Do you know if you're saved?

Bcs90 said:

Did there just come a day once and you were like "Yup, today is the day I am finally saved. 100% about it, then from then on you had 100% belief and trust in God/Christ or was it a long process? Perhaps starting with no faith then transforming to skepticism, little faith, middle faith now you just have plain faith?
Or does it not work that way? Maybe no matter how much faith you have you don't know if you will be saved or not? Saved means going to heaven? Or can it just mean living the current life you have without being totally lifeless but still after dying you could still go to hell even if you attempted to find God/Christ and turned from your old ways to follow God's laws? Will after dying you still be damned for all the sins you committed before becoming Christian if you have even the slightest bit of doubt? Like if Satan were to swoop in right on your last breath in a moment of weakness and planted a seed of doubt or hate in your mind?

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Hi Bcs90,

I knew I was saved when I got saved. Then diving in, head-first, into reading the Word of God helped strengthen my faith by what I read. In other words, God confirmed the truth to me that I was saved because I placed my faith in Jesus for it.

It sounds to me like you are confused about what salvation is, so I want to help simplify it for you:

God saves us when we come to Jesus in faith for it. And salvation means that our sins are completely forgiven, never to be counted against us again, and we have received the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us to help us live for, follow and obey Jesus.

So once we recognize that we are a sinner who deserves the full penalty due for our sin (hell) and then turn away from our life of sin and turn to Jesus by faith for salvation and forgiveness (who Himself suffered and paid our sin penalty in full when He died on the cross), we are saved.

Here are some scriptures for your reference:


Step One: Recognize You are a Sinner

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23 (NIV)


As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;”
Romans 3:10 (NASB)


Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NASB)


If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
I John 1:8-10 (NASB)


Step Two: Understand Sin’s Consequence/Penalty

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (NKJV)

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
John 3:36 (NJKV)

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11-15 (NASB)


Step Three: Believe that Jesus Paid Your Sin Debt

And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.
Ephesians 1:7-8 (NASB)

But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:26-28 (NIV)

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Colossians 2:13-14 (NASB)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Romans 5:8-11 (NASB)

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12 (NASB)


Step Four: Pray

(Example/sample prayer only): “Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I know that my sin has separated me from having a relationship with you. I believe you died for me on the cross and shed your own blood so that I could be forgiven. Please forgive me for all my sin and come into my heart and life right now as my Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live for you all the days of my life. Teach me what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and how to honor you every day. I choose to follow you from this day forward. In Jesus name, Amen.”


Step Five: You Have Been Born Again

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13 (NKJV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)

...for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:23 (NASB)

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 5:24 (NASB)

And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
1 John 5:11-13 (NKJV)

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Romans 10:9-11 (NKJV)

When i became saved or born again, i did not realize it instantly. I realized it after my faith has been tested several times. As i kept my faith, i grew more in spirit, my faith became stronger and i started seeing the fruits of the Spirit. Then following the commandments and doing the God's will became natural rather than me trying to follow, which i would never be able to do without the Spirit working in me. Clearly seeing God's amazing work in my spirit, I'm assured and i rest in His strength that keeps me alive in Him.

Bcs90 said:

Did there just come a day once and you were like "Yup, today is the day I am finally saved. 100% about it, then from then on you had 100% belief and trust in God/Christ or was it a long process?

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Yes, there did come a day for me. I was studying with Christians for a few months and then one day it hit me. I finally understood enough and obeyed the gospel commands that told me how one is saved (salvation unto eternal life).

The actual process of obeying the gospel for salvation is quite fast really. Look at the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip preached to him Jesus (which inherently when you preach Jesus, your teaching everything there is to know), and that very day, the Ethiopian believed, otherwise he wouldnt have requested to be baptized by Philip "look, here is water. What hinders me?" (He is speaking of being saved/salvation). Philip states, "If you believe in the Christ, you may" (Philip is referring to, that if you believe, you can obey the gospel command of being baptized into the water see Acts 2:38,41)

However, if you want to count from the time it took you to realize this till you actually became a Christian, some people it takes 50 years before they obey the gospel others 10 years etc etc. In that case, It took me about 13 years.

But when the actual "being saved" part came, it was just mere moments.
Hear
believe
repent
confess
be baptized

Those don't take that long to obey, when you seek out to join the Lords kingdom.

