the NT scriptures? Most of Paul's and Johns letters are directed towards telling believers they ARE saved by GRACE THROUGH FAITH ALONE in Jesus Christ and NOT of yourself!!!!
1Jn 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Hi SF - Thank you for sharing a sensitive reply. Redemption of a soul doesn't involve the eradication of the "old man" (sinful nature), just the "crucifixion" of it (Rom 6:6). Crucifixion "destroys" the ability of "the body of sin" within the old man to condemn (Rom 8:1) and control (Rom 6:12, 14) the believer, hence the tendency to seem unsaved when we notice this situation (Rom 7:14-25).
Being free from the dominion of the sin nature (not free from its presence but from its dominion) involves the inability of sin to cause us to sin "willfully" (Heb 10:26), which is one of the works of God within the believer (Phl 3:23), through the Spirit of God (Gal 5:7).
Concerning us in our soul and spirit we are completely redeemed (saved), which will be openly revealed when our "body" is finally "redeemed" (Rom 3:23), then the whole person is saved (redeemed).
One cannot do more to grow in Christ than to continue to reread through the NT of Scripture (as one has wisely mentioned), because more than anything it provides the most significant opportunity for the Spirit's teaching (1Cor 2:13).
For the Christian there is no more falling short of God's glory because of being in Christ. We are no longer "in the flesh" (Rom 8:9), which is living after the sinful nature. Adam, Eve and their posterity (mankind) lost their glory to worship God in holiness, which is what the Lord Jesus has restored to the believer, through the imputation of His "righteousness" (1Cor 1:30).
In our old man we will fall short, but never in our new man; and because of our old man, God's glory is exceedingly magnified (Rom 7:13), which magnifies the glory of God's holiness--through contrasting good and evil.
There is an encouraging note here, if one takes it humble enough, and that is God no longer considers one who is His to be a sinner, even though the believer still sins. This answers to the reason why there are no Scripture references indicating that a child of God is a sinner. The issue is not just sinning but sinning intentionally, which is one of the evidences of God's work against sin in us (Phl 2:13; Gal 5:17), which also the apostle Paul reveals (Rom 7:14-25).
The only passage which has the appearance of this indication is 1Tim 1:15. The way it reads seems to present the concept that he, at the time of writing it, is chief of sinners, but a closer look reveals differently, in which the word "am" (in "I am") can be used in the past tense, as shown below:
εἰμίeimí, i-mee'; I exist (used only when emphatic):—am, have been, × it is I, was.
Strong's Greek: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfmstrongs=G1510&t=KJV
Hope I didn't rattle-on too much, just wanting to be instructional and encouraging.
God's blessings to your Family!
heisrisen
Active Member
You know you're saved by the Holy Spirit living within you. God's spirit works in us so we will have a radical life change when we get saved. We have all new desires and affections that are Godward. We have new hates for our sin and the world. There will be natural changes produced by the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within a true believer. If you claim to be saved, but haven't had a radical heart change FROM the Holy Spirit, not of yourself, then you are still unconverted and lost. There will be evidence that is so obvious you could never deny it or turn away. Those who are truly saved KNOW. God gives us a new heart, so if you haven't had a radical change from the inside then you haven't experienced the power of God. We also feel strong conviction when we sin, whereas when we were lost we didn't feel any sort of conviction for doing wrong.
We have to be careful. Not all experience regeneration the same way. Think of small children who receive Christ. It may not seem so radical to them. I know a pastor who was saved on a construction sight. He use to be in construction and it wasn't until about a year later when the Spirit really began dealing with his sin. He then began making changes and eventually became a pastor.
I agree, and I believe this is one of the strongest evidences because God always deals with the sin first in the believer in order to conform the lifestyle to show His work in you (Phl 2:13; Gal 5:17) which glorifies Him (Mat 5:16).
To me this is the Romans 7 experience which apostle Paul identified for us.
My own experience was I felt a conviction when I was lost, before I said yes to Jesus Christ. Tis why I wanted saved. Even the lost feel conviction of sin, maybe not all sin, but they feel and know moral right from wrong.
Hi Steaver - I believe this is the same for most if not all, it was for me.
I believe man can know right from wrong, being in God's image, but I think conviction goes beyond this knowledge, to realizing good and evil, as Adam and Eve suddenly realized their nakedness (Gen 3:11).
Man knew right from wrong upon God's first commands (Gen 2:16, 17) but was not aware of good and evil until the disobedience, which I believe is a contrast to show His holiness.
When God initially convicts us it is then He gets our full attention and after being born again He continues to convict of show us our sin during the entirety of our Christian walk.