How can I know for sure that I am saved in Christ?

[secondtimearound]

When wife and I were married, long ago, we were worried because the pastor who was to marry us

was perhaps a bit strict, and maybe even old fashioned, and he had been known to sometimes

refuse to marry people who did not know for sure if they were saved.  I had been baptized, and I

believe that Jesus is the Son of God,  but I had not been taught to believe that I was totally saved.

We prayed about this before we were interviewed, and in the actual interview he only asked us

if we were sure that God wanted us to marry. That was a different question and we had no trouble saying

Yes to that! 

 

Since then I have been told in my spirit that I am saved, but was that from the Lord? How do I know for sure

that I am saved, and how does anyone know?  Thank you!

Edited August 10, 2022 by secondtimearound

[enoob57]

Redemption is when The Holy Spirit enters a person and creates a new s/Spiritual being within... This entrance comes in the way of a hearing The Word of God and believing what is being said... The Word says we are sinners (all) and that we have missed the standard of righteousness necessary to be with God Who is only righteous and hates sin. When the heart receives this portion of truth from God's Word a thing occurs in reaction to that truth called repentance. Repentance is agreeing with God that there is nothing in and of self that is worthy of saving! In this place of repentance, one is left without recourse or means within themselves to do anything to save themselves. They actually realize that their present state is rightly rejected by God for anything worth keeping... It is a void of barter... it is a place where the first instance of truth lights them internally... it is from here that the heart is prepared for the Gospel of God which says that God, Who is love, has provided a way for them to be born of God and that through the work of The Son Who offered His life in exchange for their already ruined one by His Own death, burial and resurrection... One can actually sense the presence of God knocking on their hearts door to allow Him entrance into their being and the result is calling out to God to enter them and to take possession of them.... the relationship that ensues will be one of no doubt of a changed life... you will hunger to know Him through His Word ... you will hunger to do the things that He says do... and you will be continually at war with your flesh till you die...

A great many have false realities of salvation because they never came to a real repentance granted by The Word of God... they did not come to the place of full rejection of self and sin and agreeance with God that it must be rejected fully by a righteous and holy God... They did not cry out from the void and darkness of themselves worthless to be heard... without this repentance there is no work of God to enter into... How can there be?

All that have come by way of The Cross know that they are His and He is theirs ... it is produced for certainty by His Word not by our sensual means...  we will always be reliant upon His perfect life as reason for us to be with God in The Perfection of eternal life with Them...

 

[Jayne]

This is such a common question.  Why?  For a variety of reasons. 

• In the first place, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13 that Christians should "test yourselves to see if you are in the faith". He says it twice.   
• Also, as @enoob57 says, there can be many a sincere, but false sense of being saved when one is not. 
• To compound confusion, people so often let their feelings get in the way of  - or even lead - their beliefs.

Feelings are important and God made them, but they can - if we let ourselves be governed by them - mess us up and put us in a swirl of doubt and fear.

The Christian walk  is like a little train.  The engine is FAITH.  The caboose is FEELINGS.  When faith leads the way in our lives, then feelings follow as they should.  But if feelings become the engine and lead, the faith just struggles in the rear as feelings can lead us all over the place.

Here is salvation or being born again or justified or redeemed.....they mean the same thing:  God moving you from a place of lostness to being in Christ Jesus.

• John 12:21 = "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
• Romans 10:9-10 = "...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
• Acts 2:21 = "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
• Ephesians 2:8-10 = "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
• 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 = "Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,We are  placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come."

To put those verses succinctly:

1. God/Christ will  draw you.
2. Believe
3. Call upon Jesus' name/Confess [Now you are saved]
4. We are sealed by God via the Holy Spirit
5. Walk in the works that God prepared for us to do

[Jayne]

2 minutes ago, Rosie1jack2pauline3 said:

You will certainly know 100% if God has birthed you in the Spirit!!!.

That has worked for you.

But sometimes, because of life's circumtances or personal sin or a variety of things, people can undergo the hardship of doubt.  That's what he is asking.

