How do you know you are saved!

[backontrack]

What about all the people that had no bible listening to the disciples no scripture? 

[backontrack]

8 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

And the specifics of how we are saved is this - His Spirit enlivens our spirit: "That which is born of Spirit is spirit." "He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit with Him."  John 3:6 & 1 Cor 6:17

So the question of @backontrack was "How do you know if you are saved!"? There will be some manifestation of His Spirit living in and through us - even in this:  Once saved we can turn away from the indwelling Spirit and not let Him operate (or at least, slow His operation down), and thereby may even get to the point that we are essentially living in darkness, totally unaware of God.  This happened to me after my initial salvation when I was around 10 years old - over the next few years I got so lost that I wound-up in a pit of despair and debauchery, so that when I was 18 I was driven to call out, "God if You're real, You have to make Yourself real to me!" And boy did He ever, in that very instant!

Now I see it was the work of the Holy Spirit to bring me so low during that time, that I had no where to turn but back to Him (as I have heard many, many testify similarly).  But even during that dark time as a teenager, before I cried out, the Lord was still in me and one with my spirit.  

So the evidences of His Spirit living in us are many, including bringing us low as needed. And of course, also being that small inner voice and inclination within to do the will of God ongoing! (which we can choose to go with or not)

John 3:16 

Romans 10:13

Like Peter I believe in my heart Jesus was the son of God! 

[gdemoss]

On 6/2/2023 at 2:45 PM, backontrack said:

What constitutes salvation and how do you know you are saved, some say once saved always saved, some say you can lose ones salvation and

some say there is no such thing as salvation and no hell and no life after death.

To understand salvation for myself, I first needed to understand that I was already condemned. That I was lost in the vanity of my own mind doing things which were not good for me. And that I was a servant of Sin. 

I first turned to God because someone told me about God. That God IS. And that God is Salvation from ALL things. From there I developed a better relationship with God working to create a true partnership with him.

I was led to work out some character issues that I had that put me in a place where I was ready to hear about Christ and the work on the cross. Since then, I have been a student learning about God and his plan for creation.

I do believe that I will be resurrected unto eternal life. I have long since been delivered from the hopelessness and futility of life as I knew it being separated from God through the lens my own understanding. I don't miss the torcher of seeking to play God in my own life and the lives of others only to find out that it fails over and over. 

Can I lose the salvation I have? I suppose it is possible for me to stop continuing being patient in well doing and become contemptuous not obeying the truth any longer and receive the reward of that. Adams sin guaranteed that death passed to all mankind. Christs work guarantees all will be made alive again. My obedience to the truth decides my position in the kingdom after the resurrection. Though my obedience to the truth has also paid handsomely in this life already. God willing, I will continue to seek to learn about and obey the truth as the truth is revealed to me. Continuing to grow from faith to faith.

[backontrack]

9 hours ago, Mr. M said:

The evidence of salvation is in the condition of the heart TODAY.

Hebrews 3:

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil

heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 

13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called Today,

lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast

the beginning of our confidence to the end, 

(Matthew 24:13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.)

15 while it is said:

Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

 

Whose voice is directing your thoughts and actions TODAY?

Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow:

for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Good thing my works cannot save me I would be in serious trouble!

[backontrack]

10 hours ago, Sower said:

 

Faith, in the Word. Belief.  No works. (salvation faith)

Faith comes by hearing, the Word.
The Word is God, from the beginning.

As a believer I will be conformed to the image of God, by God.
God's job, in me.

I can lose my salvation if it was up to me. But it ain't, praise God..

Do you have the desire to tell others the good (eternal) news you have received from some other faithful believer sharing the gospel. Sharing your heart's change is evidence of a new man/woman/mind. The gospel reveals you are lost, a sinner, before you can ever realize you need to be saved, or tell others.