Bcs90 said:

Perhaps starting with no faith then transforming to skepticism, little faith, middle faith now you just have plain faith?

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If you have little faith, your not going to be moved to salvation. And even if you did go "through the motions" of the gospel commands, it would be in vain due to doubt.

Example: If you have little faith that a bridge will hold you, your not going to go over it.

Hebrews 11:6.

Bcs90 said:

Maybe no matter how much faith you have you don't know if you will be saved or not? Saved means going to heaven? Or can it just mean living the current life you have without being totally lifeless but still after dying you could still go to hell even if you attempted to find God/Christ and turned from your old ways to follow God's laws?

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If your earnest in seeking out salvation, and you obey, your saved period. You, at that point in time, are 100% saved and have eternal life. I say, "in that point in time" because throughout the bible, Christians are repeatedly reminded to remain faithful and obey the gospel commands.

We will be judged for our actions in this life, no doubt. However, obedience to scripture and doing your best to follow its commands, you will have salvation.

If you continue in sin, and do not repent, yes, you can lose that salvation.

Bcs90 said:

Will after dying you still be damned for all the sins you committed before becoming Christian if you have even the slightest bit of doubt? Like if Satan were to swoop in right on your last breath in a moment of weakness and planted a seed of doubt or hate in your mind?

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Maybe this quote can help you " You can be on the right property or the left property, but just know that the devil owns the fence" Fence straddling is not going to work.

With that said, sins before you became a Christian may be judged, but when you become a Christian, you repent of past and present transgressions

[Paraphrased]
Luke 13:3 - repent or perish
Acts 2:38 - repent and be baptized in Christs name FOR remission of sins
Acts 17:30-31 - God will not overlook ignorance anymore, He commands all to repent

As far as satan swooping in at your last breath, this I cannot believe. And one should have more faith in God than that 2 Peter 3:9. I don't know any scenario where a Christian, faithful until the last breath, finally curses God or turns away from Christ at the last breath.

"What if" questions get you nowhere and you should just leave the "what if" box closed and stashed away, never to be opened.

No one can take you from the Lords hand. However, you yourself can. That is why there are so many warnings on falling away or remaining faithful.

"Dawned on me" (with resultant repentance, and so on) is closer to the fact than any gradual development.

And I think this is the way a conversion normally works. As for all the questions about subsequent transgressions, heaven and hell and etc., we never know for sure all the answers to such things or much else in life, either, if you think about it. But Jesus said to trust him, so that is what the person of faith does, and it is sufficient.

This question comes up because most people do not accept faith for what it actually is.

They consider faith merely a concept, an abstract idea that is to be believed in rather than a palpable thing that substantiates belief.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. -- Hebrews 11

This is one of those verses that make me go "Eh?" with some translation versions, because this is one that many get absolutely wrong.

The write of Hebrews is not talking about faith as a concept or an abstract idea, but as a palpable thing that substantiates belief. One does not believe in faith, one believes because of faith. There is no way he could have written it more clearly.

The koine Greek translated "substance" here is hypostasis. In the time of the writer, a hypostasis was the support of an aqueduct or some other elevated structure. Koine had other words to express abstract concepts such as "confidence" and "assurance." The writer does not use any of those abstract words here. He uses a word that explicitly denoted a real substance, not an abstract concept because he meant a real substance not an abstract concept.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for...

Let's say a man is watching the Powerball Lottery on television. The master of ceremony opens the hopper that contains the numbered balls, pulls out each of five balls and reads its number, one by one.

The man is hoping he will win. What is the substance of his hope? The substance of his hope is the lottery ticket he's holding in his hand. If he had no lottery ticket in his actual possession, his hope of winning would be without substance. The ticket is not an abstract concept. He doesn't believe he has a ticket. He knows he's got a ticket because it's right there, and it's because he knows he has a ticket that he has a hope of winning.

...the evidence of things not seen.

The koine Greek translated "evidence" is elenchos. It meant essentially the same thing "evidence" means today. "Evidence" does not mean "being convinced." Evidence is the solid thing that requires conviction.

If you are a juror in a court of law, the prosecutor may be convinced that the defendant is guilty. But the conviction of the prosecutor is not evidence of guilt. The jury needs to see evidence in order to become convinced. The jury can't see the crime being committed, but where is the body? Where is the blood? Where is the weapon? Where are the fingerprints?