[Jayne]

2 hours ago, secondtimearound said:

Since then I have been told in my spirit that I am saved, but was that from the Lord? How do I know for sure

that I am saved, and how does anyone know?  Thank you!

Let me give you my personal experiences with doubt.  The Christian walk is not always rainbows and candyland.  This is very personal and the only reason I can share it online here is because I don't have to look you in the face in real time.

I was raised by super wonderful and Godly parents and famiy.  I was blessed in every way.

I was also molested as an 8 to 11 year old by someone my family knew.  Not raped, but sexually molested.  I hated it.  No one  ever told me that I had a right to say, "Get your #### hands off of me!" I am 60.  That was a very long time ago.  And it was back in the day when you did not tell.  And if you did tell, families kept it all a big secret.  No one ever got help.

I had convinced myself as millions of children have that it was all my fault.  That something was wrong with me and that I had HUGELY disappointed my family, God,  and everyone I knew.  I carry that, in part, still to this day because I never got help.

The reason that I felt like I had disappointed God was because God had drawn me to him and saved me at the age of 8.  I can  recount that joyous experience with great clarity.  If I was saved, how did I "bring this terrible things on myself".

What the devil did to me was far worse than what that man  had  done to me.  The devil made me feel dirty, useless, unloved, and I began to feel depressed and anxious.  I still feel those things to some degree or another.  I just allowed it to become part of my emotional makeup.   I didn't know how to fight it for a every long time.

The unworthiness of myself that I so falsely believed led to doubt about everything - including my salvation.  I "felt" I was a Christian, but I was convinced that God didn't love me like he loved everyone else.  And that my life was of no value.  Much contradictory feelings.

I went through terrible doubts of my salvation when I was 16.  It was a heavy and burdensome spiritual attack. Again,  I never told anyone of this burden.

I did again in my 30's.  That time, personal sin, was the culprit.

It has taken me a long time to learn that my salvation,  that blessed gift of God through Christ,  does NOT depend on my feelings,  my developed or undevoloped spiritual wisdom, my circumstances, my knowledge of the Bible, or anything about ME.  My salvation is entirely dependent upon Almighty God and Christ Jesus sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Yes, me, a seal by the Holy Spirit Christian - endured terrible doubts that God had saved me or that he even loved me.

I don't do that anymore.  I'm seeing someone for it.  But there are untold people who for whatever circumstances - the devil creeps in and lies [that is his speciality] so convincingly telling you God does not approve or you or love you - and doubts can occur.

Doubts can mean you need to examine yourself, as Paul says - maybe a doubting person is not saved, maybe he is.  Doubts can mean personal sin needs to be confessed.  

Doubts do not make you a bad person or unworthy person.  It means you are undergoing trials of the heart.

Go back to my first post and read what salvation is.  And as Paul said, examine yourself.

 

 

[Marilyn C]

14 hours ago, Jayne said:

Let me give you my personal experiences with doubt.  The Christian walk is not always rainbows and candyland.  This is very personal and the only reason I can share it online here is because I don't have to look you in the face in real time.

 

Hi Jayne,

That was very brave of you to share something so personal. I do appreciate your posts as you speak straight from the heart. 

And how wonderful to know that in glory all life`s trials and difficulties will not only be no more but not remembered ever again.

Blessing, Marilyn.

[Billiards Ball]

On 8/10/2022 at 9:01 AM, secondtimearound said:

When wife and I were married, long ago, we were worried because the pastor who was to marry us

was perhaps a bit strict, and maybe even old fashioned, and he had been known to sometimes

refuse to marry people who did not know for sure if they were saved.  I had been baptized, and I

believe that Jesus is the Son of God,  but I had not been taught to believe that I was totally saved.

We prayed about this before we were interviewed, and in the actual interview he only asked us

if we were sure that God wanted us to marry. That was a different question and we had no trouble saying

Yes to that! 

 

Since then I have been told in my spirit that I am saved, but was that from the Lord? How do I know for sure

that I am saved, and how does anyone know?  Thank you!