 

"I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day"

 

 

I see every Sunday people receiving Christ and my eyes water every time It moves me every time. James River Church Springfield, Mo. 100's being healed and saved every week. Never saw anything like this since the 1970's

[backontrack]

9 minutes ago, gdemoss said:

To understand salvation for myself, I first needed to understand that I was already condemned. That I was lost in the vanity of my own mind doing things which were not good for me. And that I was a servant of Sin. 

I first turned to God because someone told me about God. That God IS. And that God is Salvation from ALL things. From there I developed a better relationship with God working to create a true partnership with him.

I was led to work out some character issues that I had that put me in a place where I was ready to hear about Christ and the work on the cross. Since then, I have been a student learning about God and his plan for creation.

I do believe that I will be resurrected unto eternal life. I have long since been delivered from the hopelessness and futility of life as I knew it being separated from God through the lens my own understanding. I don't miss the torcher of seeking to play God in my own life and the lives of others only to find out that it fails over and over. 

Can I lose the salvation I have? I suppose it is possible for me to stop continuing being patient in well doing and become contemptuous not obeying the truth any longer and receive the reward of that. Adams sin guaranteed that death passed to all mankind. Christs work guarantees all will be made alive again. My obedience to the truth decides my position in the kingdom after the resurrection. Though my obedience to the truth has also paid handsomely in this life already. God willing, I will continue to seek to learn about and obey the truth as the truth is revealed to me. Continuing to grow from faith to faith.

Good quote, good thing my works cannot save me only Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross and his works made the path for all to become saved. His blood cover our sins and without him we are all lost. Thank you Jesus! 

[backontrack]

16 hours ago, AnOrangeCat said:

Not going to touch what constitutes salvation since I feel others have adequately covered it and that the Bible is fairly clear on it. But how do you know you're saved? I personally feel that the knowing tends to come through experience, communication, and community involvement. Our communication comes in the form of reading the Bible, meditating on it, and prayer. The community involvement doesn't save us, but if we're involved and discuss things of God with fellow believers it can serve as an additional compass to indicate whether or not our behaviors and interpretations of scripture are more or less on target.

As for the experience I spent a lot of my teenage life and 20s being fearful of God. My personal assessment of myself at that time was and is that I was on the lukewarm side despite being raised on the church and accepting Christ at an early age. I found myself in a terrible prolonged situation in my late 20s to early 30s. Being lukewarm as I was back then I didn't and see any great reasons for God to step in and intervene as powerfully as He did, but He did it anyway. It was really a turning point in my life. With that and other instances I've come to feel strongly that God does care for me deeply and has orchestrated various events in my life to my benefit and to bring me closer to Him. As we trust in God and build up a collection of personal experiences of Him working for good in our lives it really drives home the idea that we're saved.

Like Jaydub pointed out we see it plainly that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" is going to make it to Heaven. Some people are sure to believe they're on the right path but they'll be sorely mistaken. This is again a reason why we need to be in contact with other believers.

I was saved in 1976 when I realized Jesus was God's Son and he died for my sins and if I believed and confessed with my mouth and believed in my heart God raised him from the dead and died for me I would be saved. I did just that and I am now 70 and I can tell you this there are 65 bible verses that state God will never leave you nor forsake you. Trust me those verses are absolutely 100% true, because through it all good and bad things I have done here I am still saved and God still lives in my heart!  

[steve morrow]

SAVED / HEAVEN   ---   NOT  SAVED / HELL

 

PROVERBS 24:1  be not thou envious against evil men neither desire to be with them

--24:2--  for their heart studieth destruction and their lips talk of mischief 

 

PSALM 119:36  incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness 

EZEKIEL 33:31  and they come unto thee as the people cometh and they sit before thee as my people and they hear thy words --but they will not do them for with their mouth they show much love but their heart goeth after their covetousness--

PSALM 119:138  thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful

 

PSALM 25:10  all the paths of   THE  LORD   are mercy and truth --unto such as keep  HIS  covenant and  HIS  testimonies--

 

EPHESIANS 5:3  but fornication and all uncleanness ***or  covetousness*** let it not be once named among you as becometh saints 