The prosecutor may tell a good tale, but where is the evidence? The jury doesn't believe in evidence, the jury must see the evidence. If they have evidence that they can see, then they can believe in the crime that they can't see.

The ancient Greeks discovered air. They realized that breath was not a substance generated within the body, and wind was not a substance that was generated somewhere over the mountains. They realized we were constantly surrounded by an invisible substance--a real thing--that we became conscious of when it moved something we could see. The Greeks said, "Wind is the evidence of the invisible air."

Evidence is not an abstract concept, evidence is the palpable thing we can see that proves the existence of what we can't see.

So where am I going with this?

If you have faith, you know you have faith. It's not abstract, it's not intellectual, it's not cerebral.

You feel something you have now that you know you didn't have before, and you feel it as certainly as you feel the wind. It moves you, it pushes you, it impels you. You can't ignore it and you can't be argued that it isn't there.

And if you don't have that, then you don't have faith.

Bcs90 said:

Did there just come a day once and you were like "Yup, today is the day I am finally saved. 100% about it, then from then on you had 100% belief and trust in God/Christ or was it a long process? Perhaps starting with no faith then transforming to skepticism, little faith, middle faith now you just have plain faith?
Or does it not work that way? Maybe no matter how much faith you have you don't know if you will be saved or not? Saved means going to heaven? Or can it just mean living the current life you have without being totally lifeless but still after dying you could still go to hell even if you attempted to find God/Christ and turned from your old ways to follow God's laws? Will after dying you still be damned for all the sins you committed before becoming Christian if you have even the slightest bit of doubt? Like if Satan were to swoop in right on your last breath in a moment of weakness and planted a seed of doubt or hate in your mind?

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While people could talk about the theological moment we are saved, you are asking instead the very different question about when a person personally feels they are, or becomes certain, without doubts.

For me, after time, I've arrived to know with total certainty everything Christ said is true (in part because of so many varied powerful confirmations and answered prayers and impossible outcomes), and He lives, and we will all face the day of Judgement. I have faith, strengthened far more than I understood by reading Christ's words, and now in retrospect I understand reading His words helped make that happen. I know Christ saves me, if I continue in Him. And, therefore, just exactly as Paul writes --

Paul got it right:

8 What is more, I consider everything [before/separate from Christ] a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3 NIV

And many other passages from Paul, and in the other epistles -- that we must 'run the race till the end' and similar encouragements to abide in Christ, following Him (doing as He said to do, looking to Him, relying on Him, praying as He said to pray).

As our Lord said to you and to me: "Abide in me." (John 15 NIV)

Bcs90 said:

Did there just come a day once and you were like "Yup, today is the day I am finally saved. 100% about it, then from then on you had 100% belief and trust in God/Christ or was it a long process? Perhaps starting with no faith then transforming to skepticism, little faith, middle faith now you just have plain faith?
Or does it not work that way? Maybe no matter how much faith you have you don't know if you will be saved or not? Saved means going to heaven? Or can it just mean living the current life you have without being totally lifeless but still after dying you could still go to hell even if you attempted to find God/Christ and turned from your old ways to follow God's laws? Will after dying you still be damned for all the sins you committed before becoming Christian if you have even the slightest bit of doubt? Like if Satan were to swoop in right on your last breath in a moment of weakness and planted a seed of doubt or hate in your mind?

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Also, the very last question you ask has a profoundly crucially important answer -- we must be His by listening to Him and following Him --

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
John 10 NIV

If we listen to Him and follow Him, then there is 100% certainty we will never perish.

You'll want to read this wonderful gospel from the beginning!

John 1 NIV

"Did there just come a day once & you were like "Yup, today is the day I am finally saved. 100% about it, then from then on you had 100% belief & trust in God/Christ or was it a long process?"

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When I became spiritually born again, it was like night & day. One day I was walking in darkness spiritually, separated from God because of my rebellion against Him & incapable of knowing Him--although I was seeking after Him & was in a Bible study learning about how to be saved--then in a matter of moments, I was transformed, regenerated, made spiritually alive with the eternal life of God by the power & washing of regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

**When I understood I was an enemy of God & far away from Him because of my evil thoughts & actions:

Colossians 1:21 Once you were far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts & actions.