If you have ever sincerely trusted in Jesus, not yourself, to save you--you are saved.

If you remain unsure, you can pray something like this, "Jesus, I cannot save myself or bring myself to Heaven by being a good person--I don't even know where Heaven IS. Only perfect people can live in a perfect Heaven. Jesus, thanks for loving me. Thanks for dying on the cross and rising from the dead. I trust you today to take me to Heaven. Enter my life and help me feel my salvation and understand my salvation as I read and study the Bible. Amen."

[BK1110]

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" -- 2 Corinthians 13:5

This one verse would be my response to those who think, or just wonder, if it's possible for a truly saved Christian to doubt their salvation (I.E. if doubting is itself a sign that you are not saved). There is no need to test something that you are already assured of. Paul does not say "do not examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Do not test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you do not realize this, showing that Jesus Christ was never in you!" It would be nonsensical for Paul to tell professing Christians to examine and test themselves to determine if they are real Christians, and to indicate that it is possible to either meet or fail the test, if the very act of this testing itself is an indication that you fail.

[JohnD]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:01 AM, secondtimearound said:

When wife and I were married, long ago, we were worried because the pastor who was to marry us

was perhaps a bit strict, and maybe even old fashioned, and he had been known to sometimes

refuse to marry people who did not know for sure if they were saved.  I had been baptized, and I

believe that Jesus is the Son of God,  but I had not been taught to believe that I was totally saved.

We prayed about this before we were interviewed, and in the actual interview he only asked us

if we were sure that God wanted us to marry. That was a different question and we had no trouble saying

Yes to that! 

 

Since then I have been told in my spirit that I am saved, but was that from the Lord? How do I know for sure

that I am saved, and how does anyone know?  Thank you!

The Apostle John wrote:

1 John 5:13 (AV)
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.

He wrote this in his epistle (letter) under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:20–21 (AV)
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

All scripture is prophetic and received in this manner (via the Holy Spirit, who also is the sole interpreter of scripture). So the text in 1 John 5:13 reads as from the Holy Spirit direct and

applies to all scripture.

John 5:39–40 (AV)
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

The scriptures are the only sure method of believing in the true Jesus Christ the Son of the living God. For there are many false Christs and counterfeits taught by the will and contrivance of man.

It is paramount that you believe in the genuine Jesus. And that your salvation contingent only on belief in Him.

John 3:16–18 (AV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Ephesians 2:8–10 (AV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

John 6:29 (AV)
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 16:27 (AV)
27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

Not by water baptism, praying the sinner's prayer, walking the center aisle, or any other condition evil man places in the way of the path of salvation (that is your faith in the genuine Jesus Christ). 

Many who lord their office over you (as that pastor you mentioned seemed to) will be horrified to learn that they most likely followed the wrong Christ, taught works salvation, or will find out the hard way:

Matthew 7:21–23 (AV)
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

• The will of the Father is that we believe in the one he sent (John 6:29)
• There are false Christs, false spirits, and false gospels (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)
• You have to know and be known by the genuine Jesus Christ

1 John 5:13 the scriptures are the way to insure you have the true Jesus.

Apply the keys to the kingdom:

2 Peter 1:20-21 (only the Holy Spirit interprets the Bible he wrote)

1 John 4:1 (test the spirits to be certain it's the Holy Spirit) ← because we are so gullible by nature to false spirits

Acts 17:11 (you test all things by the scriptures)

Proverbs 25:2 (AV)
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (AV)
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Isaiah 28:9–13 (AV)
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Beware the traditions of man which nullify the word of God (Mark 7:13) and make even the worship of Jesus in vain (Mark 7:7).  It's those traditions that contradict one another and make most people uncertain about salvation. Trash the traditions and seek the pure Holy Spirit interpreted Bible validated word of God.

[secondtimearound]

Yes, I get this. I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

That is what saves us. Faith in Him. If we have this then we can know for sure that

we are saved! Problem solved. Like John 3:16.

Thank you.