--5:4--  neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient  ---but rather giving of thanks---

--5:5--  for this you know that no whoremonger nor unclean person ***nor  covetous person  ****  WHO  IS  AN  IDOLATER **** hath any  --INHERITANCE-- in the kingdom of  CHRIST  AND  OF  GOD 

 

1 CORINTHIANS 6:9  know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of  GOD  be not deceived neither fornicators --nor idolaters--  nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind 

--6:10-- nor thieves  ***NOR  COVETOUS*** nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners  ---  shall inherit the kingdom of  GOD--

 

PSALM 119:158  I beheld the transgressors and was grieved ---because they kept not thy word---

REVELATION 19:10  AND  I  FELL  AT  HIS  FEET  TO  WORSHIP  HIM  AND  HE  SAID  UNTO  ME  SEE  THOU  DO  IT  NOT  I  AM  THY  FELLOWSERVANT  AND  OF  THY  BRETHREN  THAT  ---HAVE  THE  TESTIMONY  OF  JESUS  WORSHIP  GOD  FOR  THE  TESTIMONY  OF  JESUS  IS  THE  SPIRIT  OF  PROPHECY---

 

REVELATION 21:27  and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination ***or maketh a lie*** but they which are written in the lambs book of life 

 

ISAIAH 8:20 to the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them

 

PROVERBS 28:9  he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law --even his prayer shall be abomination--

 

PROVERBS 15:9  the way of the wicked is an abomination unto  THE  LORD  but  HE  loveth him that followeth after righteousness

 

PSALM 119:155  salvation is far from the wicked for they seek not thy statutes 

 

PROVERBS 8:7  for  MY  mouth shall speak  --truth--  and wickedness is an abomination to  MY  lips 

 

PSALM 69:28  let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous

 

LOVING  THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST 

 

 

 

[TheBlade]

On 6/2/2023 at 12:45 PM, backontrack said:

What constitutes salvation and how do you know you are saved, some say once saved always saved, some say you can lose ones salvation and

some say there is no such thing as salvation and no hell and no life after death.

So many  great answers.. beautiful. Was thinking no matter how you try to save someone drowning they will still fight you. Then there are those already saved on land yet think they are still drowning.

Its like the thief or Peter who do they say I am "Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.” "“Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."

Just think about that.. Peter heard, saw it yet it was the Father revealed it to Him. How many times do we think we believe we know yet it was not us or man but the Father/Holy Spirit. I just believed He is who He said He was

[FreeGrace]

17 hours ago, Dave-regenerated said:

³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

I'm curious to know how you are able to limit God's actions in the way that you do, as if you actually have telepathic knowledge of other peoples minds and their state of salvation. 

And I'm equally as curious to know how you think I am even trying to "limit God's actions".  I'm quoting Scripture, since it seems you are missing that.  I've never even suggested that one can know what anyone else thinks.  That isn't even the issue here.  It is about how to be saved, and the Bible TELLS us specifically.

17 hours ago, Dave-regenerated said:

  Because none of the prophets or people in the Old Testament knew about Jesus Christ and that the only way to be saved was for them to believe in him.

I suggest way more study, if you are serious here.

Heb 11-

25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 

26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

How could Moses regard disgrace "for the sake of Christ" if He wasn't aware of Christ?  Further, he spoke of a future prophet like him

Acts 3:22 - For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.

Of course the OT believers knew about the Messiah.

Read through Acts and see how many times it says that Paul convinced people of the gospel " by the Scriptures", which obviously referred to the OT only.

17 hours ago, Dave-regenerated said:

  If you want to insist that God is limited to saving people who only know "believe in Lord Jesus", then you might not be informed that the Old Testament exists yet. I can't help being sarcastic here.  I hope you understand the point.

Here is what Paul said:

Acts 10:43 - All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

I hope you understand the point.

Acts 4:12 - Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Apparently, from your post, you don't believe this.

I do.