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

**And that I was truly separated from God & lost & under God's wrath to be condemned:

Isaiah 59:1-3 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you & your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood & your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.

Ephesians 2:1-3,12 As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

At one time we all lived among them, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh & indulging its desires & thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath. Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel & strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope & without God in the world.

Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding & alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the HARDNESS of their hearts.

**I then repented, changed my mind & turned from living my own life & turned to Christ to save me, giving Him my life to do with as He seemed right. I cried out to Him to save me from my wicked life & forgive me of my sins & that I wanted Him, to know Him like those mentioned in the Bible.

The doubts were gone & I realized it was by God's mercy & grace through faith in Christ & His sacrifice on the cross & proving it by rising from the dead, that would save me. God knew I was seeking after Him & He knew my sincere cry of faith, that I knew I was lost & needed a Savior. He rewarded me with His very eternal life & I have never been the same since.

Hebrews 11:1,2,6 Now faith is the substance of what we hope for & the CERTAINTY of what we do not see. This is why the ancients were commended. And without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists AND that He rewards those who EARNESTLY SEEK HIM.

The next morning I woke up & I was ALIVE TO GOD. My first words upon awakening was: "So this is You, God. You are HERE! I know you now." I was for the first time AWARE of His Presence in my life & I actually KNEW God--not by mere facts in the Bible but by personal experience. The Holy Spirit also bore witness with my spirit that I was now a child of God & His special possession.

Romans 8:15-17 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that RETURNS YOU TO FEAR, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit HIMSELF testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God & co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we SUFFER WITH HIM, so that we may also be glorified with Him.


Being spiritually birthed & saved is like the comparison Jesus used with physical birth, being born of water. Jesus came by water & blood also, being born of a woman.

In I John 5:6 This is the One who came by water & blood, Jesus Christ—not by water alone, but by water & blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies to this, because the Spirit is the truth.

When a baby IS BORN (we are not talking about labor but actual birth), it doesn't take very long. The water is broken from the womb that surrounds the baby & the baby is covered with blood upon entering this world. The baby is then washed clean.

The spiritual picture is very similar. We are spiritually birthed by the washing of regeneration & renewal in the Holy Spirit; we are given the very life of God & go from spiritual death & darkness & alienation & made alive in Christ, being transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into God's marvelous kingdom of LIGHT.

Like I said, it was the difference of night & day & then I read the Scripture to confirm to me without a doubt that my new experience of knowing God personally is what God promised & said He would do! I believed it by faith & the substance & certainty of my faith bore witness to the truth of what Scripture said & also the Holy Spirit, now indwelling me forever, bore witness with my spirit, now made alive, that I am indeed a child of God.

A person must get thoroughly LOST & know it, before He can get thoroughly saved & know it, that He needs a Savior.

Jim Elliott, a martyred missionary said it well: "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, in order to gain that which he cannot lose."

The PROCESS is what happens WHEN we grow up in Christ, walking by faith in Him day by day. We start out as NEW BORN BABIES, longing for the unadulterated milk of the Word of God, fed to us by Christ Himself, nourishing us & making us grow.

I Peter 2:1-5 So put away all malice & all deceit & hypocrisy & envy & all slander. Like newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have TASTED that the Lord is good.

4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.


We then become children, learning how to deny ourselves, take up our cross & follow Christ as the Spirit leads & guides us into all the truth. We do away with childish thinking, living in the flesh & being selfish & learn how to serve Christ acceptably, offering the spiritual thanksgiving of grateful hearts & offering our bodies as LIVING sacrifices, according to God's will.

Psalm 50:14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High.

Romans 12:1,2 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy & pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test & prove what is the good, pleasing & perfect will of God.

I John 2:12-17 We learn how to overcome sin, the devil & this evil world system. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong & THE WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN YOU & you have overcome the evil one.

15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is NOT in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes & the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

"Perhaps starting with no faith then transforming to skepticism, little faith, middle faith now you just have plain faith? Or does it not work that way?"

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The way a person comes to a crisis in their life where they cry out for Christ to save them, can be different for different people. We all do not come to Christ the same way but we are all saved by Christ in the same way: by God's mercy & grace through faith in Christ, the gospel message we heard & believed in an honest & good heart before God.

"Maybe no matter how much faith you have you don't know if you will be saved or not?"

