By Dillon Schupp
This past Sunday at LifeSpring was absolutely amazing. We saw five people step forward to embrace the gift of eternal life offered through Jesus. There is not a more amazing moment in all the universe than when THAT happens. Scripture teaches that in that moment, a person literally crosses over from death to life ( John 5:24 ). How AWESOME is that!!
A moment like that may bring up a question for those who gave their life to Christ Sunday- or for those of you who were there and did not…but who have this queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach because it makes you wonder:
How do I know if I’m REALLY saved?
It’s a great question- and it can also be an uncomfortable one. And yet, it’s a question Scripture actually teaches us to ask.
In 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV), Paul writes this:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
So biblically, we SHOULD be asking this question. We should be testing or examining ourselves to see if we are truly saved.
So how do we do that?
We ask a few simple, yet very direct, questions of ourselves. And while we’re asking these questions, we pray and ask God to give us clarity over what is truly in our heart- and to keep us from falling prey to self-deception.
1. WHAT AM I TRUSTING TO SAVE ME?
Jesus once spoke of a future time when there will be people who were convinced they were saved- and are stunned to hear the Lord tell them to depart from Him. Here is what Jesus says in Matthew 7:22-23 (NIV):
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
Notice what these people are trusting to save them- their own good works. Their religious activity. What they did “for” Jesus- even including miracles! My gosh, if there was anyone that was going to heaven, you would think it would be the miracle worker!
And yet Jesus tells these people the following in Matthew 7:23 (NIV):
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Religious activity and good works do not save us- and cannot save us.
“Hold on,” you may say. “Jesus saidthe one who will be save is hte one who does the will of the Father!”
True- but what is the Father’s will? Is it religious activity/ good works? Or is it something else?
It turns out Jesus defines the will of the Father in John 6:40 (NIV):
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Doing the Father’s will is not about us doing- it’s about us looking to Jesus and trusting in what He has already DONE- and trusting HIS work to save us instead of our own.
How might I know if I’m trusting Jesus instead of my own works?
Answer this question: Why should you be allowed into heaven?
Would you appeal to your good works and good life- or would you recognize you don’t deserve to be let into God’s Kingdom and have nothing to offer God, and your only hope is that you are trusting in what Jesus did for you to save you?
Only Jesus can save us- not our good works or religious activity.
2. HAVE I REPENTED OF MY SIN?
We talked about what repentance is last week on here- and it is a crucial requirement for salvation.
John writes this in 1 John 1:8-10 (NIV):
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
In other words- if you’ve never repented of your sin, and have never come to the point you recognized you were a sinner and needed to be forgiven- then you cannot have been saved.
Why?
For the very simple reason that without realizing you are a sinner, you will never realize what you need a Savior for.
If all I’ve done is pray a prayer…but have not repented of my sin…then I’m not actually saved.
So how do we repent?
Simple- we agree with what God says- that we are sinners and deserving of the penalty for sin: death and hell. At the same time, we admit that our sins are wrong- and we ask for God’s forgiveness and commit to follow Jesus- trusting Him to save us from our sins.
NOW- that does NOT mean you and I will get it perfect- we all STILL sin. However- what it does mean is this: we will become more and more aware of our sin and repent more and more often.
The presence of repentance at both a starting point and along the way is evidence that we truly know Jesus, because His Holy Spirit in us convicts us of sin and moves us to repent.
3. DOES MY LIFE MATCH WHAT I SAY I BELIEVE?
This is a great question to ask consistently. Anyone can say they believe in Jesus. And in fact, in our culture, many know WHY Jesus died- to save us from our sin.
But salvation isn’t just a function of the right answer to a question. Salvation also PRODUCES a changed life.
John again writes this in 1 John 2:4-6 (NIV):
4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
In other words, if we say “I believe in Jesus” and yet our life is not growing to look more and more like Jesus, then reality is we are not saved.
Again, that doesn’t mean we get it perfect- and we certainly will not at first- but it does mean that the trajectory of our lives begins to align more with Jesus and less with how we were before.
Another way to think of it is this: since the moment I decided to follow Jesus, what has changed in my life? Have my desires changed? My motives? My actions?
Following Jesus produces change, and you cannot truly meet Jesus and stay the same- He loves you too much for that.
Now, it may be easy to think this is basing salvation off of religious activity or a good life (see question #1), but it’s actually not. This is not obeying Jesus to earn salvation- it’s obedience as a result from salvation, motivated by love for God- not trying to earn His love.
This article originally appeared on dillonschupp.com.