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It isn't so much a matter of faith in what we don't know but a matter of faith in what WE DO KNOW: we are lost & in need of a Savior who proved Who He is by rising from the dead, with over 500 witnesses to this fact of history. He said, "Come to Me, all who labor & are heavily burdened & I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take My yoke upon you & LEARN FROM ME."

"Saved means going to heaven?"

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Saved means knowing the living God & becoming more transformed into the image of Christ Himself, being like Him in true righteousness & holiness. Heaven is simply where Christ is, the One who saved us. It has streets paved with purest gold. It is a gift of the riches of the Lamb of God, but it is nothing without the Savior, which His believing disciples knew, like Peter.

John 6:63-69 The Spirit gives LIFE; the flesh profits NOTHING. The words I have spoken to you are spirit & they are life. However, there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe & who would betray Him.)

65Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me UNLESS the Father has granted it to him.”


66From that time on, many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus asked the 12, “Do you want to leave too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. We BELIEVE & KNOW that You are the Holy One of God.”

"Or can it just mean living the current life you have without being totally lifeless but still after dying you could still go to hell even if you attempted to find God/Christ and turned from your old ways to follow God's laws?"

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Jesus told people to count the cost of following Him. The reason why people don't come to Christ to be saved is that they are holding on to their own life, going their own way & coveting things in this world & not willing to let them go.

Luke 14:25-30,32 Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus & He turned & said to them, “If anyone COMES to Me AND does & hate his father & mother & wife & children & brothers & sisters—yes, even HIS OWN LIFE—he CANNOT be My disciple. And whoever does not carry his cross & follow Me CANNOT be My disciple.

28Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down & count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? Otherwise, if he lays the foundation & is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

33In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has CANNOT be My disciple.

"Will after dying you still be damned for all the sins you committed before becoming Christian if you have even the slightest bit of doubt? Like if Satan were to swoop in right on your last breath in a moment of weakness & planted a seed of doubt or hate in your mind?"

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Christ FORGIVES your sins IF you repent & believe the gospel & trust in Him to save you, not yourself. Your statement above shows you are depending on yourself & what you do, not on what Christ has done on the cross & for you!

Your are still counting the cost & have not yet come to the point of giving up all & trusting in Christ to save you. That is why you have no assurance of salvation & personally know the Lord; you still lack the eternal life of God.

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them & was raised again.

16So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ & gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: BE RECONCILED TO GOD. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 6:2 Hear what God says: "When the time came for Me to show you favor, I heard you; when the day arrived for me to save you, I helped you." Listen! This is the hour to receive God's favor; today is the day to be saved!

I am pretty new, so I am still trying to find my way about a lot of things, and I frequently wonder about my salvation. For me, having such a poor self esteem, I have never felt worthy of anything good, so having faith in salvation is quite a stretch for me and something I must come to terms with.

You really stirred up some great responses to your posts. I really think we all ask this question maybe even several times and this is probably a good thing. Otherwise we might just take things for granted. For me, it became the "calm assurance." that I could trust Jesus. I could really know that He genuinely loved me, and really died to pay the debt for my sin and I could really make Him Lord of my life. If he did all this for me I really needed to recognize His Lordship over my life and let Him show me how to "follow Him," as He asked me to do. I am praying for complete faith; for peace and joy that know no bounds even in circumstances that the world would say peace and joy should not exist. God bless you dear child of the King. You are loved.

Bcs90 said:

Did there just come a day once and you were like "Yup, today is the day I am finally saved. 100% about it, then from then on you had 100% belief and trust in God/Christ or was it a long process? Perhaps starting with no faith then transforming to skepticism, little faith, middle faith now you just have plain faith?
Or does it not work that way? Maybe no matter how much faith you have you don't know if you will be saved or not? Saved means going to heaven? Or can it just mean living the current life you have without being totally lifeless but still after dying you could still go to hell even if you attempted to find God/Christ and turned from your old ways to follow God's laws? Will after dying you still be damned for all the sins you committed before becoming Christian if you have even the slightest bit of doubt? Like if Satan were to swoop in right on your last breath in a moment of weakness and planted a seed of doubt or hate in your mind?

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Many of us understand that inherent in believing in Jesus to save us is to believe that we are in fact saved. To doubt that we are saved is to doubt Jesus. And thus to us, those who doubt they are saved don't believe Jesus.

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5:24 Believe Him or not.

nvm